October 25, 2002

3:35 AM

Almost sixty years after the end of the Second World War, the battlefields of Western Europe, Scandanavia, Russia and the Pacific continue to reveal poignant relics of the men who fought and died. These links may be of interest to anyone with even a passing interest in military history.
posted by Doozer (7 comments total)

Somewhere along the road west of St. Lô, somebody may find bits 'n' pieces of my dad's and his buddies' gear after an unhelpful German Panzergrenadier stepped out of the treeline alongside the road and lobbed a potato masher into the back of the weapons carrier Dad was driving. Dad bailed out into the ditch and the carrier, which had everybody's packs in the back, got blown into the middle of next week. Dad used to chuckle about that. I guess Churchill was right about the idea that there's nothing so exhilarating as being shot at without result.
posted by alumshubby at 5:13 AM on October 25, 2002

Some relics can be dangerous too: almost weekly a WW2 bomb is found on some building site in Germany. It's good to know that there is almost never any accident while defusing them.
posted by ugly_n_sticky at 5:50 AM on October 25, 2002

They've had *lots* of practise.
posted by vbfg at 6:10 AM on October 25, 2002

This is an awesome post. Great job Doozer.
Military history mixed with some archeology. I have always found this type of thing interesting, and this type of post, is what I like about mefi.
Thanks again.
posted by a3matrix at 6:18 AM on October 25, 2002

Somewhere in my mother's house is a very unique cigarette lighter - a German POW captured during the Battle of the Bulge made it while in hospital out of some sort of large (but inert) incendiary shell, as a gift for my grandfather, a GI who served as an interpreter. Pretty cool.

Anyhow, great post! I love this sort of thing.
posted by GriffX at 6:35 AM on October 25, 2002

you could plan a tour of the north, and while you're up there people are now allowed to visit bodens fästning [swedish only but some pics - the guides do tours in english and german as well]. Shame I couldn't find a page in english.
posted by dabitch at 9:51 AM on October 25, 2002 [1 favorite]

(the fun part is that you can stay overnight in the fort - cheap and exotic hotel. ;-)
posted by dabitch at 9:52 AM on October 25, 2002