Hello Nancy, 'with the laughing eyes' this may help there are also a lot of links that may help you...

WWII Weapons

I am going to post related links too. This was an interesting story:

Big Stash of Weapons Found at Berlin Building Site

A stash of World War II weapons and ammunition has been found on the site of an old sauerkraut factory during construction work in Berlin. Discoveries of wartime shells and millitary equipment remain common in Germany more than 60 years after the end of the war.

Workers on the construction site of the mosque in eastern Berlin where World War II weapons and ammunition were found.

Zoom

DDP

Workers on the construction site of the mosque in eastern Berlin where World War II weapons and ammunition were found.

Construction workers have uncovered a large pile of World War II era weapons and ammunition on the site where eastern Berlin's first mosque is being built.

"The find contains hundreds, if not thousands of rounds of German infantry munitions," Charles Karwiese, spokesman for a company commissioned by the city of Berlin to secure and remove the weapons, told Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper. "The helmets we found probably came from Russian soldiers," he added.

He said equipment, which also includes rusted hand grenades were probably dumped in a shell crater at the end of Word War II and forgotten about. Berlin was the scene of ferocious fighting in the final weeks of the war as the Soviet Army fought itself into the city street by street.

Karwiese said the Islamic community constructing the mosque appears not to have ordered the required checks for munitions and bombs before construction work started at the site.

The mosque, with its dome and 12-meter minaret (40 feet), is due to open next year on the site of an old sauerkraut factory in the Berlin suburb of Pankow-Heinersdorf.

Barely a week goes by in Germany without wartime bombs and weapons being found during construction work.

On Monday, much of the city of Potsdam near Berlin was brought to a standstill after an unexploded 250 kilogram British bomb was found at the site where a tram bridge is being built.

Some 3,000 people were evacuated from nearby homes and a hotel, and the main train station was closed along with key streets and tram lines.

The detonator was still live and the bomb could easily have gone off when it was accidentally touched, a spokeswoman for the city said. A bomb disposal expert gingerly unscrewed the detonator and the all clear was given nine hours after it was found.

Interesting Australian site....

http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/ozatwar/dumped.htm

http://www.2ndinfdiv.com/component/option,...id,1/Itemid,45/

Hello Nancy, 'with the laughing eyes' this may help there are also a lot of links that may help you...

 

WWII Weapons

P.S.thanks Marion...xx

Far as the U.S. went, rifles were sent to the Director of Civilian Marksmansip and sold to qualified U.S.

citizens at a nominal cost along with matching ammo. I believe helmets and liners were sold as surplus. I have purchased several surplus M-1 rifles from the DCMalong with ammo.

Thanks you guys for all the information. Marion, the article is very interesting, I wonder how many more surprises will be found in years to come.

Joe, I'm recently an owner of a M1 Garand also. I think these rifles were made for people with muscles, it was surprising how heavy they are! In pictures all the young men make it look like it was nothing to carry a rifle, plus the heavy weight of their knap-sack and march too! I'm glad to see you on the board again, it's missing your interesting messages these days. Please tell us more.

Nancy

Sure is good to hear from you Joe. I miss you too. Think of you often.

Nancy: Sure is nice to hear from you more often in recent weeks. If we come to Alaska, will have to try the Garand. Don't worry; I'm working out!

Feeding your M-1 rifle...... Best buy I found is from Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP). They have boxed and clipped M-1 ball ammo that is non-corrosive and boxer primed. Personally I think the sealed spam cans of clipped and bandoleered ammo (24 loaded clips for $ 60.00 plus $8.95 shipping to your doorstep) is the best buy as enbloc clips are getting pricey. 20 round boxes (non clipped) are a bit cheaper though but

no clips.

Thanks Joe. We went on line and checked that link out. They seem to be sold out of a lot of rifles and ammo. I had to laugh about the army green spam cans. We had a lot of that around here when we were kids! My brothers say they still eat it. We also had k-rations. I remember the round crackers, and the 3 pieces of gum most. (of course the 3 lucky strikes and can't remember the other brands) we about died trying to smoke those!

Another question for you: my dad's favorite rifle was the 30-06 for moose hunting (no offense Moose of the dancing feet) Was the 30-06 a popluar hunting rifle to men of that time era due to the M1? It seemed that he used that rifle more then he did any other.

Thanks, Nancy

Come on up Marion, would love to have you visit us! I can just see you shooting that rifle. We would have to put a knap-sack on your back to balance the weight just so you can hold the rifle up!

Nancy

That's a good visual Nan! Gee, maybe I shouldn't be dieting. Hmmmmm....

I know why it is so hard to find German items here in Europe ..... them American soldiers took the half of the German Army home as souvenirs!!!

Near Camp Top Hat (Antwerp area), there used to be a big dump.

Even till recently, a lot of US items could be dug up (mess kits, dogtags, kitchen utensils, etc, etc).

In some old Belgian fortresses around Antwerp, people found stacks of US assault gas masks and German gas mask filters still sealed in their containers.

Erwin