War bring backs

ben hunchak

ben hunchak

BANNED
BANNED
BANNED
Rating - 100%
68   0   0
Just wundrin' to myself, my father and his cousins all brought back pistols from WW2, I don't know if they had to sneak them or not. What if an enterprising soldier had gone to the powers to be and asked to bring back 100 or more, maybe even 500, saying he was a collector or some such? Could this have happened? Maybe no one thought about it, at least not on that scale? What say yee?
 
Knowing the military, I would say that any request like that would be turned down flat. No one is allowed any weapons or ordnance other than what is issued by the crown.

ben hunchak said:
Just wundrin' to myself, my father and his cousins all brought back pistols from WW2, I don't know if they had to sneak them or not. What if an enterprising soldier had gone to the powers to be and asked to bring back 100 or more, maybe even 500, saying he was a collector or some such? Could this have happened? Maybe no one thought about it, at least not on that scale? What say yee?
Click to expand...
 
If he had set himself up as a business, he might have got away with it.

Sure a heck of an idea, anyway. Just think: couple dozen FG-42s (legal then), a dozen Armaguerras, 2 dozen Navy Lugers, Mussolini's personal Balila carbine (if he had one), hundreds of Kar-98ks, lotsa other goodies.

Of authenticated vet bringbacks, only ones I have encountered personlly are a couple of Lugers, a P-38, an MP-40, a Winchester Model 70 in .270 (yes, true! There were about 30 of them used in certain black ops.), a single SMLE ("purchased" in 1919 for a bottle of rum), a J.P. Sauer & Sohne Model 1913 with military holster (named), a 1910 Mauser 7.65mm and a P-38, both borowed from Gestapo men who no longer needed them (one shot by Canadian firing-squad in Holland)..... and a single Armaguerra Model 39, definitely the rarest of all WW2 rifles.

But that's the lot.

But we CAN wish......

.
 
All I have seen were handguns. I have heard of a few K98k's being sneaked in after WW2 but have never seen a genuine bringback rifle in the flesh. In the U.S. they were much more accomodating of servicemen who wanted to bring back captured weapons, giving out official capture papers to personnel wishing to bring home guns. That being said many K98's were "duffle cut", that is, the stock was sawn in two(hopefully under the rear barrel band) so the taken down rifle would fit in a duffle bag.
 
My Grandfather was wounded in ww2 and when he got home the army let him keep all his kit rifle and captured weapons, he hunted all his life with his enfield . I now have all his stuff that he brought back with him inc his enfield and lots more goodies that I will never part with.
 
samuel said:
My Grandfather was wounded in ww2 and when he got home the army let him keep all his kit rifle and captured weapons, he hunted all his life with his enfield . I now have all his stuff that he brought back with him inc his enfield and lots more goodies that I will never part with.
Click to expand...

My Grandpappy got this Luger of a Dead Nazi SS Gestapo KZ Guard General.

What's it worth??

ruger_markii.jpg


:p

:rolleyes:
 
ben hunchak said:
Just wundrin' to myself, my father and his cousins all brought back pistols from WW2, I don't know if they had to sneak them or not. What if an enterprising soldier had gone to the powers to be and asked to bring back 100 or more, maybe even 500, saying he was a collector or some such? Could this have happened? Maybe no one thought about it, at least not on that scale? What say yee?
Click to expand...

There are actually laws that currently prevent that. Totally illegal to bring back war souvenirs.

Collector status or not, doesn't change a thing.
 
When the troop ships were coming back to Canada after the war they would announce on board that ANYONE with illegal or "liberated" firearms would go back for a year or two occupation duty. It looked like a hail storm for about 75 feet around the troop ships as guns etc. went into the ocean..... A lot came back but a h*ll of lot more went into the ocean.
 
This was officially verboten, even in WW2. My uncle brought back 3 pieces incl his own personal issue S&W, another matching one, and a P38. He mailed them home in pieces during the time between VE day and when he came back. I'm glad he did because I got to inherit them all. There were a lot of "gifts/souvenirs" of all types which were mailed home during this timeframe.

I spoke to a number of other vets about this when I was a kid. Some got pretty ingenious like cutting the bottom out of their canteen and packing in a pistol in parts so it didn't rattle. Others I spoke to did the kitbag trick with things in pieces like a STEN, Thompson, and M3 Greasegun. Some got searched, others didn't.

