ROMANIAN MILITARY ARCHEOLOGY
the fallen
Susai
During the day of 16.08.2015 the R.M.A team discovered a WW1 mass grave in the Predeal area, containing the remains of 4 Romanian soldiers.
BUSTENI
16.09.2015 the R.M.A team discovered a WW1 mass grave in the Predeal area, containing the remains of 7 Romanian soldiers.
POIANA SPINULUI
On 24.07.2016 when one of our RMA team, members discovered a fallen Romanian soldier that died in an attack in 1916.
SUSAI
During the day of 16.08.2015 the R.M.A team discovered a WW1 mass grave in the Predeal area, containing the remains of 4 Romanian soldiers. The place of the recovery was the scenery of heavy clashes between the Romanian army and the Austro-Hungarian one. The particular spot of the mass grave was located on an altitude where the A.U. breached into the Romanian lines, forcing them to retreat in a hurry. The time frame associated with the findings is the “Battle of Predeal”, an episode that happened in October 1916, when the Romanian troops fought in order to block the advance of the A.U. army trough the Carpathian mountains.
One of the strategic altitudes was the Susai hill, located in front of the Predeal rail station. There, the 21st Romanian Division fought the 76th German Division and the 8th Hungarian mountain brigade. After rejecting several attacks, the Romanian positions on the hill were destroyed by a very heavy artillery shelling, which started on the 12th of October and lasted until the 17th, when the A.U. troops attacked the remains of the 21st Romanian Division, gaining the hill.
The mass grave was located close to the hilltop, and by the remains’ position we deduced that the bodies were put together, one on top of the other, and that all were Romanian soldiers, judging by the personal items found on site, such as Romanian buttons (marked Ancora Galatzi), or coins (10 bani 1906).
Unfortunately, we didn’t find any dog-tag related to the bodies, only a few personal items and elements of clothing. All the remains was declared and handed to the authorieties, which will provide a proper burial in the local military cemetery.
POIANA SPINULUI
Since the discoveries in September 2015, RMA has not discovered any fallen soldiers from World War One, until 24.07.2016 when one of our members discovered a fallen Romanian soldier that died in an attack in 1916.
From the available info, it seems to be a soldier from the 3rd Infantry Regiment, fallen during the attack for Poiana Spinului in the night between 8-9 November 1916. Our soldier has been in the ground for 99 years, 8 months and 16 days. We hope we will be able to know his identity and contact his descendants.
The soldier`s gear was very modest: a winter trenchcoat, M2 gas mask (of French origin) and it`s carrying bag and the scabbard for the Romanian mod.1893 Mannlicher`s bayonet.
The authorities have been notified and should take care of his remnants. We don`t know what fate they will have, but we will give our best so the soldier can find his rest in a military graveyard or a mausoleum.
Some of you might remember a discovery we made back in 2016, with the burial place of a Romanian soldier in an area called Poiana Spinului. We are happy to announce you that the discovery caught interest and it became the subject of a thorough archaeological survey (not just our discovery but the area in general). Due to this study, several other corpses of soldiers were found (both Romanian and German). It was surprising to see that most of them were buried with their equipment still on!
The bodies will be soon given a proper burial with the necessary honors. We’ll keep you posted.
Many thanks to mr Tutulescu and mr Terteci, the archeologists that were assigned for this dig, which proved to be very friendly and open towards collaborating with us.
We hope to be able to show you more such studies in the future!
We are very delighted to announce you that today, the remnants of 3 Romanian and 1 German ww1 soldiers, discovered by our team and a friend of ours (Adrian N.) in 2016 , and another 3 Romanians and 1 German by the archeologists in 2018 have been given a proper burial, each nationality in its own dedicated cemetery.
You should be familiar with their story , since we made several posts with their discovery and with the archeological survey that happened in 2018 in that area.
We are very thankful to another supporter of ours from Râmnicu Vâlcea that helped us a lot in this case with the paperwork and other issues.
May they have their well deserved eternal rest.
ROMANIAN MILITARY ARCHEOLOGY
Aleea Calatis nr.14
Parter, Bl.A11, Sc.D, Ap.47
Municipiul Bucuresti
Sector 6, CP 061926
CIF 41004549