Vehicle Shovel

[Flying10uk]

I have this vehicle or pioneer shovel that I purchased some years ago for a very good price but without knowing from which country it is from. The vendor thought that it may possibly be post war East German or Yugoslavian but wasn't too sure. I have seen similar shovels advertised as WW2 German but I have also seen others say that WW2 German shovels were different to that. The finish appears to be possibly a blackened steel finish, painted black, repainted green and then black again. The overall length is about 43 3/4" long. I'm aware that East Germany used a lot of light green painted kit but most of their long shovels were welded, not riveted. Yugoslavia used light/apple green on their kit but also on re-used WW2 German kit that they used post WW2.

Any clirification on age and origin would be appreciated, please, thanks.

[Aragorn243]

No markings? Most shovels have markings somewhere although they are sometimes under thick layers of paint. That would help some if you could find some markings.

I have an extensive collection of normal entrenching tools but haven't gotten into the longer ones except the US Jeep shovels.

It looks exactly like a Finnish entrenching shovel I have only with a longer handle and missing the hole for the tie down. That would seem to indicate it's Russian/Soviet or possibly Finn production.

[Flying10uk]

No markings?

No visible markings but that doesn't mean to say that there isn't any under the paint. I would need to remove some of the paint to check properly.

[Sapper740]

It looks very similar to the WW! German shovel shown here:

Regimentals | GERMAN WWI PIONEER SHOVEL.

It also shows where the stamps will be.

[browningautorifle]

WW! German shovel

Looks like it.

[Flying10uk]

I made the decision to remove some of the paint and found these markings. The long number sort of looks like it could be a Yugo stock/stores number but I'm not sure.

[browningautorifle]

I made the decision to remove some of the paint

Paint hinders digging efforts anyway. The only reason military paints a shovel is to hide rust. Hand tools aren't meant to be painted.

[Sapper740]

Paint hinders digging efforts anyway. The only reason military paints a shovel is to hide rust. Hand tools aren't meant to be painted.

Truth. We cleaned and oiled our tools after every use even our shovels and picks to prevent rust.