I knew guys that laid pipelines in Libya during the late 50's and that said stuff from WW 2 was lying around everywhere. In fact, according them anyway, until oil was found the number one export of Libya was scrap metal.

They were not allowed to approach anything that was outside the limits of the 'spread' because of mines that would still go off.

There are lots of Roman ruins out in the Libyan desert as well.

An 'original' find is determined by the fact that weapons are still attached to the machine. The equipment itself is usually shot up pretty good so there is little of it worth saving, but a machine gun from that era can bring thousands of dollars back in big city.