Luger Cache w/US GIs during WWII

[Railsplitter]

My father used to tell a story about how one night his outfit came upon a town during a driving snowstorm. They had a stiff wind in their face and were greeted by machine gun fire. After knocking out the machine gun they proceeded into town. At some point they came across a house inside of which they could see about a dozen or so German soldiers sitting down to a hot meal. He never knew why these soldiers didn't hear the machine gun fire that took place earlier ... but they didn't.

Anyway, the G.I.s kicked in the door and "persuaded" the German soldiers to trade places. My father said he grabbed a baked potato and held it in his hands for a while just to enjoy its warmth.

While seated at the table, behind him (and for that matter anyone else seated on his side of the table) was either a piece of furniture resembling a back table or a shelf attached to the wall. As one was seated it was about shoulder height. On this shelf the Germans had placed their helmets all in a row. My father always remarked about how neat and orderly they were with their equipment.

After they ate they sat there and my father leaned back in his chair. Without thinking he reached back and "palmed" one of the helmet. He picked it up and sitting underneath it was a P 38 in a holster with the belt wrapped around it. Before he could toss the helmet and grab the gun someone else reached over and snagged it. He said "The place went up for grabs !! Everybody stated flipping over the helmets, chairs, bed, you name it, hoping to find more pistols" !!

So somebody got a hot meal and a pistol to boot. Not a bad night for an infantryman !

[Shark]

From "Beyond Band of Brothers: The war memoirs of Major Dick Winters":

In mid-June [1945], Sergeant Al Krochka, the photographer from division headquarters, visited me at Kaprun. Al had a very sad story. He claimed that he had never been in a position where he could obtain a good German Luger pistol. Could I help him out? If I did, he would provide me a series of photographs that he had taken from Normandy to Berchtesgaden, many of them taken while he visited 2nd Battalion along the way. Having never owned a camera, I had never taken a single picture, and I sure wanted a set of those photographs to take home. We made a trade-Al got his Luger and I received the photographs. Later, I discovered the truth behind his "sad" story. Al had made quite a few sets of photographs and he was negotiating for pistols to sell in Paris to finance a good furlough.

[SE-Okla.shooter]

My father at the advice of local no it alls joined the Nation Guard. They told him he would not be drafted. The 45 Inf. Div was activated in 1940. He served with Div from North Africa to Rome. He was a forward observer and picked up a foot locker full of guns flags ect. The foot locker never made it home. He did make it home with a Berreta 380 he picked up somewhere in Italy. He was a rule mail carrier and when I was a kid I would ride with him on his route. He would stop on a bridge and shoot the pistol.
I saw him shoot squirrels 20 to 25 yards away. I was about 6 or 7 the first time I shot it. I was told to shoot a turtle in a pond. When I pulled the trigger I empted the pistol, every time it kicked I pulled the trigger again.
I didn't mess with it again till I was grown. I still have the pistol but threw away the shoulder holster he made out of a boot. He is long gone and I sure wish I had that holster. Brushy SE Okla.

[RylanBrissette]

It's been awhile since anyone has last posted a story, so I thought I would post this interesting one I just heard.

When I was shooting my new Luger with my dad's friend, he told me about how his father had came accross a Luger while he was fighting during world war 2:

He was aparently running through the Black Forest in Germany. He was running away from enemy fire, I am not sure wheather it was artillery or just gun fire. As he was running along a German Officer popped up from out of a fox hole which he had not even seen. As the german jumped out of the hole he threw his Luger on the ground and put his hands in the air. I guess he was pretty startled by this, but ended up grabbing the Luger and leaving which was probally one confused krout.

I asked what the Luger looked like, because a family friend stole it from his father when he was around 12. He said it had black plastic grips, and I immiditly thought "Black Widow". but he also said there was a circle with some sort of emblem or symbol in the middle. Does anyone know what the symbol could be? I am not doubting what he claims, but I have never heard of such a thing. Let me know!

[Mike78]

Today I met with my 86-year-old friend who landed at Normandy, fought at the Battle of the Buldge, and is mentioned by name the book "The Longest Day." Incidently, he still manages his own business - working every day!

I asked him about the relative value of trophy handguns during the war and he said "that by far Lugers were the most prized handgun trophy" He mentioned that they were appreciated at that time for their quality and the amount of craftsmanship that went into their manufacture. He said that even though German officers were more likely to have P38s, they were considered inferrior trophys because they were "stamped" out" and not as finely made as a Luger.

He referred to the reputation that the Lugers had from older vets that had acquired them in WWI. He said that an older WWI Luger in excellent condition was more desireable than a newer one (nazi produced era guns) and that appreciation for different variations was already underway.

