An Interesting Victory

[Goony]

Or at least an interesting marking on it. Vermont Civil Defense?

See: Hibid

 

[DWalt]

I have seen a few Victories with “CD” markings but engraved with a vibrapen, not stamped. I would not consider that as anything enhancing its value. I don’t know the story of how these were supplied to various CD groups or why.

 

[ordnanceguy]

Gooney:

Thanks for pointing this one out. I have added it to the Victory Model Database.

BTW, with this addition that makes a total of 8 guns with the same VT. CD marking. I believe that the consensus is that this marking is indeed indicative of use by the Vermont Civil Defense post-war.

The Civil Defense guns all seems to have come from stocks of revolvers that had been shipped during the War to the Navy.

Regards,
Charlie

 

[DWalt]

Doing a little research, one theory of the CD-marked guns (apparently there also have been seen CD-marked rifles and shotguns) is that back in the Cold War period the Office of Civil Defense would (or could) supply government guns to local LE agencies. The idea was that in the event of a national emergency, the local LE agencies could organize and deputize local emergency constabulary groups and issue them the weapons if the emergency warranted it. There may have been some OCD requirement that the guns be marked as CD. How many LE agencies did that is unknown. Probably not many.

The closest I have been is that many years ago (like 50), I had a Navy Victory that had “Ohio State University” vibrapenned onto the frame.

 

[Goony]

The Civil Defense guns all seems to have come from stocks of revolvers that had been shipped during the War to the Navy.

As much as a present day collector may bemoan its defacement, here's one such that was apparently repurposed for use by both the Seattle Police and Civil Defense. Unfortunately, there's no serial number given with this photo.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

Interesting topic. Over the years, 1960s - 2000s I use to go to Gun Shows and saw various firearms with CD markings as well as State or County markings.

The Office of Civil Defense, Regional Offices were abolished on July 1, 1944, due to the change in the war situation. Region IX was comprised of the region office, located in San Francisco, California, which served Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

Now we have CERT* (or at least in CA)
*Studies in World War II showed that lightly trained (40 hours or less) civilians in organized teams can perform up to 95% of emergency activities when trained, liaised and supported by local government. In this plan, the populace rescues itself from most situations, and provides information to a central office to prioritize professional emergency services.

 

[LVSteve]

As much as a present day collector may bemoan its defacement, here's one such that was apparently repurposed for use by both the Seattle Police and Civil Defense. Unfortunately, there's no serial number given with this photo.

For me, those marks are just part of the gun's history.