Sea unearths secret Nazi bunkers that lay hidden for more than 50 years

The Daily Mail (U.K.) ^ | August 3, 2008

[Stoat]

Three Nazi bunkers on a beach have been uncovered by  violent storms off the Danish  coast, providing a store of material  for history buffs and military  archaeologists.
 

The bunkers were found in  practically the same condition as they were  on the day the last Nazi soldiers left them, down to the tobacco in one trooper‘s pipe and a half-finished bottle of  schnapps.

(edit)

They were located by two nine-year-old boys on holiday with their parents, who then informed the authorities.

Archaeologists were able to carefully force a way, and were astounded at what they found.

'What's so fantastic is that we found them completely furnished with beds, 'chairs, tables, communication systems and the personal effects of the soldiers who lived inside,' says Jens Andersen, the curator of the Hanstholm museum.
 

[Stoat]

My apologies for the severe editing of this article...this was done in order to remain in compliance with Free Republic posting rules pertaining to articles from the UK's Daily Mail.  AFP is also carrying the story, but apparently they require editing as well

AFP Furnished Nazi bunkers surface in Denmark, 60 years on

Also, at least some of the accompanying photos are Getty images, so that's the reason why I didn't post any pictures either  :-(

Despite the sparse nature of this post, I'm hoping that military history enthusiasts might enjoy going to the links to learn more about this impressive find.

[Stoat]

Sorry about the sparse post, but this story is still fairly new and so perhaps in a day or two it will be carried by another source :-)

[SolidWood]

tobacco in one trooper‘s pipe and a half-finished bottle of schnapps.

Bet the time in a Bunker in Denmark was quite boring.

[abb]

Thanks for posting this. I love military history.

[Impy]

Informed the authorities?

I’d rent a moving van and inform ebay.

[DogBarkTree]

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I believe that most of the “Nazi troops” in places remote from any likely invasions were partial invalids, older men and German speaking conscripts from invaded countries, like Poland or Yugoslavia. More like pickets or trip wires than a fighting force.

After the War, the British were responsible for occupying Denmark. Lacking transport or manpower, they ordered the 400,000 “Nazi Troops” in Denmark to march home and they did, much to the consternation of the Russians, who wanted all German Army personnel interred.

[brityank]

Beached Bunkers Breached Ping.

[Stoat]

Thanks for posting this. I love military history.

You're quite welcome, and I'm delighted that you've found it to be worthwhile   :-)

[Stoat]

Informed the authorities?

I’d rent a moving van and inform ebay.

Apparently you weren't the only one with that idea :-)

From the AFP article:

"It was a race against the clock because of the risk of looters. We lied to keep them at bay, saying that there was only one furnished bunker and that it was guarded around the clock, which wasn't true. But even so there were two attempted break-ins," Anthonisen says.

Informed the authorities?

I’d rent a moving van and inform ebay.

[abb]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_Todt
Organisation Todt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Organisation Todt (OT) was a Third Reich civil and military engineering group in Germany eponymously named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi figure. The organization was responsible for a huge range of engineering projects both in pre-World War II Germany, and in Germany itself and occupied territories from France to Russia during the war.

[Stoat]

Interesting article, thank you very much for posting. :-)

[wildbill]

Surf Nazis Must Die!

[Nik Naym]

ping to self for later read. Sounds fascinating.

[Jack Hammer]

Fascinating story; great post!

[Tatze]

"...it was as if the German soldiers had left only yesterday."

Wow, the Nazi's were horrible housekeepers.

[enduserindy]

Wow. I would like to go there.

[Impy]

Finders keepers I say!

[popdonnelly]

My German professor in college was in the Kriegsmarine. He was a crew member on an E-boat stationed in Denmark. Probably saved his life.

[caver]

Very cool! Thanks for posting!

[Rebelbase]

.

[SolidWood]

LOL!

[andy58-in-nh]

Hey, a little paint, a couple of throw pillows...

[ottbmare]

Wonderful! Thank you.

[bIlluminati]

Chess? I had expected Bingo. Then it would have been: Beach Bunker Bingo.

