The story:
Complete with U.S. Government and U.S. Army markings as well as a rampant Colt on the slide, the M1911A1 GI is serial number 883714, which Colt lists as belonging to a 1943-made gun, meaning the .45ACP likely had only a year or so service on it before that fateful day in the Ardennes.
I hope the hero who died with this at his side went quickly.This is so representative of what the heroes of WWII went through…. . Not only in the Pacific theatre, but the German front also.This was Bastogne in 1944.It’s in a friends private collection and it took some doing to be able to photograph it.I was shaking when I handed it back.“I took these photos today.. A gentleman I know was kind enough to allow me that privilege.Often times we get so caught up in the gun we forget the sacrifices.This one really brings it home.It is believed that the this damage is from artillery fire.This weapon was very likely holstered at the time, and the soldier was facing the explosion.I can’t begin to tell you how powerful of a sentiment this raised in my heart to hold this”I shared this in a few historical groups I belong to, so some of you have already seen this, but it’s just too powerful of an artifact not to share with the rest of you.Today I held hell in my hands.
In all, the U.S. Army suffered more than 89,500 casualties in the six weeks of the Battle of the Bulge, making it one of the largest and bloodiest battles fought by the nation’s servicemen.
I hope that it makes its way to a museum that can display it for all to see.
ReplyDeleteYeh well... Nice fake. And unless that "relic" has verifiable USGI paperwork that all it will ever be. The "shrapnel" scars on that 1911 look more like drill press marks to me. I know of at least three gunsmith/"antiquie" dealers who make crap like that to sell at gun show's. The one in Riverside Cal. and the One just outside Shelbyville Ky. who both regularly sell "rare and collectable" fakes at 10X the market spring to mind. There are hundreds more. Like I said. Show me verifiable USGI paper on that. Until then there is no proof that that Colt went any closer to the ETO than Waddy Kentucky. All else is emotional bullshit.---Ray
ReplyDeleteAs a person with metal working experience, I can guarantee that no drill press made those marks.
ReplyDeleteC. W., I thank you for sharing these moving photos.
Again "anon" that is just emotional bullshit. I know that those marks could have been made by a gunsmith because I have seen it done. SHOW ME THE PAPERWORK. Or that is just one of the 25 fake "relic" firearms I have seen in the last five years. It always was a common scam to use emotion to part people from there money. NO PAPERWORK=FAKE--Ray--- P.S. Sign your name unless you are the criminal scammer making these.
ReplyDeleteSince I have no reason to assume that this pistol is a "fake," as Ray seems to think, I will continue to respect it as a relic of a terrible WWII event, that killed a great many young men and destroyed a lot of property. That destruction certainly included pistols, rifles and all the other equipment that a soldier would carry.
ReplyDeleteFakes can and always have been made, by people without honor for their own profit. Personally, I don't hang around such types myself, though I know they exist. This pistol isn't being offered for sale, only shown to serve as a memorial to the hell that Bastoign was, so I won't ask for proof of its provenance.
Hear, hear! He's not trying to sell it, he's not even claiming it's his, so to loudly proclaim it's a fraud based on no evidence whatsoever except that there are some frauds out there is premature, to say the leadt.
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