North African Campaign 1942

[North Africa]

My father was a Colonel and Chief of Operations of the 12th Air Force during the WWII North African Campaign. A Luftwaffe airfield (in Tunisia I believe) was overwhelmed by the U.S. and British forces and my father was the senior officer responsible for the official surrender of the airfield by the Germans. The senior Luftwaffe officer handed over his Luger to him and it is now in my possession. All markings match: on the top of the barrel is 1940 w/ 3593 (w/ no suffix) on the left. I know nothing about Lugers other than we used to shoot it occasionally. Question: Is it possible to identify the German Luftwaffe Officer through this information? My father and I discussed years ago it would be great to locate and return it to his family.

[DavidJayUden]

I'm skeptical on that info. being found thru the pistol, however I would presume that there are other records available that might give a name of the commander who surrendered that particular installation. News articles, historical accounts, biographies, documentaries, news-reels, Google, local archives, photographs, veteran's group archives, etc. Maybe our German collegues can help on that end if given sufficient info.
Let's see what the others have to say on this one.
dju

[Edward Tinker]

Peter, welcome to the forum.

1. It is possible, but unlikely to figure out who owned it. A lot of searching might find out the officer in charge, so it could be assumed...


2. I would be interested in any other info, story, etc and pictures for my 2nd paperback on Bring Backs?

email if interested, great story here.

weimar_lugers@verizon.net

[Drachenstein]

Every US Company kept a log, a units diary more or less. Locate it and you might find your answer, depending on how well the Company Clerk kept it. When cleaning out my fathers estate I found a copy of one such log, the wealth of day to day info was incredible. Who was KIA and how it happened, who went on sick call, units daily mission, all sorts of small stuff that gets overlooked. The surrending officers name may be in one such log,,,,,,,,,,,, a place to start looking would be the unit reunion organization. Start you search soon though as most of America's greatest generation are dwindling.

Frank

[Douglas Jr.]

It's impossible to locate the original owner through the gun.
However, as said above, there are other ways that might be prove helpful in your research.
The exact location of this airfield would be an important step.

Douglas

[mrerick]

If you do locate the German officer and his family, it could be quite a chore to return the firearm to them.

You are not permitted to ship the firearm overseas personally. It must be done by a federal firearms license class 01 holder, and then:

2. To export fi rearms other than sporting
shotguns or ammunition for firearms other
than sporting shotguns, the FFL from whom
you purchase the firearm/ammunition must be
registered with the Department of State, Office
of Defense Trade Controls (ODTC). The FFL
must obtain an export license from the ODTC
prior to exportation.

In Germany, the recipient must also obtain a license:

A firearms ownership license (Waffenbesitzkarte) must be obtained before a weapon can be purchased. Owners of multiple firearms need separate ownership licenses for every single firearm they own.

This involves meeting a number of criteria, including "necessity". Few Germans qualify for these licenses unless they are hunters.

- - - -

Weapons like yours are considered trophies of war. The retention of them honors people like your father who honorably met the enemy, survived the encounters and ultimately triumphed for our country.

It would be exceptional if you were able to locate the set of "bring back papers" that probably accompanied the Luger back to the USA with your father.

Marc

[Ferley]

Ed,
Just finished your first "Bring Back" and thoroughly enjoyed it. Looking forward to your next one! I do have a bring back but have no history on it to contribute, wish I did.
Ferley