Apparently the bottom of the English Channel is quite heavily sprinkled with Lugers and any number of different things which were tossed overboard by guys who didn't want to take a chance of getting searched when they got to England or back to Canada. The big priority for the troops was getting themselves home. Getting caught up in the disciplinary process for the sake of a P38 or whatever wasn't worth the chance for many of them.

Personally I would have found the "Kelly's Heros" scenario of liberating some gold bullion from some abandoned Nazi depository a bit more tempting than going for the high jump over a contraband Luger.;)
 
Desert_Fox said:
My Grandpappy got this Luger of a Dead Nazi SS Gestapo KZ Guard General.

What's it worth??


I think that it is very likely that his Grandfather years later bought an identical rifle to the one he carried during WWII. People pass on and things get forgotten and the story about it being the actual rifle his grandfather carried is likely what someone told the grandson.

I've owned a number of actual bringbacks. One Luger, a Model 8 Walther, and a rather nice MP40 with the flat magazine housing. I could have bought a mint all-matching K98 bringback from Jack Parkinson in London for $200 a number of years ago but I had to think about it and of course it was already gone later that day when I decided to buy it. Dumb.
Click to expand...
 
On the inside of one of the grips on my P08 is scratched:
July 10 43
Avola Sicily
I have heard the stories of all the stuff that went into the harbour, etc. Sometimes a search was threatened, and then never happened. Sometimes duffle bags were dumped out before boarding. Maybe they was more concern about explosive souvenirs than firearms.
A lot of stuff did get brought back, though. Pistols are more common simply because they could be hidden.
I think after WWI, many items came home with units, rather than individuals, and then wound up in individuals' hands.
 
lanshoka said:
I think that it is very likely that his Grandfather years later bought an identical rifle to the one he carried during WWII. People pass on and things get forgotten and the story about it being the actual rifle his grandfather carried is likely what someone told the grandson.
Click to expand...

You are totally correct! ;)

I just have heard that same type of story told literally dozens of times and it gets tiring... :redface:

"My Grandpa got ta keep his rifle from the war, and we hunt with it!" *brings out sporterized Parker Hale Enfield* :bangHead:

My common response is, "Cool!" and then if I have the energy, try to explain that perhaps they have their stories mixed up.... but I never call their Grandfather/themselves/or a member of their family, a liar. No one wants to hear that. :)
 
My long dead uncle, a Staff Sgt. of the Ontario Provincial Police had a lovely P-38 a year or so after VE Day. Where is it today, who knows?

Now, I have a good friend ex US Army, and Customs - Immigration officer of 30 years, coming home from Afganistan, after spending 12 months on a special contract with the US Forces mentoring the locals on how to manage a busy border crossing into Pakistan. He will be going first to Miami to meet his Canadian wife before coming into Canada for a month or so. I am very certain that he will be bringing some thing back, at least to Miami.
 
I have a matching Luger that a fellow from my hometown got from a German officer. This fellow was a prisoner of war, and could speak German. He was in contact almost constantly with this officer. When it became imminent that the Americans were going to take over the POW camp from the Germans, he told the German that he wanted his pistol. When the Americans showed up, the officer took off the gunbelt and handed it over.

The poor fellow never really got over being a POW, and was kind of sickly the rest of his life. He gave the pistol to his brother. His brother used to bring it to our local range, and let us shoot it. His brother gave it to his son, and I bought it.
 
Desert_Fox said:
You are totally correct! ;)

I just have heard that same type of story told literally dozens of times and it gets tiring... :redface:

"My Grandpa got ta keep his rifle from the war, and we hunt with it!" *brings out sporterized Parker Hale Enfield* :bangHead:

My common response is, "Cool!" and then if I have the energy, try to explain that perhaps they have their stories mixed up.... but I never call their Grandfather/themselves/or a member of their family, a liar. No one wants to hear that. :)
Click to expand...

Same thing has happened to me many times. "Wanna see Grandpa's old war rifle?" Out comes a sported 1916 dated Enfield No.1

OOOOOOOHHHHHHHH! You must be very proud to own it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom