Joseph Herbert McAuliffe's 1928A1 Thompson

lanshoka

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Hello from London, Ontario CANADA

I am the proud owner of two original Thompsons registered here in Canada. The one is a mint Savage 1928A1 with finned barrel, Lyman rear sight, and British proof marks near the muzzle. The other is an excellent condition AO M1A1 with the rear sight protectors identical to the one used by Tom Hanks in "Saving Private Ryan."

I am attempting to locate the 1928A1 serial number S-173249 TSMG which was in the possession of Herbert McAulliffe of Windsor when he robbed the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Branch located in Langton, Ontario on June 21st, 1950. He was chased by two men whom he later shot to death after his 1949 Meteor went into the ditch on the King Lake sideroad and he was forced to abandon his vehicle.

This gun is currently registered to the former Detective Inspector Frank C. Kelly of the Ontario Provincial Police Criminal Investigation Bureau. Frank Kelly was the officer mainly responsible for the organization of the civilian and police posse that tracked McAuliffe down after he eluded them for three days in the bush. McAuliffe was convicted of the murder of local businessman Arthur Lierman and was hanged on December 19th of the same year, less than six months after he committed the crime.

In 1956 Frank Kelly registered McAuliffe's TSMG in his own name after retrieving it from police storage in Toronto. The gun was supposedly stolen from his summer cottage near Ottawa sometime later but I cannot establish that as fact. My big problem is that Frank Kelly was killed in a car accident in Florida in 1966 and the gun is still registered in his name and as far as I can determine all his close relatives are dead.

I have a number of photos of the gun taken by newspaper photographers that clearly show the serial number. The gun was found two weeks to the day after the killings in the bush under a pile of wet leaves and debris near a pile of clothing that the bandit had hurriedly discarded as he fled the scene.

I have exhausted all other possibilities in my search for this gun so I am making my appeal to you TSMG owners who MIGHT just know where this gun is at.

If you are interested further in the McAuliffe case please rent or buy the National Film Board film "Murder Remembered" which I researched and participated in a few years back.

All pertinent replies or leads are welcomed.

Thank-you.

Jim.
 
the gun was probably turned in at some point and destroyed BUT it may have made its way to the U.S as at that time you could own a fullauto if so it may be registered down there
 
You might want to post that on some of the US NFA boards.
Not to suggest that the dear departed Det. may have brought it South - but some have - and there where a number of NFA amnesties.
 
POSTING TO U.S. FORUMS

I agree that you should post your search on U.S. forums. There are several, but the best - in my opinion - for Thompson stuff is at this website: http://www.machinegunbooks.com/

Couple of years ago I owned a 1927A1 carbine I was trying to establish if it might be stainless steel and got an immense amount of interest, postings and help on it by registering with this site. They have a specific forum for Thompsons.

Only AO Thompson I own now is this 1927A3 (.22rf) and I love it. mauser

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