Mike

[Fishpaw1]

A few months ago at an auction I picked up one of those cast metal toy Lugers. As I was looking at it, and older gentleman who looked to be in his 80's or so started telling me this story. He said that right after WW2, his local VFW hall had a large amount of German Lugers for sale. They were $25 each and sold very quickly. He also said that guys started to carry them around with them, some of them getting drunk and shooting each other, but im guessing that was more of an isolated incident. This was in Pennsylvania, about 40 minutes north of Philly.

My dad is in his 90's and still going strong. He serbved in WWII with the first division (big red one). He said he had a nice chrome plated beretta
that he wanted to take home, but an officer told him to give it to him becuase he did not have any capture papers with it. My dad figured that
the officer just wanted it for himself, so he busted it up into a zillion pieces. He figured if he couldnt take it home, no one else will either. My dad was a hell of a guy and still is.

Bob

[apis mellifera]

My uncle flew and repaired planes in Vietnam. He sent quite a few guns back to my dad. Some of them were brand new M1 carbines (and variants!). After being warned several times his CO finally put a stop to it when he tried to mail some Thompsons back. He said it was fairly easy to find whatever you wanted back then, either locally or by "obtaining" it from Uncle Sam. Jeeps, guns, whatever could be had by writing "lost in combat" on the inventory sheet. He also told the story about being ordered to shoot elephants, which his buddy did with a 40mm grenade launcher...but that's another story.

Anyway, when he got back to the US, he became a missionary in South America. In his spare time, he continued his gun hunt and brought many guns back. Most were older like the model 92 Winchester 44-40 he gave me. My dad visited him for a few weeks during the early 80's and the gun supply was undoubtedly a bonus. My dad and I were talking about Lugers the other day and he related a story of an open market they visited in Bolivia. They spotted a table with several guns and lots of German WW2 items. This included two or three Lugers. He said the vendor had a German accent and while he'd priced most items fairly cheap, the Lugers were "about $1500 each" as he recalled. Though that sounds acceptable now, nearly 30 years ago maybe not. My dad figured the seller was one of the German military that moved to SA after the war and that the guns were his ("his" meaning his personal side arm when he was serving). At that price my dad figured he really didn't want to sell the Lugers. Stories like that make clear that A) there are a lot of Lugers out there and B) they can be found anywhere and everywhere.

[tudorbug]

I was in Saudi Arabia '73-'74 stationed at Tabuk in the northeast, not far from the Jordania border, where I was a maintenance advisor to a Saudi Army Brigade maintenane effort.

I visited a colleague in Taif who was a gun collector and he told me that he had seen a Luger for sale at the local market. We went there the next morning.

When queried, the seller did not produce the Luger; my colleague suggested that perhaps he was nervous about my bearing there. Instead, the seller had a K98 that appeared as if it had never had a bullet slid up the loading ramp. I was then not interested and took no details. Now, I wish I had been!

David

[pipeman45]

My father served in the Army Air Corps in North Africa Sicily and Italy in WWII. I loved to hear the stories about all the different guns they picked up. He said they would shoot them until they ran out of ammo,and then trade them for liquid refreshments. The best story he told was about finding arms dumps. The first they reported to HQ. They had to post guards for a week until the brass sent trucks to haul everything off. The next one the came upon was a different story. His commander had them roll a 500lb bomb inside. The rest as they say is history.

[MannyT]

A couple of years ago, at a militaria fair here in the UK, i met up with an elderly gentleman selling a Luger. A 1918 DWM, mint condition all matching,including the wooden bottomed,matching serial numbered magazine..!

Anyway, as i'm looking at it, he tells me that he has had it in a cupboard since 1996.He aquired it through his son, who ran a firing range, and at this firing range there was an old British veteran who used to fire this Luger every now and again.Which, he had brought back from the war. The veteran passed away in 1996, and the laws over here changed banning the ownership of pistols. The veterans family wanted the Luger destroyed, but thankfully, the range owner recognised it for what it was and had it deactivated.

It came with a 42 dated brown hardshell holster, too.

Yep, i bought it.

I'll post a photo when i've worked out how to!!!

MannyT

[MannyT]

Here's a photo of the 1918 Luger. Sorry, i may have had it a couple of years, but, i'm not an expert...

Manny

[Michigan Gunner]

Here's a couple from WWII.

My dad picked up a nice Walter PP with a holster during the war. On the way back to the US aboard ship, someone who knew about the gun got into his duffel and stole it. He never did find out who, lucky for them as my dad's nick name was "Brute".

