Remains of Dead WW2 Soldiers (1 Viewer)

[DeathHand]

In July of 1942, German troops were on the move in the western Caucasus region of Soviet Union.

The Red Army was dug in and proved difficult to dislodge. The German army was thinly spread out for miles along the battle front hoping to reach and take the oil fields in the area.

The Germans eventually pulled their forces out of the Caucasus region, ending all fighting and hostilities.

Many soldiers from both sides died during the fighting and many still rest there: under several feet of dirt.

Sauk-Dere, Russia, May 2015

Set 1.

1. German troops advancing near Kuban in the summer of 1942.

2. Dead German soldiers in a shallow trench during this conflict. Example of how dead soldiers look in a trench and how the bodies can be several feet away from each other..

3. The battlefield as it appears today.

 

[DeathHand]

A team of Russian diggers set out on a mission to locate the trenches that the Red Army soldiers occupied in the hope of finding the remains of the missing and identify them.

In Sauk-Dere, Russia, this team found a trench that stretched along for about 100 meters.

Nearly 72 years after heavy fighting in the area that killed so many, the trench digs started to give up the remains of soldiers, both Soviet and German.

Set 2.

1. The dig begins once the trench was located.

2.

3.

4. Buttons from a Soviet uniform/tunic.

5. Metal base plate of a German mortar.

 

[DeathHand]

In this set the dig team found the remains of 6 Soviet soldiers buried over the years under the earth in the trench. They noted that the entire area was full of metal shrapnel. Along with the skeletal remains of the Soviet soldiers in this dig, the team also found the remains of a German mortar base-plate (seen above).

Set 3.

1. This set of remains had many shrapnel-related injuries, especially to the exposed shoulder.

2. Cartridges lying with the body of the ^remains.

3. Collar from a Soviet jacket.

4.

5. Another Soviet soldier.

 

[DeathHand]

They hypothesized that this part of the trench might have been occupied by a German mortar team that was overrun by the Soviets and that the Soviet soldiers then used the German mortar against other German positions. In the end, it appears that German artillery/mortars/tank fire killed these Soviet soldiers with a direct hit that was obvious by the large amount of shrapnel embedded with the soldiers' remains.

Sauk-Dere, Russia, May 2015

Set 4.

1. The remains of other Soviet soldiers are discovered.

2.

3. The intact boot of one of the Soviet soldiers.

4.

5. Standard Soviet grenades.

6. The remains of another Soviet soldier begins to appear.

7. The remains of a Soviet soldier's medallion (dog tag).

 

[DeathHand]

Back in a bit with more photos of trench digs in this same trench as the team moved on.

 

[Airbornemama]

Really interesting thread DH, too see that one soldier lying dead with his boots still on but hes all skeletal. Amazing...

 

[Honest]

That's a cool job, must be very rewarding for them to uncover the past.

 

[KriegerFrau]

Such a cool thing, I talk to a few Romanian guys who do this, I am not totally sure but I kind of thought some awards etc were withheld if a soviet soldier went MIA, as they were assumed captured by the enemy? I could be wrong but I always appreciated Military Archaeology for correcting this.

 

[Mental Puppy]

Awesome thread

Thanx DH.

 

[deviant2]

Nice pics. Sharp contrast from dirt, fear, blood and death, to a green, peaceful, wildflower covered plain. Tossed in to fall where they may, not terribly dignified is it? As if they were unpeople. Unbrothers, unsons, unfathers...

 

[deviant2]

Good morning? I think, right? 7am on your side of the globe..?

 

[DeathHand]

The battle between German/Axis forces and the Soviets in the Caucasus region is usually referred to as "Case Blue" or in German as "Fall Blau". This was not the only battle, but is the subject of these photos.

After Germany's aborted Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, the German army decided that it had to remove the Soviet Union from the battlefield and take the oilfields that fed the Soviet war machine. Even German fuel re-supply trucks were running out of fuel.

The remains of these Red Army soldiers were found in trenches in the same general vicinity as the ones posted above.

Set 5.

Krymsk, Russia, 2015.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5. A pocket knife engraved with the name of it's past-Russian owner.

 

[DeathHand]

During mid to late 1942 the Germans sent three Panzer Divisions and thousands of Wehrmacht into the Caucasus to dislodge the Red Army during Case Blue. The Soviets remained steadfast in defending the mountainous slopes of the area.

Kuban, Russia, May 2, 2015.

Set 6.

1. The battlefield at Kuban as seen today.

2. Site in Kuban were more digs for soldiers' remains were conducted (same location as above photo).

3.

4.

5.

6.

 

[DeathHand]

Photos from 2 more digs coming up...later...

 

[mikey.mike]

Amazing set

 

[rottenfresh]

In this set the dig team found the remains of 6 Soviet soldiers buried over the years under the earth in the trench. They noted that the entire area was full of metal shrapnel. Along with the skeletal remains of the Soviet soldiers in this dig, the team also found the remains of a German mortar base-plate (seen above).

Set 3.

1. This set of remains had many shrapnel-related injuries, especially to the exposed shoulder.
View attachment 247059

2. Cartridges lying with the body of the ^remains.
View attachment 247060

3. Collar from a Soviet jacket.
View attachment 247061

4.
View attachment 247062

5. Another Soviet soldier.
View attachment 247063

Died with his fuckin boots on.

 

[Honest]

Those boots were built to last, tough fuckers.

 

[tero]

They hypothesized that this part of the trench might have been occupied by a German mortar team that was overrun by the Soviets and that the Soviet soldiers then used the German mortar against other German positions. In the end, it appears that German artillery/mortars/tank fire killed these Soviet soldiers with a direct hit that was obvious by the large amount of shrapnel embedded with the soldiers' remains.

Sauk-Dere, Russia, May 2015

Set 4.

1. The remains of other Soviet soldiers are discovered.
View attachment 247064

2.
View attachment 247065

3. The intact boot of one of the Soviet soldiers.
View attachment 247066

4.
View attachment 247067

5. Standard Soviet grenades.
View attachment 247068

6. The remains of another Soviet soldier begins to appear.
View attachment 247069

7. The remains of a Soviet soldier's medallion (dog tag).
View attachment 247070

Wow Deathhead, love to be at one of these excavations. All the cool stuff that's found. This is a great thread. Thanks for sharing WW2 with us .

 

[ThatOtherAccount]

Thanks for the thread. I greatly appreciate I The before and after is what's so amazing.

 

[22putthecandleback22]

These people were all someone's loved family member. Never knowing what happened to them just knowing they never came home, now here they are......