bastogne44 Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Hello all. I am new to this site. I visited Bastogne, Belgium last year and hired a battlefield tour guide to take me to the woods in which the "Band of Brothers" occupied. While walking through the woods and dodging foxholes, I fould a round piece of rusted metal about the size of a soup can lid. The only writing that I can read on it is "60MM Mortar". What part of this shell does this piece come from? I also found a lot of shrapnel (very heavy) in the woods. My tour guide said that it came from the German 88's. I brought a piece with me back to the states and also the part of the 60mm Mortar. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 bastogne44, First of all, welcome! You and E-crack are one! As an educated guess, I'd say that your 60mm mortar item is the top or bottom seal of a cardboard tube used to transport 60mm mortar ammo. Wartime footage of American GIs is full of shots of guys carrying clusters of such tubes on their backs. Watch out for that shell fragment--may still be razor sharp and is now a tetanus hazard, too, thanks to being on/in the ground all this time. Posting pictures of your finds, with a scale in the frame, would be helpful, as would listing the shell fragment's weight. Could do wonders for some people's understanding of battlefield dynamics! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphus Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Describe it some more. Is it cardboard or metal? What shape is it? How big? I would tend to agree with the above, that it's a container, unless you said it's metallic. Don't worry about the tetanus, though, I'm sure you've had your shots. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bastogne44 Posted December 4, 2004 Author Share Posted December 4, 2004 Thanks for the info John. When I first found it I thought it was a lid to a soup can, but I saw the raised lettering that sais "60MM Mortar. Yeah, that makes sense that it is part of the container that stores the mortar. Have you ever been to Bastogne? I was over in Holland for work for 5 weeks and only had to work 2 mornings a week, so I had a lot of time to travel around. I went to Amsterdam, Utrecht, Arnhem, Oosterbeek, Nijmegan, Eindhoven, Son, Best, Margraten (American cemetary),Maastricht, Grosbeek,Aachen(Germany), Liege, Bastogne, Foy, Noville, and Houffalize. I had a great time visiting all the WWII museums and memorials over there. It is a shame that it took this long to get a nice WWII memorial here in the US. Bastogne has a huge US memroial, ever see it? Well take care. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junk2drive Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 If you get another chance, take the train through Belgium to Luxemborg. Lots of history there too. Nice people willing to share stories. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 bastogne44, Alas! No, I haven't even gotten to Europe yet. Would love to, though. As for my message, I fear you misunderstood what I said. I believe your 60 mm mortar piece is a kind of stopper or seal for a 60mm mortar ammo tube, NOT for the 60mm mortar itself. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simovitch Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 I'm headed over there with my brother for the 60th Anniversary Dec 13th-Dec 20th. Rented a cottage outside of Malmedy about 2 months back. Just heard that Tom Hanks and 8 Vets from "Band of Brothers" will be at the ceremonies in Bastogne on the 18th. They couldn't find a place to stay until the Belgium officials stepped in. The press release was something like "Tom Hanks sleepless in Belgium" no joke. I cant wait! :cool: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bastogne44 Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 Simovitch, Have a great time over there. There is so much to see. When I was in Bastogne, I stayed at the same hotel that Speilberg stayed at while he was doing his research for "The Band of Brothers"...Hotel Melba. Col Kinnard also stayed there a few times. Make sure you go to the Bastogne historical center (Mardasson Hill) and the Original Museum (close to Place McCaullife). Also their is a restaruant in Place McCaullife called "Le Nuts" (I am sure you know the story behind that). Good food. I still keep in touch with the battlefield tour guide that showed me around when I was there. He lives in Bastogne and will take you anywhere you want to go. He charged me 75 Euros for 4 hours in the morning, but has all day sessions as well. Besides Bastogne, he took me to Foy (the woods where the Band of Brothers were in), Noville, Recogne (German cemetary), Houfallize, and other memorials in the area. I would highly recommend him. If you want, I can give you his phone number and you can call him up for a tour. Just reply to this message or email me at hoppb@prodigy.net. He is very accomadating and will go wherever you want to see. In fact, he is going to pick me up some souvenirs from the 60th anniversary. Have a great time over there...they love Americans. When I ate at Le Nuts, they found out I was an American and they stared at me and gave me thumbs up the whole time I was at the restaurant. You will love it!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.