Last September while the UK faced lockdown restrictions I started magnet fishing and from the new year started posting videos of my finds on Youtube. For those who don't know what magnet fishing is I will quickly explain. You have a powerful magnet on a rope and you throw it into the water to see what magnetic items you can find. Most often it's just rusted up scrap but you do find bikes, shopping trollies, tools and weapons and on rare occasions, you can find something historic.
About 3 weeks ago I found something historic.
The item is a wax seal or document seal press, around the edge is the word Kommando. It would have been screwed onto a small wooden handle and used to seal orders or documents during the war. The 3 stars under the eagle could denote the rank of the officer using the seal or the level of security clearance you would have needed to read the document. This item must have been brought back by a returning soldier as a trophy but was later disposed of by throwing it in the canal.
The plan now is to donate the seal to a museum when they reopen this month
Pretty cool find. I wonder how long it has been there in the canal.
I think it's been down there since the late 1940's, may have found another today at the same spot but this one is very called up and will need careful cleaning as it is more damaged.
Perhaps a secret NAZI cell sending out orders to others, and then when things started to get tight they had to dump them in a hurry and try to escape back to Germany.