By Frederik Pleitgen

CNN

DEUTSCHNEUDORF, Germany (CNN) -- Digging has resumed at a site in the southeastern German town of Deutschneudorf, where treasure hunters believe there are almost 2 tons of Nazi gold and possibly clues to the whereabouts of the legendary Amber Room, a prize taken from a Russian castle during World War II.

Treasure hunters began drilling again Tuesday to try to locate the lost Nazi gold.

1 of 3more photos » Heinz Peter Haustein, one of the two treasure hunters and a member of Germany's parliament, said: "We have already hit a hollow area under the surface, it's filled with water and we are not sure if it is the cave we are looking for."

Digging was stopped more than a week ago amid safety concerns, as authorities and the treasure hunters feared that the shaft might collapse and that the cave -- if it is there -- may be rigged with explosives or poisonous booby traps.

At a news conference Friday, Christian Hanisch, the other treasure hunter, said that geological surveying equipment had located a possible cave about 30 feet under the surface containing "precious metals that can only be either gold or silver. The instruments would not have reacted to any other metal like copper." See photos from hunt for lost Nazi gold »

Hanisch pointed out that his father, who was a navigator in the Luftwaffe, the Nazi air force, was one of the troops said to have been involved in hiding art, gold and silver as the Nazis realized that they would lose the war.

He said that when his father died, he left coordinates leading to the spot in Deutschneudorf.

"It's not about getting the reward," Hanisch said at the site. "I just want to know if my father was right and if my instincts were right."

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Haustein, who is paying for the expedition, said he hopes that finding the gold could lead to the Amber Room, whose interior is made completely of amber and gold. It was looted by the Nazis from a castle in St. Petersburg, Russia, after Adolf Hitler's forces invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.

The room looked so majestic, many called it "the eighth wonder of the world." It disappeared after the war, and today a replica stands in its place in St. Petersburg.

Although parts of the Amber Room have resurfaced, the vast majority remains missing.

Haustein has been looking for the room for more than 12 years. Watch hunt for Nazi gold at German mountain »

"I am certain that large parts of the Amber Room are buried somewhere here," he said.

He said he has collected much circumstantial evidence suggesting that the Nazis hid the Amber Room in old copper mines around Deutschneudorf, but he has no proof.

Haustein said the Nazis began bringing valuables including art, gold and silver to the region around Deutschneudorf as early as summer 1944.

Deutschneudorf is in Germany's Ore Mountains, and the mountain where the treasure hunters claim to have found the Nazi gold was a copper mine until the 19th century. Although the mine was shut down in 1882, geologists found evidence that soldiers from Hitler's Wehrmacht -- the German armed forces -- had been there. The machine guns, parts of uniforms and explosives are on display at the town's museum.

Though both treasure hunters say they are certain they will find cultural goods, both admit that they fear disappointment.

"Of course, if you embark on something like this, you ask yourself: 'What if we find nothing again? What if I was fooled?' " Haustein said. "But every man has to go his own way, for better or for worse."

If they do find the treasure, Haustein says, it would legally belong to Germany, although he would recommend that Germany give any Amber Room parts back to Russia.

Treasure hunters have typically received rewards of 10 percent of the value of the goods found, but Hanisch says there are no laws dictating the reward amount. E-mail to a friend

This story is from the book "Pacific Alamo: Battle for Wake Island". It recounts the reactions of the surviving POW's captured at Wake. Here is one description of what happened after the Japanese Surrender:

. . .The Americans in Japan's Hakodate Prison Camp #3, including Gunner Hamas and other Wake Island Marines, held and emotional ceremony. Fifteen men weaved together bits of red, white, and blue cloth into a crude Stars and Stripes, and as one man sounded Morning Colors on a bugle left by the Japanese guards, the entire camp assembled. For the first time in four years, stilled service men watched their country's flag rise to the top of an improvised flagpole fashioned from a cut young tree. Men who had not lost their composure after the battle or during the difficult moments in the prison camp unabashedly stood at attention while tears streamed down their faces. The flag for which they had fought and for which some of their friends had died, was at last once again flying proudly over their heads.

Wukovits, John , Pacific Alamo: Battle for Wake Island (New York: Penguin Group), p. 245.

Army Serial Number Info

The following came from Army Regulation 615-30, dated 12 Feb 1942.

