Post by p35 on Oct 10, 2022 14:24:54 GMT -5
I've collected WWII memorabilia most of my life. Some of the things I have that give me the greatest joy are those things with provenance, I'm not talking about a story as stories have no value IMHO. In fact if someone starts a story with my grandfather picked this up from a dead SS officer on the field of battle I'm out right then. Over the years I've spoken with over 100 vets both American and German and have some items brought back by many of them and never has one person told me a story of picking an item up during a battle. Almost all the weapons I have the veterans retrieved them from surrender piles after the battles were over or mass surrenders took place.
Unfortunately many of the items I have came directly from the families of the vets and they didn't see the value in the items. Children especially of the vets didn't understand that these men were only able to return with a very small amount of items and these were their war trophies. If you get close enough to the source that brought it home many still have capture paperwork and customs declarations. In some cases you get much more. Of all the high powers I have, I only have capture paperwork for one of them even though I purchased two of them directly from vets. They didn't retain the paperwork over the years.
This gun should have been produced in the summer of 1943 based on the "a" serial number and 35k serial range. They were producing roughly 12,400 guns a month according to Anthony Vanderlinden during this time frame. It's average condition as I have some in excellent condition and since I got this from the family of the veteran and not the vet himself I don't know when or where it was acquired. He worked in supply and from what I can tell from his records didn't get to Germany until almost 1945 and then didn't leave until 1946. When I first looked at the gun to purchase it I declined it based on price but ask if the family had any provenance to go with the gun. In the end I paid their price and purchased several other items from them. What I got was what I consider to be a treasure trove of information about this vet. Everything from stacks of personal photos he took during the war to his military ID, his dog tags and even the cable he sent home to let his mother know he was on his way home. With that said I give you William Kearneys war trophy.
Unfortunately many of the items I have came directly from the families of the vets and they didn't see the value in the items. Children especially of the vets didn't understand that these men were only able to return with a very small amount of items and these were their war trophies. If you get close enough to the source that brought it home many still have capture paperwork and customs declarations. In some cases you get much more. Of all the high powers I have, I only have capture paperwork for one of them even though I purchased two of them directly from vets. They didn't retain the paperwork over the years.
This gun should have been produced in the summer of 1943 based on the "a" serial number and 35k serial range. They were producing roughly 12,400 guns a month according to Anthony Vanderlinden during this time frame. It's average condition as I have some in excellent condition and since I got this from the family of the veteran and not the vet himself I don't know when or where it was acquired. He worked in supply and from what I can tell from his records didn't get to Germany until almost 1945 and then didn't leave until 1946. When I first looked at the gun to purchase it I declined it based on price but ask if the family had any provenance to go with the gun. In the end I paid their price and purchased several other items from them. What I got was what I consider to be a treasure trove of information about this vet. Everything from stacks of personal photos he took during the war to his military ID, his dog tags and even the cable he sent home to let his mother know he was on his way home. With that said I give you William Kearneys war trophy.
