draganm

Watched the 4 episodes of this on Netlfix, set in Latvia , 4 amateurs excavate German and Soviet battlefield sites from the front that eventually resulted in the Kurland pocket. It's not really archeology in the true sense of the word, However

 

I learned a lot about that part of the war I didn't know, especially in episode 4, ( and maybe a lot of people didn't know ) About the killing of German settlers in reprisal attacks. however, this scathing article and it's criticisms are also true.

 

http://thepipeline.info/blog/2016/01/10/review-battlefield-recovery-clearstory-productions-for-channel-5/

 

Anyone else see this, what do you think or feel about the show?

it'll never happen, none of these small towns will ever spend the half million Euro's to get a blown-up German tank welded back together and sitting on it's own wheels/suspension, much less the other million or 2 you would need to get it running.

 

The Vimoutiers Tiger 1 is a prime example, they can't even find the money to preserve it, much less restore it. It's sitting there rusting and looks like it was painted by the local kindergarten.

 

They would be better off selling it and putting up a commemorative plaque, before the machine turns into a pile of Iron Oxide.

The machines are now covering over the pits that cost 140,000 zlotys ($37,000) to dig.

people have spent a lot more than $37K on much more stupid and ridiculous things than this. I'm glad they tried and took a chance.

right, the old t34-76 turrets wound up on gun boats and that makes sense.

 

I was asking about all the T34-85 hulls with T34-76 turrets on them. Seems like a retrograde refit?

The thing about military vehicles is that they are tools. If something gets better the tool is upgraded or repaired, so after seventy odd years they are not the same as they came of the factory, each one is diffrent. Vive La Difference! Each one is unique, keep them that way. :-D

well that's one school of thought, and I don't think there's a right or wrong answer, but if someone is a WW2 collector, and gets a vehicle with dozens of post-war modifications, I could understand the desire to rip all those out.

It's trickier if you have a vehicle modified during the war , Which version is "correct"?

 

I would like to see it as a 76 MM variant is once was.

Those you don't see often.

I like the 76 too, especially those mickey mouse ears when both hatches are open. Really killed Hitlers plan of "kicking the door in and having the entire rotten structure collapse" too.

 

Funny in looking at the Surviving Panzers web-site, it shows a number of gun-boats with 34-76 turrets on them, which is presumably where the older turrets went when the tanks were up-gunned.

However , there's a number of T34-85 hulls with t34-76 turrets. How did that happen? It also implies that the -85 hull is different. Anyone know what the difference is other than a larger turret ring?

 

http://the.shadock.free.fr/Surviving_T-34.76.pdf

It seems 50% of chosen excavation pits completed = 50% chance left ,

considering they've already dug down 20 meters into the most promising spots based on geo-radar readings, it's seems like there's a .05% chance left.

 

Nevertheless , they actually put their money where their mouths were and that's more than you can say for most people. Talk is cheap, excavation is expensive

It is a 1943 hull that has been up gunned later in the war with the 85 turret, so presently I am trying to accumulate the parts needed including the hull top plate and all 76 turret parts. I am also trying to find wartime wheels and other bits and pieces so if you have any gems I may well be interested!

Alex

If it was up-gunned during the war by the Soviet Military then isn't the T34-85 configuration it's historically correct condition?

 

Also, Can you tell how many further modifications were done by the Yugoslav army? (I'm from Yugoslavia so have a soft-spot for any of their gear )

Drone camera zoom footage is poor , the controller seems afraid to fly lower - possibility of 'AA' fire ??

LOL

even after 70 years underground, Quad mounted 20mm Flakvierling on flat rail-cars are still deadly to low flying aircraft.

 

Don't mess with the Nazi gold train

A piece of railway track has been discovered in a new hole close to a power pole, as well as a horseshoe in another hole.

well a piece of old track is what you would expect right next to a rail-line that has been there for what, 100 years? If they don't find the real tracks today or rail-siding entrance after 4 days digging, then chances are there's nothing there.

 

Still, you'll never know if you don't look right :undecided:

thanks guys, 23mph max (or even 36) is pretty surprising. Minimum speed on a freeway here is 55 and I think even state/local highways you wouldn't get away with 23. I guess it means this truck will be trailered to all shows?

 

Well, we quite boldly just brought them to the local Profile Tyrecenter (the one that also serves trucks) and one of the older mechanics was happy to accept the challenge...outside the regular opening hours

Brave, or maybe at some point as you get older you just don't care :-)

Digging deeper (note , states the dig may take 10 days) , probably reach Oz before they find anything ,,

LOL:D

No need to go to Oz, once you get below the depth of the main rail line you've gone too far

 

There's a map from 1936 showing a siding there, so the chances of at least hitting some rails would seem to be good. Whether that siding holds anything, well.............

 

They've spent north of $130K, so I hope they at least find something for their troubles

http://imgur.com/gallery/AZgaTEw

LOL

 

well someone will be eating Crow tomorrow, but my bets on "something there" . 6 different mining companies detected anomalies there and even is it's just some old flat cars or even old rails, well , you don't know unless you dig.

