Captured Lugers

bill m · 10-23-2001, 07:35 PM

Hi,

Was visiting with my uncle today, and asked him about taking German weapons and what happened if they were caught with them. He said they were told that they could be shot if caught with any German weapons. He did not know if this was true or not or if the German Army or the SS were doing this.

Anyway, he took two Lugers in North Africa. Said it didn't worry him at the moment, as he figured he'd be killed before he was captured anyway. One was a 1939 S/42. It was on an dead German Officer and had a 1939 dated holster and two mis-matched 122 code magazines with it. He still has this Luger.

The second Luger sounds very interesting, and I have no idea what it was. I've heard this story ever since I was in grade school from him and today I asked him again. Same story. He said he took this Luger from an dead German General. It had pearl or ivory grips and was gold engraved. I never heard of a Mauser being engraved, so possibly this was a Luftwaffe General with a Krieghoff? Anyway, he was shot up a few days later on some hill (699) or something like that, and ended up in the hospital in North Africa and then back to England. While in the hospital the engraved Luger was stolen. He did not remember what the markings were on this Luger or anything about the General. An interesting story which doesn't have anything to back it up, but since it came from my uncle, I'm inclined to believe he actually did pick up some kind of engraved Luger. Just thought I'd share this with you folks.

Chuck Shoun · 10-23-2001, 07:48 PM

War stories sure are fun, aren't they?

10-23-2001, 09:10 PM

A guy my Dad worked with brought back a Mauser (marked 42) on the toggle, I never heard his story of how he obtained it in Europe.

Stories like those are what I enjoy best about collecting. For my birthday a couple of weeks ago, I was given ShattuckÃ¢??s book, I enjoyed it very much. Not really big, but nice pictures and stories. I really enjoyed the statement that guns that have had steady wartime use maybe should be part of your collection. I have nothing against 90% and up LugerÃ¢??s, but I would gladly take a beat up Luger with an interesting story!

My (realizable) dream is to find a nice used Luger with bring back papers and some provenance of how it was captured.

Besides, it might not be a "collector", but I like to put some rounds through my guns, and that is nice to do on occassion.

Ed

10-23-2001, 07:35 PM	#1
bill m User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 385 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Captured Lugers Hi, Was visiting with my uncle today, and asked him about taking German weapons and what happened if they were caught with them. He said they were told that they could be shot if caught with any German weapons. He did not know if this was true or not or if the German Army or the SS were doing this. Anyway, he took two Lugers in North Africa. Said it didn't worry him at the moment, as he figured he'd be killed before he was captured anyway. One was a 1939 S/42. It was on an dead German Officer and had a 1939 dated holster and two mis-matched 122 code magazines with it. He still has this Luger. The second Luger sounds very interesting, and I have no idea what it was. I've heard this story ever since I was in grade school from him and today I asked him again. Same story. He said he took this Luger from an dead German General. It had pearl or ivory grips and was gold engraved. I never heard of a Mauser being engraved, so possibly this was a Luftwaffe General with a Krieghoff? Anyway, he was shot up a few days later on some hill (699) or something like that, and ended up in the hospital in North Africa and then back to England. While in the hospital the engraved Luger was stolen. He did not remember what the markings were on this Luger or anything about the General. An interesting story which doesn't have anything to back it up, but since it came from my uncle, I'm inclined to believe he actually did pick up some kind of engraved Luger. Just thought I'd share this with you folks.

10-23-2001, 07:48 PM	#2
Chuck Shoun User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Brigham City, UT Posts: 30 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Captured Lugers War stories sure are fun, aren't they?

10-23-2001, 09:10 PM	#3
66mustang Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Captured Lugers A guy my Dad worked with brought back a Mauser (marked 42) on the toggle, I never heard his story of how he obtained it in Europe. Stories like those are what I enjoy best about collecting. For my birthday a couple of weeks ago, I was given ShattuckÃ¢??s book, I enjoyed it very much. Not really big, but nice pictures and stories. I really enjoyed the statement that guns that have had steady wartime use maybe should be part of your collection. I have nothing against 90% and up LugerÃ¢??s, but I would gladly take a beat up Luger with an interesting story! My (realizable) dream is to find a nice used Luger with bring back papers and some provenance of how it was captured. Besides, it might not be a "collector", but I like to put some rounds through my guns, and that is nice to do on occassion. Ed