Nazi War Diggers aka Battlefield Recovery

I found it tremendously enjoyable. Only watched last 20 minutes of it mind. Very much lads on tour hashtag ww2bants.

Almost every minute I wondered if they'd be smeared by a booby trap, pick up an axe and turn into a slasher, discharge the MP40 into each other or try and articulate topography... it was sheer joy.

I find the concept outrageous as my views on the digging community are well known, but watching such moronic presented by such eloquent and knowledgeable individuals was eye-opening:

"Look this is pristeem!" "Holy shit" "Imagine stuff blowing up everywhere and people being mowed down!"

I mean they did drop the S bomb pre-watershed which I guffawed at. As was the 'black diggers' comment, "We robbed first guv so stop thas bleedin' slavs eh?" was seemingly the tone of it.

While I can see why some may find it deeply offensive ... the entire thing is no where near as disgusting as the images on FB groups often show. Some were decrying desecration of war graves when those who died were not even buried, disrespectful disposal of the dead is commonplace out there in skips/plastic bags, but this was hardly digging up CWGC as some inferred.

My main concern is this goes to encourage others, I've had belting disagreements with those who dig in Normandy and Holland in the last couple of years, this programme legitimises (at best) a grey industry which should be held in little more than contempt. That is where the real drive should be, but once more I am disappointed by the public outrage of so many... that I know still possess and buy relics from scumbag dealers and diggers, supporting and encouraging the wider even more criminal industry.

 

My observations were that the programme reflected a jolly boys outing....strange when you get males together as this,the behaviour can be predictable.

However what has been screened should not detract from the excellent but formidable task of the VDK to recover and identify the German dead,as far as possible that lie missing on the Eastern Front.

 

I would definitely agree with you, Jonathan - if this wasn't about human remains. Sure, there's my jealousy of their finding interesting items in so great a condition with so little (apparent) effort, but what makes me really angry is how they handle remains. They might say they treat them with respect, but they don't. I don't know what they'll do with the ID discs (and I'm certainly not insinuating anything) but their procedure seems little better than plundering graves and has nothing to do with archaeology. This way they destroy any further leads that might have helped identifying an individual or finding out something about the circumstances of their death. I don't know what their goal really is, but it's definitely not finding out about history or "bury[ing] the dead with honour."
I'm aware that they are not the only ones who proceed this way - but at least as far as I am aware, they are the only ones who get three hours on TV, advertising their work as solid. I guess what makes it so bad is not that they excavate (plunder?) sites but that they are presented as if their work had any relevance to history or archaeology.

True. But at least the public outrage is a statement about how it should not be. It's certainly better than not saying anything and having people who are not familiar with it believe that it's the right way.
As for the black diggers, they can't be stopped anyway, I think. It would help a great deal though if they cared enough about bodies to report them and leave the ID discs with the individual, at least that way some fates can be cleared. I know it is frustrating to recover bodies who have been stripped of all their belongings by looters but it's still a comfort to give them back their name and give them a decent burial.

PS: I don't collect...

 

Not seen it yet. Hoping to watch it tomorrow before I go to work.

 

As soon as I read, 'US antiques dealer' involved, I wasn`t interested. I won`t even bother watching it. These sort of things are only interested in turning up items which can be sold which seems a trait common to a lot of US programmes.

 

My understanding was that the objects they found were to be donated to a museum in Latvia - or have I got that completely wrong

TD

 

Battlefield recovery before they changed the title !!

http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/52647-national-geographic-nazi-war-diggers/?hl=%20nazi%20%20war%20%20diggers

 

Just wait till you see these jokers digging up bodies in a later episode.

 

If it comes out on DVD I want Tony Robinson and Phil Harding to do the alternate commentary over a few pints of cider, but I imagine that they wouldn't be able to get enough x's on the boxset...

 

Morning,

Just one word

PANTS

Regards,

Graeme

 

Watched and have to a agree with someone else's sentiments, 'Car Crash TV'.

Was it just me that wanted to smash that American 'Officers' face in with a rather large length of 4 by 2? Every time he clenched his fist to tell them to stop I found myself shouting expletives at the TV !

I guess the 64,000 dollar question is, are they members on here ?

 

Couldn't agree more. A very worrying set of characters whose so-called expertise was a joke. The whole thing was tawdry.

 

When was it on? Can find no trace on Chanel 5 catchup.

 

Saturday night I think c7pm? - it was "on again" last night on Freeview channel 55 - Channel 5 +1 day (for those that have it)... (and probably now wish that they didn't)

 

Hmmmm...

http://www.archaeologists.net/news/cifa-comment-%E2%80%98battlefield-recovery%E2%80%99-1452602443

'The television programme ‘Battlefield Recovery’ – which charts the efforts of a team of historians, and metal-detectorists working to excavate archaeological remains along the WWII Eastern Front – aired on Saturday for the first time in the UK on Channel 5. The show, originally titled ‘Nazi War Diggers’ sparked controversy in 2014 for the way in which the programme appeared to show poor archaeological practice in the excavation of sites, including the exhumation of human remains. At this time, the original broadcasters – National Geographic - responded to criticism from the archaeological community and wider media by dropping the show. A number of other international networks have followed suit. However, Channel5 bought a re-branded version of the show and have not acknowledged the archaeological concerns about its content.'

CS

 

According to Paul Reed's T-feed, Channel 5 will air Battlefield Recovery as planned this Saturday.
https://twitter.com/sommecourt

 

Oh dear! One part of me says to watch it as it's hypocritical to criticise it without watching it and the other part says steer clear by watching something else on the tele. Could alternatively just go down the pub.

 

I've joined the complainants to Ofcom about this wretched series. I doubt whether it will have any effect, but we live in hope.

 

watched today...
no respect ,
no comment