The system enabled one who knew the numbering system to tell from a serial number the component and corps area (later Service command and army area) from which a man had entered the Federal service, whether he had enlisted, or had been drafted through the Selective Service, and whether he had been a National Guardsman in his home state. Officer serial numbers always started with the letter O.

According to Army Regulation 615-30, dated 12 Feb 1942, Corps area commanders are charged with the assignment of Army serial numbers to all enlisted men within their respective areas, including exempted stations and commands, and oversea base commands.

For the Regular Army - Enlisted men to whom an Army serial number has never been assigned: Army serial numbers from the blocks shown below will be assigned to men enlisted in the Regular Army on or after July 1, 1940. The second digit indicates the corps area of enlistment.

1st Corps Area - 11,000,000 to 11,999,999

2nd Corps Area - 12,000,000 to 12,999,999

3rd Corps Area - 13,000,000 to 13,999,999

4th Corps Area - 14,000,000 to 14,999,999

5th Corps Area - 15,000,000 to 15,999,999

6th Corps Area - 16,000,000 to 16,999,999

7th Corps Area - 17,000,000 to 17,999,999

8th Corps Area - 18,000,000 to 18,999,999

9th Corps Area - 19,000,000 to 19,999,999

Hawaiian Department - 10,100,000 to 10,199,999

Panama Canal Department - 10,200,000 to 10,299,999

Philippine Department - 10,300,000 to 10,399,999

Puerto Rican Department - 10,400,000 to 10,499,999

For the National Guard - Army serial numbers from the following blocks will be assigned to members of National Guard units upon induction into Federal service, regardless of whether or not the man formerly had an Army, Navy, or other service number. The third digit indicates corps area of induction.

1st Corps Area - 20,100,000 to 20,199,999

2nd Corps Area - 20,200,000 to 20,299,999

3rd Corps Area - 20,300,000 to 20,399,999

4th Corps Area - 20,400,000 to 20,499,999

5th Corps Area - 20,500,000 to 20,599,999

6th Corps Area - 20,600,000 to 20,699,999

7th Corps Area - 20,700,000 to 20,799,999

8th Corps Area - 20,800,000 to 20,899,999

9th Corps Area - 20,900,000 to 20,999,999

Hawaiian Department - 20,010,000 to 20,019,999

Puerto Rican Department - 20,020,000 to 20,029,999

The serial number assigned at induction into Federal service will be retained thereafter upon enlistment or reenlistment for the Regular Army or Army of the United States.

For Men inducted into the Army - Army serial numbers from the following blocks will be used for trainees inducted under the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, regardless of whether the man formerly had an Army, Navy, or Other service number, and will be retained thereafter upon enlistment or reenlistment for the Regular Army. The second digit indicates the corps area of induction.

1st Corps Area - 31,000,000 to 31,999,999

2nd Corps Area - 32,000,000 to 32,999,999

3rd Corps Area - 33,000,000 to 33,999,999

4th Corps Area - 34,000,000 to 34,999,999

5th Corps Area - 35,000,000 to 35,999,999

6th Corps Area - 36,000,000 to 36,999,999

7th Corps Area - 37,000,000 to 37,999,999

8th Corps Area - 38,000,000 to 38,999,999

9th Corps Area - 39,000,000 to 39,999,999

Hawaiian Department - 30,100,000 to 30,199,999

Panama Canal Department - 30,200,000 to 30,299,999

Philippine Department - 30,300,000 to 30,399,999

Puerto Rican Department - 30,400,000 to 30,499,999

Consecutive numbers - Consecutive numbers will not be assigned to men of the same surname. Canceled numbers will not be held available for reassignment.

The Army serial number assigned to an enlisted man is part of his official designation and, except as indicated will ordinarily appear in every military record in which his name appears, including every letter, telegram, order, report, pay roll, etc., at least once, preferably where the name first occurs.

Special care must be taken that the correct Army serial number is used for the reason that certain records are filed and certain accounts are paid by the Army serial number and not by name.

