It's 'Da Bomb here in South Carolina!
A neighbor of mine, who has some property right down the road, gave me permission to do a little metal detecting on his land.
During World War II, there was a training facility in the general area. Over the years, I have heard about the training facility, the shelling and have been told many interesting things about the military operation that was housed there.
A couple of years ago, a friend who grew up in this area, showed me very old pictures of US soldiers who were in bunkers going through military training on the site. I have asked for permission to post those pictures and it was granted so check back! I will be picking them up in a couple of days and will be posting them here on the blog.
From what I have been told by locals, there were several military sites where rounds were consistently fired at Hogback Mountain. (I took this picture two weeks ago when the Peach trees were glorious and in full bloom - BTW - SC is second in peach production AHEAD OF GEORGIA but behind CA!) At the time, the area was uninhabited and the mountain was a perfect backdrop for shelling.
If you ask the older folks about the operation, stories abound about live shells, bomb bullets and bits of shrapnel and brass littering the area. One of my pals told me that he would go over to the mountain with his Dad during the Depression, pick up the shells and sell the brass and metal to bring in additional income for the family. He told me that lots of folks did that during the weekends hoping to find something that they could sell when times were hard.
I started treasure hunting today in the "mule pasture". Dora, the mule followed me the entire time and watched me swing the "stick with the funny round end" back in forth over her fescue. With Dora's help, I found four bomb bullets. I'm sure there has to be an official name for these lead bullets. If you know what it is, I would welcome the information! In addition, if you have details about the military operation at Hogback Mountain in South Carolina, I would love to hear about it! Please email me!
Bomb bullets are round lead pellets that are bigger than a musket ball. The large rounds that were fired toward the mountain were full of them. When the shells exploded, the bomb bullets would fly and disperse like shrapnel. There are many of them scattered about in the general area. The bullets are made out of lead.
Funny, it seems as if most people who have lived in these parts are familiar with bomb bullets and they still have the ones that they picked up years ago. What's funnier still are the uses that they have found for these lead bullets. Someone told me today that his son drills holes in them and still uses them as fishing sinkers.
As Dora and I checked out her field, my metal detector alerted to a rather large target. The target was long and relatively thin. I dug down about 12 inches and found a tubular object. I was hoping to find a shell casing. I opened the size of the hole and sure enough, it appeared to be a shell.
I was very careful to hand dig around it with my small spade until I determined that the mortar round was missing and it was empty. At that point, I finished digging it out and took my spade and cleaned out the inside of the shell casing. I was thrilled to find the casing, packed it up carefully, thanked Dora and headed for the gate!
No comments:
Post a Comment