Quote:
Originally Posted by fishhead
... No Navy markings? Have they been removed? Also WV on butt of frame. What does this mean? So the gun went to the Navy, then police service and finally retailed by Geco? Also came with this holster but not sure when this was added? ...
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Yes
You have the timeline correctly figured out.
The serial is too high for a US NAVY marking. The Rosslyn location is associated with the OSS. The W on the butt has been discussed before, but I don’t think there is a definite explanation yet.
Baden-Württemberg (the state formerly abbreviated WB), where Heidelberg is located, got these in 1946 and collected them again in the early 1950s, and sold them as surplus. In this case, Geco bought the gun and had it commercially proofed for sale in Germany. Wherever the holster came from, it wasn‘t used by the Germans. Looks British.