Originally Posted by RoninPhx

A conversation on the Flanders website. I messaged them, and they responded.

I have a Smith & Wesson First Model Triple-Lock revolver. They only made five thousand of these in the fourth quarter of 1915, with a shroud around the ejector rod. It was sent to England, and has British military stamping on it. It also has a captain's name, edged into the hilt of the handgrip. I have looked for a long time for him.

They wrote me back today, suggesting I try this British website on military records. I found him.

He was killed 8/13/16, and was a member of the Highland light infantry, "dd"coy, 10th/11Bn. He is buried in a little cemetery in France with about 100 of his compatriots. I have his spot number, pictures of the place, etc.
He could not have had the firearm very long, and British officers bought their sidearms. But it is in my hands now, and I hope he is enjoying that someone is thinking of him.

He was from Cambuslang, Glasgow. And now the hard work starts, to find out about his unit, and his family if I can. I think he would be happy to know that further back than Germany, we were once from a place called Wedale, just south of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is now called Skow. The place where in the 8th century, it is believed King Arthur's court really did exist. Long ways back, but the revolver is at least in the hands of someone that has ancestral Scotts blood.

It's really something, to hold that gun and realize it was at the Somme, one of the bloodiest battles in history, and all the way to Arizona. Whats even better is I managed to get his picture today in uniform. Unfortunately the picture is cut off just above the Sam Browne belt so can't see the revolver.

Originally Posted by RoninPhx

I don't know any website where you can track serial numbers. I got lucky on this one because of the man's name.

Unrelated, but related, is a K98 Mauser that was a Russian capture. I normally won't touch a military to refurbish, except to stabilize. This Mauser had blood rust on the area around the chamber and ring. The Russians dip parked it, and put some type of horrible finish on the wood. I couldn't stand it, and with due apologies to the guy that leaked on it, I got rid of the Russian finish on the metal and wood, and got rid of the pits. It looks about what it would look like in the late 30's, which was its manufacture date.

The Somme is an interesting period. In 141 days over a million men wounded or dead, about 250,000 British dead. On the first day of the Somme 19,000 British troops were killed. It puts Normandy into perspective.

I often tell people collecting these things, the true interest is the history behind them. A couple of projects to do are some Remington U.S. army rolling blocks, that came off one of the local Apache tribal lands. If they could only talk.

What I have done so far on the revolver is worthwhile. His name is on several honor rolls, including in Glasgow. They had his date of death wrong. I wrote to them explaining that, got an email today, and were correcting the records. That was worth something.