Hanko in WW2. The 2020 battlefield archaeology excavation. Day 6/10.
Today we concentrated on the burnt down ”Hamsterbo” shelter in order to find out just how deep down the remains of it actually lay buried.
After quite a lot of effort we finally found remains of the collapsed and charred roof timbers some 2 (!) meters below ground surface. Some nice finds immediately showed up among them a compass and the small tent stove used by the soldiers to keep the shelter warm.
The exploded ”mystery bullets” found last week (and also today) have now been proven without a doubt to be so called incendiary ammunition which is a type of firearm ammunition containing a white phosphorous compound that burns rapidly and causes fires.
This kind of ordonance is still potentially dangerous if found in an unexploded conditon. Perhaps needless to say but the incendiary ammunition kept in the shelter when the fire broke out didn´t exactly prevent the fire from spreading…