Somme battlefield finds.......with a difference.

[Roger Payne]

I thought some people might find this a mildly interesting aside. One of my best pals works in the Somme battlefield museum in the little town of Albert. As we all know the ground is still full of detritus from the 1914 - 1918 period, but fighting swept across the area in WW2 on two occasions, albeit rather more briefly; firstly when the 'phoney war' came to an end with the Blitzkrieg against France & the Low Countries in April/May/June 1940, & secondly, again for a day or two in August 1944, when German troops retreating from the debacle in Normandy were passing through the area.

The finds in the attached photo were unearthed only a couple of weeks ago as a result of roadworks in the centre of Albert, close to the museum. I wonder if the Bren was battle damaged, or whether the gunner had time to disassemble the pistol grip assembly & chuck it in a different direction to where he left the guts of the gun? The rifle is clearly a SMLE. My money is on them being there since May 1940, just prior to the retreat to Dunkirk.

Fortunately they will not be destroyed as the museum has secured them & will hopefully be exhibiting them in due course, even if they are from the 'wrong' World War!

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.