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pacman · 10-29-2007, 01:35 PM

I recently posted pictures of my uncle's 1914 Erfurt Luger, which I now own. I thought that some of you may be interested in the story behind it. My Uncle enlisted in the Army in 1942. Once there, the Army recognized that he had a rare and valuable talent. He was a blazingly fast typist!! He was immediately shipped to England where he figured he was going to be spending the rest of the war - behind a desk.

However, shortly thereafter, his commanding officer came up to him and informed him that he would be just a little bit closer to the action. The British has just formed a new unit - the SAS. The U.S. Army wanted to learn more about this unit and needed a good typist to go along with them to report on their tactics. My uncle didn't know at the time what he was getting into but he followed his orders.

A few weeks later my uncle was still a typist but only in the evening. During the day he was a gunner on a jeep with a mounted 50 cal .machine gun racing though the desert behind Rommel's lines. Remember the TV show- the Desert Rats? That was my uncle!

One day they came upon a small German Patrol and he started hosing them with the machine gun. They quickly surrendered and the officer leading the German Patrol, a captain, gave my uncle the Luger. Sometime later my uncle was severely injured in a Jeep crash and was shipped back home.

Many of us boomers tend to romanticize our parents generation, but it is not without cause. My uncle's story is only one of many, about a person who was the farthest thing from a professional soldier, yet he stepped up and did his duty when he was asked.

10-29-2007, 01:35 PM	#1
pacman User Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Houston Texas Posts: 8 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	The story behind my "new" Luger I recently posted pictures of my uncle's 1914 Erfurt Luger, which I now own. I thought that some of you may be interested in the story behind it. My Uncle enlisted in the Army in 1942. Once there, the Army recognized that he had a rare and valuable talent. He was a blazingly fast typist!! He was immediately shipped to England where he figured he was going to be spending the rest of the war - behind a desk. However, shortly thereafter, his commanding officer came up to him and informed him that he would be just a little bit closer to the action. The British has just formed a new unit - the SAS. The U.S. Army wanted to learn more about this unit and needed a good typist to go along with them to report on their tactics. My uncle didn't know at the time what he was getting into but he followed his orders. A few weeks later my uncle was still a typist but only in the evening. During the day he was a gunner on a jeep with a mounted 50 cal .machine gun racing though the desert behind Rommel's lines. Remember the TV show- the Desert Rats? That was my uncle! One day they came upon a small German Patrol and he started hosing them with the machine gun. They quickly surrendered and the officer leading the German Patrol, a captain, gave my uncle the Luger. Sometime later my uncle was severely injured in a Jeep crash and was shipped back home. Many of us boomers tend to romanticize our parents generation, but it is not without cause. My uncle's story is only one of many, about a person who was the farthest thing from a professional soldier, yet he stepped up and did his duty when he was asked.