STAGE X — Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk

The tenth stage of archaeological research took place from the 9th of May to the 7th of November 2023. Its aim was to uncover and document the remains of the non-commissioned officers' villa and the stairs leading to it, to document and determine the condition of guardhouse No. 3, to explore the farm building located near the Villa; precisely locating the remains of ammunition shelter No. 9; Other objectives included uncovering the remains of the entire farm building on the ‘Mikołajewo’ site, identifying its internal layout and foundations, and conducting exploratory surveys in locations selected on the basis of geophysical surveys and archival photographs; confirmation of the location and assessment of the condition of the concrete foundations of the northern section of the so-called red wall; locating the site of the Polish field cannon, known as the ‘putiłówka’, and finding the remains of Leg. Mieczysław Krzak, reconnaissance of Polish fortifications from September 1939 and assessment of the condition of the historic corrugated iron breakwater. As part of this stage, a field survey was also carried out using metal detectors in the area of the non-commissioned officers' villa and Mikołajewo.
Excavations carried out on the site of the non-commissioned officers' villa and guardhouse No. 3 covered an area of 432 m², on the site of the ammunition shelter No. 9 297 m², Mikołajewo 456 m² (380.5 m² planned for explorations and excavations and 75.5 m² of test pits carried out as part of the pre-excavation survey), the red wall 75 m², the site of a Polish field cannon, known as a putiłówka, 222 m², and the area near the breakwater and Fort 159.5 m².
In total, 1,641.5 m² were examined during the tenth stage of archaeological research. The area of 10,086 m² (1 ha) (1,800 m² villa, 8,286 m² Mikołajewo) was subjected to test pits.
Outcomes:
Villa and guardhouse No. 3:
The remains of a brick villa and guardhouse No. 3 were uncovered and documented, the foundations of farm buildings from the resort period were discovered: a toilet and a farm building of unknown purpose, and the corner of an unidentified building, also dating from the resort period, was uncovered. Stone stairs leading to the non-commissioned officers' villa, probably built at the beginning of the 20th century, were also uncovered. During the works, numerous architectural elements of the demolished villa were found, as well as a mesh for shielding the magnetic field of a WST radio station, an ID card of a Prussian official (with an embossed eagle), Polish bullet casings from 1939, and pottery from the resort period. German artillery shells (88 mm calibre) and elements of German rifle ammunition were also found on the site and in the vicinity of the excavation.
Mikołajewo
The entire relics of a farm building erected in 1937 were uncovered, and its internal layout (stable, cowshed with a pigsty, storage and utility room) and the depth of the foundations were identified. During surveys, the locations of which were selected on the basis of geophysical studies, a fragment of a crater filled with German barbed wire and modern electrical cables was uncovered. The examination of the farm building led to the discovery of, among other things, a Polish emblem with an embossed eagle from a signal trumpet, a Polish cap badge, Polish uniform buttons, and fragments of bricks with the Szumski signature from a brickyard near Warsaw. In addition, during a field survey conducted with metal detectors, two craters were found; at the bottom of one of them were the remains of a German soldier who died in the spring of 1945. The remains were found with an identity tag, military boots, a helmet and a German Mauser rifle (secured by the IPN prosecutor). The other crater was filled entirely with rubbish from the communist period and the 1990s.
Ammunition shelter No. 9
The exact location of the shelter could not be determined. Only fragments of its foundations and traces of the demolition of the building, which took place in the 1960s, were found in the excavation. During the research, fragments of a lightning protection system in the form of lightning rods and grounding plates were found. They probably came from several demolished buildings.
Red Wall
The relics of the concrete foundations of the so-called Red Wall were uncovered and its correct course was established. In addition, a stone band was discovered, which served as a breakwater, most likely erected in the second half of the 19th century. During the works, mainly rifle ammunition elements were found, mostly German bullet casings from the end of the war.

The position of a Polish field cannon, known as a putiłówka
No traces related to the cannon's position were found. A rubbish pit from the resort period and two rubbish bins from the early 1970s were located. During the works, a lead soldier, coins, including one minted in 1779, two lead WST seals and fragments of cut tiles from the Dziewulski and Lange factory from the period when the power plant was equipped were found.
Fort area
The searches conducted this season did not bring the expected results; neither the remains of Mieczysław Krzak nor any traces of the place where his body was supposed to have been burned were found. Two Polish firing positions from September 1939 were uncovered on the earth embankment of the Prussian fort (one of them had already been located during the supervision of sapper works in the spring of 2021), as well as a trench built in 1966 for the film ‘Westerplatte’ located near the breakwater. The other results of the research are similar to those obtained during previous seasons: another section of the wall of the Prussian beach battery was uncovered, as well as a German trench from the end of World War II stretching along the waterfront and elements of a corrugated iron breakwater, most likely built in the second decade of the 20th century. The surveys revealed numerous traces of work carried out on the breakwater at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries, which irretrievably destroyed the historical layers from the time when the WST was in operation. The artefacts recovered during the work in this area are mainly shell casings: Polish ones from the September battles in 1939 and German ones from the battles in 1945. Elements of German military equipment were also found.
During the field survey conducted with the use of metal detectors, in addition to finding the remains of a German soldier who died in 1945 and rubbish bins containing rubbish from the communist era and the 1990s, mainly elements of port cranes from the ammunition basin, bolts and other elements of trackage and unspecified equipment. A Prussian bayonet, known as a ‘liściak’, was also found, which may have been part of the WST's equipment.
During this work, a significant amount of explosive and dangerous military items were also recovered, which were then secured by a sappers and disposed of.
In total, during the 10th season of archaeological research, over 3,700 historical items (3,730) were obtained, of which almost 2,300 (2,297 items) were considered to be of great historical, exhibition or historical value. Among them were the aforementioned elements of Polish equipment and uniforms (a signal trumpet badge, a cap badge, uniform buttons, Polish rifle cartridges from the September battles of 1939), a Polish tin official identification tag, WST lead seals, a mesh for shielding the magnetic field of a WST radio station, a Prussian bayonet, and fragments of cranes with traces of explosion damage and numerous artillery shell fragments.
Additionally, over 1,000 (1,054) explosive or dangerous items were found, which were secured by a sapper supervising the archaeological works and handed over for disposal. These were mainly shell casings and ammunition from World War II, including 47 artillery shells of 20mm-210mm calibre, grenade shells, mortar shells and fuses.