3 big holes so far, none are 9 meters deep yet so it looks like we'll have to wait till tomorrow.

 

http://www.zloty-pociag.com/artykul/297/65-kilometr-video-z-drona

We received the 11 rims with tires back which, in the process of refitting, got some paint scraped off so that again needs sanding.

was it difficult to find a tire shop to deal with the split rims?

 

Also , the decal on the back " max speed 20 mph" , surely the truck can go faster than that?

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]117909[/ATTACH]

thanks

I have tried to follow this but there has been a lot of hype and speculation and its hard to tell where the facts stop and the BS starts,

an unfortunate but unavoidable aspect of human nature I'm afraid

 

Moving a lot of dirt this morning, and it's at the base of the hill. There was something in a video earlier about concerns for the power lines over the siding , so according this spokesperson for the mining company they are going to try and open the tunnel entrance

 

At any rate, they have a professional german mining company taking this on, shouldn't be too much " muckin about"

 

Video here of the dig

love it or hate it, it will all be over in the next 2 days. Scraping already begun and drilling of 3 x 27meter holes starts tomorrow

I still think cases of Unicorn Dung. :yawn:

 

Anyway Meschersmits surley.

throw in a few Fock Wolfe's, an Arado Blitz jet bomber , and a few Ferdinand tank destroyers.

 

We'll know in 5 days 19 hours and counting

 

For the die-hard believers, there will be live Drone footage.

I was a car guy for a very long time, Chargers and Challengers from the early 70's. Got bored of it and also tired of how finicky it can be , all those little parts and pieces, a lot of it plastic, everything having to be cosmetically perfect, etc.

 

The thing that appeals to me about militaria is that old, rusty, and original is often times how you want it. A coat of flat paint over some (more or less) straight sheet-metal is ok too. 2 weeks of buffing and cutting not required :-)

 

A great place to see the first 2 seasons of Com-dealers is daily motion.

well they've been pulling permits, buying insurance, lining up heavy equipment, and by the looks of mr Andreas and Richter are doing it out of pocket . Maybe some investors like History Channel are contributing in exchange for "exclusive broadcast rights" .

 

It's hard not to be a little cynical after so many snipe-hunts, but I don't get too emotionally involved anyway.

 

Good chance we'll at least see some dirt get pushed around :-)

well it's nice to see all the other fans lining up behind me :-D

 

at least its British Tripe as opposed to the awesome yank waffle you get on the box theses days...

yeah no kidding , if you think Brit TV is lacking, you should see the garbage they feed us over here. 15 minutes of "The Bachelorette" season 19 and you'll be begging for Combat dealers :kiss:

alrighty all you hard-core nazi gold-train believers. We now have a count-down clock ticking, official ground-breaking on Agust 16th :-D

 

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pl&u=http://xyz-spolkacywilna.pl/&prev=search

 

We are viewing a detailed work plan for the so-called pit. '65km'.

 

1. 12.08.2016r. - Start work on the construction of the fence, set social containers, begin cleanup work at the station along with the tree felling
   

 

 

 

1. 13.08.2016r. - Work on the construction of the fence continued, continued felling of trees and leveling of land for research
   

 

 

 

1. 14.08.2016r. - Measurement works and the training ground test equipment (several types of different companies)
   

 

 

 

1. 15.08.2016r. - Continued work with the third point, and welcome all the visiting guests we invited to this event
   

 

 

 

1. 08/16/2016 - called. In time, that is, entry of heavy equipment and the start of excavation control
   

 

 

so S-2 Episode 1 aired on August 5th 2015, but I'm not seeing any schedule yet for S3. Then recently someone on Bruce's Twitter account said S3 might not air until 2017

 

Someone please say this is not the case

lets hope it winds up better than the Stug III from the swamp, that was a huge loss historically speaking (parked outside and stripped of small parts by looters)

very cool. Same things are done now with vacuum tube radios and amplifiers from the 50's, but in those cases all the specs are known and you just buy the kit. the choices you have in parts is truly overwhelming, I've done similar with 1990's electronics and you can spend hours looking at capacitor specs. Can't imagine how much time it took to cross reference parts from the 40's.

 

This is very likely the first time someone has done this with a WW2 British Tank Radio transmitter however, nice job.

the PZ IV was on loan.

thx

 

An impressive collection and well displayed too, but it sounds like they've not put up much of a fight to keep the doors open

Cheers,

Terry

I don't know all the details, but I certainly couldn't see myself fighting a municipality either 20 years from now when retirement is the other option. Not to mention that the location appears to be too far outside the flow of tourist dollars. Sometimes the chips are stacked against you just a little too high.

 

I hope serious and dedicated collectors snap it all up though. It will be interesting to see where it ends up, some of it looks really unique and would be even harder to assemble today then it was the first time around.