Corps Areas

1st Corps Area – ME, VT, NH, MA, CT, RI

2nd Corps Area – NY, NJ, DE

3rd Corps Area – PA, MD, VA, DC

4th Corps Area – NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, TN

5th Corps Area – OH, IN, KY, WV

6th Corps Area – IL, MI, WI

7th Corps Area – MO, KS, NB, CO, IA, MN, ND, SD, WY

8th Corps Area – AR, LA, TX, OK, NM

9th Corps Area - WA, OR, CA, ID, MT, NV, UT, AK

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TAG, IDENTIFICATION, M-1940 - Stock No. 74-T-60 official stocklist number + nomenclature, adopted 1940

NECKLACE & EXTENSION Stock No. 74-N-300, adopted 1943

Official stocklist number + nomenclature, length 40" (distance between 2 Dog Tags 1 ½"in) – in 1942, the first tag is to be suspended on a necklace 25" in length, while the second tag is to be fixed to a separate necklace extension not further than 2 ½" under the first one - first models were in cotton, plastic, nylon, rayon, the official metal necklace was only introduced in 1943 (with hooks & catches) the bead type (initially sold at PXs) quickly became popular and gradually replaced the 1943 issue, it was made out of 2 lengths of stainless steel, of approximately respectively 28" and 6" in length, easy and practical for general use 2" x 1 1/8".

DOG TAG 2' X 1-1/8" official dimensions, with notch at left (to position tag on the embossing machine) small outer rim, and hole (dia 1/8") for necklace

==============

SERIAL NUMBERS

Regular Army (1940) start with digit 1, followed by a second digit (indicating Corps Area/Service Cd) (there were 9 Corps Area for military administrative purposes, and 4 Army Areas for strategical military purposes) 14130598

National Guard (1940) start with digits 20, followed by a third digit (indicating Corps Area/Service Cd) 20417243

Draftees (1940) start with digit 3, followed by a second digit (indicating Corps Area/Service Cd) 31130734 (these were draftees called up by the Selective Training & Service Act)

Commissioned Officers (1921) start with prefix O, followed by hyphen + series of 2 > 6, even 7 digits (1940 starts with box of 23,000) O-57 O-3822 O-1170276

Warrant Officers (1942) start with prefix W, followed or not by hyphen + series of 7 digits, starting with 21 W-2118310

Flight Officers (1942) start with prefix T, followed by a series of digits T-6367

Army Specialist Corps (1942) start with prefix S, followed by a series of digits S-1038451

Army Nurse Corps (1921) start with prefix N, followed by a series of 6 digits (box of 700,000) N-782136

Hospital Dietitian + Physical Therapist (1942) HD start with prefix R, while PT start with prefix M, followed by a series of digits R..... M........

Contract Surgeon (1941) start with prefix CS, followed by a series of digits CS......

WAC (1943) start with prefix L (officer), L-918042, A (soldier) A-205333 and V (W.O.) V-704827, followed by a series of 6 digits, of which the first indicated the Service Cd

=============

Here's a great site to assist you:

http://www.dogtagsdirect.com/ww2.html

I received this letter this morning and had to share with you. I will translate later for those who do not speak French, but basically it says that this gentleman is a researcher and found an army camp in France, and discovered dogtags of a 540th engineer. He found the name on my site and says this soldier received a purple heart. He asks if I want photos of the camp. You bet! Here's the letter. I will post photos of the dogtags in a bit, but have to open the store right now...

--------------

Bonjour,

Je suis collectionneur de militaria de la seconde guerre mondiale depuis assez longtemps.

Résidant en France, dans l'Est du pays à la frontière avec l'Allemagne, je pratique la détection.

J'ai découvert un ancien camp de l'armée américaine et j'ai trouvé cinq plaques d'identité de GI.

L'une d'entre elle est au nom de WILLIAM COX, (N° 14020473) grâce à votre site j'ai appris que ce soldat avait été décoré de la PURPLE HEART et qu'il appartenait au 540 th combat engineers.

Merci à vous

Je n'ai pas d'autres indications sur ce soldat.

Avez-vous d'autres informations sur WILLIAM COX. Je suis à la recherche d'une photo et de tout renseignements

Merci.

Voulez-vous des photos du camp US j'ai trouvé en foret ?

Désolé pour le texte en anglais mais je ne maitrise pas votre langue.

Salutations, à vous lire

Damien

http://users.telenet.be/d.rijmenants

http://frode.home.cern.ch/frode/crypto/simula/m3/index.html

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