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks brityank. practically the same condition as they were on the day the last Nazi soldiers left them, down to the tobacco in one trooper‘s pipe and a half-finished bottle of schnapps. They were located by two nine-year-old boys on holiday with their parents, who then informed the authorities. ...after they finished the first half of the bottle of schnapps. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
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[jalisco555]

Bet the time in a Bunker in Denmark was quite boring.

Bet they were glad to be bored in Denmark rather than being excited in Normandy.

[DieHard the Hunter]

Ping for later reading

[indcons]

Thanks Stoat...will ping out after getting home today.

[SolidWood]

No arguing over that for sure.

[colorado tanker]

Interesting. Thanks, Stoat.

That's sure one way for a German soldier to survive the war. Sipping schnapps and puffing cigs on the beach in Denmark.

[bannie]

This is fascinating!!! How fun for the boys to have made the discovery!

[tommythev]

That's sure one way for a German soldier to survive the war. Sipping schnapps and puffing cigs on the beach in Denmark.

My Dad was a telegraph operator in the German Army. While retreating in Italy, his truck pulled in to a German supply depot for gas. The depot was being abandoned and the officer in charge encouraged them to help themselves to what was left. They packed their truck with cases of cognac, imported marmalade and leather shoe soles. For much of the rest of the war he ate his black bread with imported marmalade, and sipped cognac in the evening. The shoe soles they shipped home to their families. Leather shoe soles had become quite valuable, with millions of men wearing them out marching all over Europe.

[colorado tanker]

Cool story! Sorta reminds me of the story from Band of Brothers where the company liberates Goering's wine/liquor cellar. :-))

Did you Dad emigrate to the U.S. after the war?

[tommythev]

Yes, in 1950. He spent 3 1/2 in a POW camp to be “de-Nazified” (he was not a Nazi, he was 17 when inducted, but the bureaucracy checked up on each soldier before releasing them). The POW camp was in Southern France. He had no interest in going back to Dresden, where he grew up, as it was pretty much destroyed and controlled by the Communists (Soviet-occupied). After being released he ended up in Bavaria, where his girlfriend from high school had a job. They got married December 1948. His uncle lived in NJ (a machinist who emigrated in the early 1920’s) and sponsored them. He earned his EE from Rutgers (his German high school diploma earned him two years of credits) and worked in defense electronics. His company built a key component of the ECM system of the F-15 and the B-1B. He retired at age 77 after selling the company. He had some interesting war stories, but only saw the edge of any battles. Generals like to have their communications evacuated first when things go bad. My favorite story involved fishing with grenades.

[colorado tanker]

My favorite story involved fishing with grenades.

LOL! Did you see the movie "Second Hand Lions"? We're introduced to the two wacky lead characters by discovering they're at the pond behind their house "fishing" with shotguns. :-))

I met an ex-POW who was a neighbor of my in-laws in a small town in Nebraska. He'd been sent to a camp the U.S. and eventually got a local sponsor to immigrate. He was from Silesia, which was ceded to Poland, so his world really had disappeared. Great guy - known for always having cold beer on hand. :-))

[tommythev]

LOL! Did you see the movie "Second Hand Lions"? We're introduced to the two wacky lead characters by discovering they're at the pond behind their house "fishing" with shotguns. :-))

Never saw it. I'll have to be on the lookout. I think fishing with shotguns is really hard. I saw on Mythbusters that a very short distance underwater made you safe from gunfire. When you fish with grenades, the concussion knocks out or kills every fish within a fair distance. They float to the top and you toss them in the rowboat until it is full.

[colorado tanker]

I highly recommend it as a family movie. A kid goes to live with two eccentric old bachelor uncles. There are interesting plot twists. The main thing I like, besides nice performances by two of our best actors, is that it's very positive about the role of fathers and the role of men in society.

Probably why the Hollywood crowd didn't like it better. :-))

[indcons]

Thanks again Stoat.

Milhist ping

[sit-rep]

You don’t need to apologize man... everyone knows the score with copywrite, and if there is a clown who wrote the piece, any intellect will realize it when they go read the source article.

Sleep easy...

[bcsco]

Go rent it. I saw it on TV a couple years ago and really enjoyed it.