Band of Brothers-Malarky gets his Luger

[Thor]

Watched Episode #7 tonight and a Luger changed hands between 3 GIs after being taken from a dead German Officer. Combat footage was chilling and real. ~Thor~

In my opinion this series beats Private Ryan hands down. I will most certainly by the VHS set. He finally got his war trophy!!!! Being a collector, I automaticly assessed it's condition and guessed it was a Mauser 42 Code 1939.


Tim

[Steve Lempitski]

would one get a battlefield pick-up unless you were stupid or had a death wish. 99 percent of bring backs came out of capture piles at the end of the war - hence Lugers with improper clips, K98's with mis-matched bolts. More than one frontline European Vet has told me the unwritten rule: captured by the Germans, you're a prisoner - captured with any German equipment in your posession what so ever, and you were killed with it on the spot.

[Thor]

My Dad was picking them up off the battlefield but he had a cook keep them hidden in the mess tent for him! Pitting the Army took them when he got on the ship to come home! Thor

[Gene]

Band of Brothers by noted historian, Stephen Ambrose, is NOT fictional. It is based on the actual experiences of that particular unit in WW2.

[John Sabato]

The 9th Infantry Division Association (WW2) vets that I have met at their annual reunions (over 250 of them, my dad among them!) claim that Ambrose's books do not tell the true story of the battle for Europe and the books are full of inaccuracies and often sensationalism.


The 9th Inf Div Association has repeatedly written to him to advise him of the inaccuracies in his writings, and he has refused to answer their letters and address these issues.


He is a writer that sells books, and "good" stories for profit... He paints a good picture...


but he is NOT a true historian...


One the other hand, I feel that the Band of Brothers series that HBO is airing depicts much of the reality that our fathers and grandfathers experienced in that horrible time. Better than Saving Private Ryan? perhaps at least as good even if it is somewhat novelized.





-John Sabato

[John D.]

incredible autobiography (that has never been discussed on this Forum, I don't believe?) - try "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer. It is a view of an enlisted man's life on the Eastern Front and is starkly brutal in telling how cruel and brutal "it really was", as seen through the eyes of someone who lived through it.


Buy the book, you'll understand and sympathize. I guarantee you, you'll never be able to empathize with the conditions, though...

[Aaron]

I don't have HBO, so I have not yet seen this new video. I'm even two years behind on the Sopranos. Anyway, all this talk brings to mind my dear departed friend Mike Tripp, who passed away about five years ago. Mike was a WWII infantry lieutenant fighting in Germany, and he was also very much a gun lover. In fact, in later years he ran a gun store in Vista, California called "The Cartridge Shop," and many of us collectors used to spend the afternoon sitting around in his shop, drinking coffee and talking guns. He was such a great guy that when little old ladies would walk in with a collectable gun for sale he would let his buddies take the deal. Mike was such a poor businessman that he never had the money to buy them, anyway. I added many a beautiful Luger to my collection that way, to say nothing of some awesome SA Colts. Anyway, Mike claimed that a Luger was such a desireable trophy, that when a group of Germans would surrender, cries would ring out from up and down the line, "Get the Lugers!" and that's what the boys would rip off the prisoners, both the dead ones and the live ones. On the other hand, when the tables were turned and the GIs were captured, you could hear the clanking of Lugers and P-38s hitting the ground all over the place. Getting caught with a Kraut weapon on your person meant instant execution!

[Thor]

He wrote about his Infantry experience, but it was never published! It goes from PRE Boot camp all the way until he was released from Service. He entitled it "The Mississippi Kid" ~Thor~

[John D.]

Have you ever thought of getting it edited and trying to find a publisher??

My wifes uncle was a Ranger and fought throughout the war and told me that they were always after Lugers - but when things got hot - they would throw them away because the Germans would kill you with them if they caught you with one. This guy was one a tough son-of-gun and saw a lot of action.

[Thor]

Yep, my Dad made one attempt 10 yrs ago and it was unsuccessful! Thor

[Thor]

Gene Gangarosa mentions this same command in his P.38 book! Chapter 8, page 119 but refers to P.38s. ~Thor~

[Steve Lempitski]

My great-uncle Leo, a sargent, got to take home both a Luger and P38, but they would not let him bring back the broom-handle with selector switch he got from a surrendering motorcycle trooper at wars end. I'll bet that was a fun gun to shoot on full rock and roll!

[BILL]

Actually, for me, the first thirty minutes of Saving Private Ryan cannot be beat but, overall, Band of Brothers is superior for all of the combat scenes. It should be really good since the executive directors are Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. I will be adding to my collection of DVDs when they come out (I am sure they will). Also, the HBO presentation is in 5.1 Dolby-Digital surround if you have a DirctTV satellite dish (mind blowing sound effects).

It's my understanding that the GI"s would do the same to a German if the German was caught with an American weapon, etc. in his possession.

[Steve Lempitski]

[Steve]

I agree that this is an excellent book. I first read it in about 1969 and after about 20 years found a hard bound version of it in a used bookstore. Recently, I saw a new edition of it. It is a hardback-sized book but paperback. The bigest surprise was when I did my student teaching in the 70's and the high school library had a copy of it!

[John D.]

Hi Steve..!


My copy is a paperback - I think it's a new printed edition - as I only recently acquired it. I found it in a bookstore in the airport before an 8 hour overseas flight - and I didn't sleep the entire flight as I couldn't put it away... I think it is also in another edition (hardcover) with many never before published photo's. I'm now looking for that new limited edition to acquire (yes, the book is that good, IMNSHO)


Anyway - I think it has had some reviews - equating it with "War and Peace" and a very, very positive review by David Douglas Duncan. In my view, it's probably the single best documentary on WWII I've ever read - and I've read most of them...

Hi,

Having been in the service from 1943 to 1946 and a Lifelong Civil Servant at NASA, I was fortunate to have made the acquaintence of many veterans of all services and several Nations including the Germans, and without exception I can say that not a single one claimed that anyone other than the "SS Elite Guard Troopers" committed such acts of barbarism as killing anyone for possession of a captured German Pistol.

Many who were captured with these weapons and or other items were given very strong interrogation to determine if there acts could be considered "Robbing the Dead" which was unlawful by International Treaty. But this usually applied to having watches and other personal objects which were forbidden by all nations of this Treaty.

Just what I remember matters on this subject,

ViggoG