Luftwaffe Fieldhospital part 2

Last week I continued searching through the fieldhospital dumping pit. My original plan had been to search another camp, but a bear was observed there recently, so I thought it best to wait a few days to be sure that it has wandered well out of the area as I imagine Im a very tasty bear snack.

In the Luftwaffe camp there is little chance to encounter anything bigger than a squirrel, or maybe a friendly labrador from the nearby neighbourhood.

I found the dumping pit where I had left it and removed the soil so I could continue the dig. The corner of it was full of barrell bands and rusted metal sheets that once had been boxes and crates.

It became a very exhausting and difficult day but I slowly managed to get the rubbish away so I later could continue along the wall towards the other end of the ditch. Just as I removed the first shovelful of sand I spotted a round bakelite item. I knew it was the karbid container to the Einheitslanterne, so now it would be exciting to find out if the rest of the lamp was attached to it. Digging around it a little loosened it enough for me to just drag it out from the soil and it became clear that half the lamp was missing and is probably still somewhere in the rest of the ditch in front of me. We ll see if I can locate it this season.

It became a long digging session and when I decided to stretch my legs I had made a decent pile of relics on the edge of the ditch. Mostly bottles and different medical glassware, some surgical tools in various states of decay and half burnt field dressings. There were enough broken glass and syringe needles to keep me alert at all times.

I found the leftovers of several kerosene lanterns produced in Sweden, lots of handles and other metal parts from crates, and a very nice enamel measuring cup.

When I was home I began washing and rinsing some of the finds and in the pile of ampoules I found a couple intact ones with text showing the content, some strong stuff (see the pics further down). I also had a nice time opening a couple of boxes from the ditch.

The first one was a small box belonging in the surgical kit, I think it was used to lay tools on, but it had nothing inside.

The other box was crusted and rusty and I could feel that it had contents. One of the corners had cracked open so with the screwdriver I just removed the whole side wall. Inside were some glass tubes and glass pipettes for lab samples, very fine and thin glass.

I still have a little left on the ditch, enough for a good week of digging I think, but am not sure if thats where I am going next time as there is other spots I want to check out too :)

​Until next time, enjoy life as best you can :)

Bottle of interesting shape.

Lantern part.

Frostschutzsalbe.

Ether bottle.

An abandoned nest.