F. J. O’Connell – The True Story of a Hero

Machine translation of the original editorial information.

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Inside this issue

1. 14 · Ignorance of the law is no excuse (not even for treasure hunters)
2. 18 · Deep in the dark forests
3. 30 · A Russian soldier’s spoils

Historical introduction: prices, events and dates refer to the original publication.

Dear readers,

We have done our best to ensure that you receive the new issue of Detektor revue (labelled No. 6/2019) before Christmas, so that you have something to read over the festive period, delivered to your letterboxes in good time. We’re really pleased that it worked out! As always, we’ll give you a sneak preview of it beforehand.

In the opening section, ‘Artefact of the Month’, treasure hunter Krmi83 will present one exceptional addition to his collection under the heading ‘Stamp for “election cards”’. ‘Behind the Scenes of a Short Story’ is the title of an article by our regular contributor Manuel F. van Eyck, who, inspired by a short story by Zdeněk Jarchovský, decided to uncover the true story of the American pilot F. J. O’Connell, shot down on 20 April 1945 over Hostivař, Prague. During a unique treasure-hunting event – a so-called charity hunt – British treasure hunter Stephen made two exceptional finds. And the whole extraordinary story is recounted in the article The Story of Two Rings.

In this issue, you’ll find the second instalment of our new column ‘Let’s Save History’, in which we follow how treasure hunters are helping to preserve our archaeological heritage. Ignorance of the law is no excuse (not even for treasure hunters), so we have titled the interview with Mgr. Stanislav Kapl on the legal provisions a treasure hunter should be aware of before heading out into the countryside with a metal detector. In this issue, we present the first part of this series. In his report ‘Deep in the Dark Forests’, our regular contributor, the treasure hunter Kazim, recounts how a location that sometimes appears completely barren can still take a treasure hunter by surprise. We spoke to historian Filip Vojtášek about his new book on Allied fighter aircraft attacks on targets in occupied Czechoslovakia in the spring of 1945, entitled Under Fire from the Dive Bombers.

Below is an article by treasure hunter Pavel entitled ‘The Mystery of the Arboretum’, concerning the discovery of an Abwehr badge, which sparked a great deal of discussion amongst collectors and treasure hunters. One of the largest gold treasures discovered in Romania in recent years was found by our colleague Sorin, who titled his account of his lucky day ‘A Russian Soldier’s Loot’. Have you ever felt like snapping your metal detector over your knee? This is another question we asked treasure hunters in your favourite poll. Our contributor Acci has once again embarked on a journey into history, this time following the trail of a yellowed postcard discovered in an antiquarian bookshop, and has woven the story of its protagonist into a tale he has titled The Gospel, the Dagger and the Revolver.

Wood, a treasure hunter, aviation enthusiast and expert, will take you back to the ‘wood and canvas’ era as he searches for the wreckage of a Caudron C-61 aircraft. In our regular ‘Archaeological Snippets’ column, we highlight, amongst other things, an extraordinary find in Egypt and the wreck of a British submarine discovered by divers off the coast of Malta. Once again, those interested in the history of weapons produced by Czechoslovak manufacturers will not be disappointed – a study by the military technology historian Jan Škarka focuses on another outstanding product from Škoda: the 7.5 cm Škoda vz. 1911 cannon.

‘Mina’ – this is the title Karel Velkoborský gave to his short story, set in Saharan Africa, which is not only aimed at metal detectorists. Ivo Tomáš, a collector and expert, answers your questions about button finds in the regular column ‘The Button Collector’s Advice Corner’.