Introduction SS Division Part 1 (1/6)
Introduction Trails SS Division Part 1
My largest detecting project in 2003 was the search for relics left by the 17. SS Panzergrenadierdivision 'Götz von Berlichingen' in the last days of World War 2. In the past readers were interested in WW 2 stories in particular. Hope you enjoy this one as well. This is the first part of my two piece report.
Studying the division’s war diary I researched and localized two promising areas. They will be called “skull hill” and “crossroad” hereafter. None were combat areas but places where German soldiers stood before they marched into captivity.
This first part of my report provides the historical background and describes the search of the crossroad area. The second part will handle the search of skull hill.
The “crossroad” area was named after a junction which was an assembly point for German soldiers before marching into US captivity on May 7, 1945. The division’s last order from May 6 addressed the details of that march and mentioned this place.
So the destination of this journey into the past can be narrowed down to these two days. This is one of the unique advantages when searching well researched military sites.
(C) Thorsten Straub www.metal-detecting.de 2006-2019.