BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA—According to a report in The Slovak Spectator, the site of an ammunition depot dating to World War II has been identified outside of the city of Bratislava in the Little Carpathian Mountains. “Based on the composition of the finds, the terrain, and their distribution, we were able to determine that this was an ammunition depot used by German forces defending Bratislava at the end of the war,” said archaeologist Matúš Sládok of the Regional Monuments Board Trnava. The depot, built in 1944 by forced laborers, was part of a defensive system that began in Slovenia and ran through northern Slovakia to its border with Poland. Ammunition found at the site includes anti-personnel mines known as Stockmine 43. These mines were encased in concrete rather than metal in order to conserve resources. “After 1942, Germany faced growing shortages of raw materials, which pushed the development of munitions towards cheaper and more readily available alternatives,” explained researcher Tomás Tkáčik of OZ Bunkre. Retreating German forces are thought to have destroyed the depot to keep it out of Soviet hands. To read about Soviet nuclear warhead bunkers discovered in the forests of western Poland, go to "Cold War Storage."