Another Vet I know well, he's 87 now, brought home about six Lugers from the War. He slowly sold them off to buy washing machines, stoves, water heaters, etc. after the war. They are all gone now.

This same man also has a German watch with a .45 bullet hole right through the center of it. Since he carried a pair of .45's, you can guess how the hole got there!


Lock and Load!

[Aaron]

This story isn't about a Luger, but it's interesting, nevertheless. In late 1944 I was a teenager, and one afternoon I was hanging around with a buddy at his house, when the mailman knocked on the door with a package about the size of a typewriter. It was from his brother who was serving in the European theater. When we opened it, it was a box which had contained a plaster statue, now broken into bits. In the middle of the mess was an object wrapped in cloth. We were really turned on to find it contained a really nice military Beretta pistol.

Another buddy of mine had a big brother who was a musician with the USO, and he frequently went overseas to entertain troops during the war. He always managed to buy or trade some GI for a souvenir pistol, and he always came home with a mint Luger rig, and my eyes continually popped at the sight of his loot.

[Minnepiper]

interesting stories! I once worked with a vet who also said soldiers were discarding unauthorised pistols before leave the docks in NYC.

My gramps was in the ETO too. he brought home a Star B (which I have) and a Luger. He gave the luger to his dad, but they were not impressed by it. i guess it would misfire and shoot 2 or 3 rounds like on auto, so it was given away. he muttered something about crappy wartime production, or at least that was his opinion.

my step dad's bro brought home a PPK from N. Africa, and it is a nice little gun too.

by buddy's dad was a marine and was in all the major Pacific battles. he had a jap rifle w/bayonet that i remember being very heavy and taller than we were. the most interesting thing though was a cardboard box of pictures he took during the war. some funny and lots of gory ones we didn't see in the history books. he said he had 2 canteens, can kept the camera hidden in one of them. amazing he made it back in one piece really.

[rttwlrby]

my father served as a Captain in the Canadian Army during WWII....he told me that he was given a brand new P.38, but was too afraid to bring it home, so he gave it away...this was a story i had him retell over and over....I have always wished he had brought it home...my Uncle, who also served, brought home a Luger, with bakelite grips, and a Walther PP, but sold them....wish i had gotten that Luger...anyway...I have bought myselff 2 Lugers, 2 P.38's and 3 Walther PPK's all WWII issue, so I don't feel quite so bad about missing out on those others.
cheers

[Balder]

Gentlemen,

Living in a part of Europe that was occupied by the Germans in WW2, I can't really use the term "bring-back". I do, however, own a few guns (including Lugers) with a recorded history. Feel free to have a look and please sign up if you find the board interesting:

http://thomp1928.proboards107.com/in...ead=1175941798

Regards,

Balder

[Aaron]

Balder, how about calling them "left back"?

[AK2 G.]

These posts are very interesting. I had a cousin who served in Italy during the war as a combat engineer. We were talking 20 or so years ago about German pistols and he told me about the time his company came upon a German supply depot that they found hidden in a cave. Amongst the stash was a crate of brand new Lugers, he estimated 2 or 3 dozen were in the crate. Because time was of the essence and the Germans were nearby, he and his buddies each took one then blew up the entrance to the cave with explosives. He sent his Luger back home and had it for several years until it was stolen in an apartment burgurlary sometime in the '50's.

[Zamo]

One of my father's cousins was a Lt. Col. during the war (and he's still alive, with a mind sharp as a tack!), and brought home a Luger. My Dad said he'd ask him if he still has it "next time he see's him", but that's been several months now, and with guys of this age (My Dad is 84 and a vet of the Pacific war), there is a sense of urgency I am reluctant to convey. I was hoping to find out more about it, and possibly acquire it (all he had was daughters with no interest in such things).
Another cousin was a Maj. in Europe, and brought home a pristine FN Browning 1922 with extra mag and holster. It's mine now, and I'd love to have a "family" Luger join it in my collection.
For what it's worth, my Dad brought home a bunch of stuff from his scenic travels with the 1st MarDiv: A Japanese battle flag, a deactivated Japanese Grenade, and 20mm shell, a deactivated U.S. grenade, a last ditch T99 Arisaka rifle. He also brought home two 1911A1 pistols, but, at the last minute, traded them for a bracelet made of seashells to give to my mother. She promptly "lost" the "gawdawful thing". I always love rubbing that one in my Dad's face...then I show him the current value of wartime 1911's.
The Japanese grenade and flag are currently in our towns small museum, and I have the 20mm cartridge and US Grenade as well as the Type 99.
Dad was part of a forward observer team, directing artillery with the 11th Marines, and fought at Cape Glouster, Peleliu, and Okinawa...and Pavuvu.