Friday started as usual, up at 04:30am, coffee with Donna, then her and Andy were off to work. Adam slept in till about 08:00am.It was till cloudy and threatening to rain, about 10:00am we headed over to Walgreens to pick up a prescription and a set of swimming goggles for Adam to take on his vacation in the trailer, I swear that trailer eats goggles, Then the sun finally appeared and Adam headed out for some playtime. His Mom called and asked if he could stay the weekend as her friends wanted her to go camping with them. I said sure, he is enjoying his friends. At lunch he came back in and I guess his one friend got grounded so he was alone for awhile, I was going to take him to Pizza Street for Friday supper, but he just had pizza Wednesday so I told him Saturday would be Pizza night this week cause grandma is working and Him & I will go out to eat. That is a great place where we can both get a buffet for under ten dollars.
Since it was a slow news day again here in Dardenne Prairie, I went into the Weibel armory and got out a pair of pistols that go way back. These were given to me by Donna’s mother after her Dad passed away, Seems when he was a Trucking Terminal Manager he used to loan driver’s money if they were short between paydays, evidently one driver couldn’t pay him back in cash and so he gave him two German handguns instead, I don’t know who made the case they are in but to the driver they were just two WW2 war souvenirs' that he brought back, Today they have a whole lot more meaning and value.
(right) This a a P-38 9MM parabellum cal.SS Officer’s Pistol. Made at the AC Werkes in 1941.
Both of these pistols still are in working order and kept oiled and wiped down, and fired occasionally. They have the last two digits of their serial number stamped on every piece in typical German methodical efficiency.
The P-38 has engraved Nazi eagle crests on each side.
The value I can only guess at would say it is considerably more than what was loaned and they were used as collateral against, Without an appraisal, a guess would be several thousand each. But in Donna & my eyes they are priceless.
I often sit and wonder if these pistols could talk what I would hear, how many times they were fired in anger. how many lives they took, Especially the SS pistol, this was an engineering marvel for the late 1930’s, it is a double action automatic pistol ,something America didn’t have till the late 1950’s.
The Lugar was like the 45 you had to charge the first round manually and then it would fire each time the trigger was pulled till out of ammo.
Hope you enjoyed this little chunk of history, for most of us WW2 was our fathers or grandfathers war.
Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.
Sam it looks like you have a real historic treasure there with those pistols. It appears they are in great shape. I was thinking the same thing you were....what would they say if they could talk??
ReplyDeleteI love reading about you and Adam. There is nothing more special than a grandfather/grandson relationship. Our son just dearly loved my Dad and they were always great baseball buddies. He has so many great memories they made together.
Take care!
Mike & Gerri (happytrails)
http://freedom2roll.blogspot.com
I don't know diddly about handguns but you sure made all of that interesting to read. Nice bits of history there, Sam! Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteWhat a slice of history Sam has there. I am a history NUTCASE...Den's Uncle Jr. fought in WWII, still alive and kickin..but when he talks about his experiences, he usually tears up..We will never understand what price these vets paid for our freedoms..Dennis loves firearms..He will want to study those pics...Thanks for sharing...
ReplyDeleteMy Dad spent a year in a German POW camp after being captured following the D-Day invasion on Juno Beach. He surely would have liked to have seen your photos of those handguns. I'm sure he saw a lot like them, but I never heard him talk about it.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those uncomfortable with guns and all the history that goes with them. But it is important to learn. Thanks. The Camp Host Housewife
ReplyDeletePriceless! I was hoping that by the end of your post, you would have revealed some of the guns' story. Obviously impossible, but I was hoping. My grandpa was in WWII, and because of him, the history fascinates me. He was my hero.
ReplyDeleteWe don't own any guns but I have always been kind of fascinated by them. Had a Mossberg .22 many years ago but that was about it. If it wasn't such a big legal hassle to own a gun here in Canada we would probably have one. And getting a gun across the border is another big huge can of worms too.
ReplyDelete