Another New Guy With A Luger

[170bcuda]

Hey everybody,
My story is the same, like all my baby boomer brethren whose fathers fought in WWII and brought back a luger, I had one handed down to me. Luckily my dad is still alive and this particular pistol he took from a German Major when 94th Inf Div assaulted the Siegfried line at the Switch. His squad overran an artillery position, and captured several prisoners. My dad says the officer was pretty arrogant and my dad remembers he insisted he was a German officer not a Nazi. Dad remembered he was an older guy, but when youâ??re 18, 25 is old

Now for the luger. Iâ??m a total luger newbie; Iâ??ve just begun my research, so bear with me.

This pistol has a short barrel with the numbers 1911 stamped on the frame just before the barrel. It has a serial number 9156 stamped on the left fwd portion of the frame. There is a crown and the word Erfurt stamped on the toggle.

On the bottom of the barrel, 9156 is also stamped along with 8.82 stamped underneath it. The numbers â??56â?� with some sort of letter with a crown is stamped on every piece on this pistol. So it appears to be numbers matching

On the right fwd side of the frame opposite the 9156 are what looks like the letters C S R with what looks like crowns followed by some sort of eagle.

I have two clips with this pistol; they have wooden butt plates with numbers on them I can vaguely make out.

On the lower leg of the trigger guard near the end of the clip are the numbers 143.R.10.5.

The grips are wooded and of course dirty. The bluing is pretty much intact. Donâ??t have the flap holster it was in at the time of capture. My dad was more concerned with disarming the prisoners, securing the area and the luger. He remembered it was brown.

So thatâ??s my story. Iâ??ll post up some pics as soon as I can. Any help or info to point me in the right direction is greatly appreciatedâ?¦â?¦â?¦â?¦â?¦â?¦â?¦â?¦.170bcuda

[VN Vet]

Super story my friend. Since your Dad actually captured the Pistole and told you the story I believe you can "take it to the bank". From you discription you have a fine relic from WWII even though it is a pre-WI Pistole. Not too many pistols have a known history on how it happen to come to you. You are lucky.

If you ever consider selling it, PM me. Write down the known history. Better yet, have your Dad hand write its history and sign it, it may just give the needed documentation to make a fine sale. In my short time as being a collector I have heard many times "it was taken off a dead Nazi at the Battle of __________ just to sell the pistole to a sucker. Yours has a true history.

Thank you for sharing with us. Don't forget to post pictures.

[jonnyc]

Sounds like a nice, early matching Luger. My father was on-board a ship in the Pacific, and I got squat.

[Ron Smith]

You have a first year production 1911 Erfurt (Gov't arsenal) Luger. The marking on the grip strap is for 143 Infantry Regiment Company 10 weapon 5. This is an Imperial (WWI) Regimental unit mark.

Your Luger has a varied history. Issued to the Imperial Army probably before WWI. Most likely saw service during the Weimar period 1919-1933, and then into WWII with an Artillery Officer.

Can you post some photos?

Ron

[Edward Tinker]

About 10,000 1911 Erfurts were made, so not a common variation (although over a million lugers were made in WW1).


These are the kind of stories I love and collected for my book. Since the last book took about 5 years to finish, I should start collecting stories for #2

if interested, shoot me an email,

weimar_lugers@verizon.net


Ed

[170bcuda]

Wow, thanks guys for your info. My dad always told me it was an older luger and not one "mass produced by the Nazis" (his exact words). I'll talk to him later this week to see if he remembers exactly where his unit was when he captured the luger. He's still pretty sharp and now that he's in his mid 80's, he talks more about the war. I guess the old saying is true about time healing old wounds and erasing some of the horrors of war.

I'll get pics posted this week. This is all pretty wild to have this vintage firearm. I'm sittin here looking at it wondering man, if you could talk, where have you been!

For those interested in the exploits of the 94th Div during WWII, there is a good book out entitled "Pattons Pawns"

My dad was assigned to the 94th Inf Div, 376 Inf. Regt, 2nd Bn, "E" Co

[unterhund]

Hey hey 170bcuda! First, welcome to this forum from another FNG! Second, GREAT ride you have in your avatar!

Third, and most importantly, I strongly encourage you to ask your father more about his WWII experience. Sit him down and get him on tape; get as much out of him as possible. I know of the reluctance of combat vets to speak of their service, but it is important to you, your descendants, and the world at large, to capture these oral histories while these few are still with us.

My father, a PTO vet, has been gone for over thirteen years. Over the past year, I have been researching his experience, and every day I regret not asking him to tell me more about it.

Your father is one of the men who saved the world from tyranny. He should be honored, and his story should be immortalized, no matter the extent of his time "on the line." Please extend my thanks to him for what he did. He helped make the world a better place.