WWII War Certificate/Walther (PIC)

[kobsw]

Hey guys, a good friend of mine was talking to me about a gun her Father-in-Law was looking to pass along.

Anyway I asked her to give me some info and this is what she had:

From the Certificate she showed me her Father-in-Law was a T-4 Technical Sergeant with the 787th Tank Battalion during WWII. Note that he was shipped back to the states exactly a year after D-Day June 6 1945.

Any idea what these guns range for in value?

Thanks for any feedback....

 

[Peter J.]

We'd have to see the gun. What model .32? A PP, or PPK. That could have a couple hundred bucks difference right there.

 

[feralmerril]

On another thread I had just asked what determined who got permission to take what home. I have the same type permission slip from a uncle to bring 4 pistols home. Just what were they looking at in a returning vet to say yay or nay? We have heard of storys of guys throwing guns overboard as the annoucment came over the speaker that they would be checked for guns!
This kind of reminds me of a old world war one movie, maybe it was all queit on the western front. Anyway these guys are sitting in a fox hole and the mail caught up with them. This guy is reading a dun from some company where he bought a accordian. They say he is going to find himself in serious trouble if he doesnt catch up on the payments. Meanwhile bulletts and rockets are whipping around him and they are waiting for the whistle to climb over the top!

 

[ElKabong]

My grandfather had a similar letter and a Walther PP 32 from WWII
The gun was very nice and had original holster and magazine.

After his passing a relative with no interest in guns took it, primarily because they knew others would like to have it.
It is probably sitting under a bed somewhere rusting as we speak

 

[27 Man]

My uncle Cliff was with the 3rd Army during the war and stayed with the occupation troops after the war. He became friends with a priest who had worked in the underground during the war. One day the priest asked him to come to his house because he needed help. Seems that the priest had a Browning HP that he wanted to throw in the river but was afraid he would get caught with it before he got to the water. I guess they took a dim view of German citizens with guns in those early post war years. Anyway, he asked Uncle Cliff to take the gun and pitch it in the river for him. As a kid, Uncle Cliff would let me look at it if I asked. He kept it in a wooden box in his closet. That was a big deal to me then. Later, while in grad school I stopped by his house for a visit. Before I left, I asked to see his gun one more time. He went to the closet, handed it to me and told me to take it home. It must have been made late in the war because there are a lot of machining marks but it has those dirty birds stamped in several places. I wonder how that priest came to be in possesion of it. Probably a good story there.

 

[kobsw]

Good storys by all.....I think the gun has the holster and magazine as well.

I will have pictures one day next week and put them up.

Thanks....

 

[turnerriver]

WW II trophy

My father was billeted on a Navy ship while serving
in the Army in occupied Japan. One day he came back
to the ship & saw a line of soldiers & sailors. He asked
the last guy what they were waiting for & was told
"there's a soldier up there handing out pistols". Dad
joined the line & was eventually handed a Broomhandle
Mauser.I have it, along with the release form. I can
remember pestering my dad to get the Mauser
down out of the closet when I was a kid so I could look at it. He
told me he'd taken it to the Detroit Police Dept. when he
came back home to "register" it. They told him he didn't
need to & the cop he showed it to told him not to worry
about it as it didn't even have a firing pin & wouldn't work.
I remember examining it one day & telling Dad that it
had a firing pin. He said no & I said "I'll show you".
It did, & when I got older I bought some 7.63 ammo
& we shot it. That pistol was early evidence of my
lifelong fascination with guns & I'm happy to still have it.
Regards,
John Witty
turnerriver
SWCA # 1426

 

[kobsw]

Turnerriver, do you still have the gun?

Also, does anyone know how a gun like this would be legally transferred?

 

[PALADIN85020]

WOW! THAT DOCUMENT WAS SIGNED BY MY STEPFATHER-IN-LAW!

You may be interested to know that the officer who signed the bring-back authorization was my stepfather-in-law, John J. Peattie. Not only did he serve in WWII, but also in the Korean War where he was highly decorated. "Jay" Peattie married my divorced mother-in-law, and I knew him well. He willed me his Korean War service pistol, which I still retain - a photo of it and his WWII Army ID card is below.

The circumstances of his Korean War service are contained in a document which I authored after his death; a photo is attached.

It's a small world. If the owner of that pistol is interested in parting with it, I want to be first in line - providing the documentation signed by J.J. Peattie goes with it. I certainly admired him as a member of the "greatest generation." From D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge to VE day, he served with distinction, and then again in Korea.

John

 

[2152hq]

I was lucky enough to buy a Mauser C96 Bolo from the widow of a WW2 vet who found herself with the pistol and had turned it in to a local PD.
The pistol was never registered here in NY. The vet had brought it back in 1945 along with a sword and Japanese flag from occupied Japan after a short stint there after the war. He had served 3 years in the Pacific prior.

The pistol was turned in by the widow with nothing more than the expectation that it was going to be confiscated and destroyed.

If this had all happened 2 years prior, it would have.
A change in NY law in 1983 allows unregistered handguns to be turned in, checked for stolen,,and if clear they can be sold to a permit holder, an FFL or even be used to apply for a permit by the person turning it in.

A friend working at that PD informed her of the situation and had me in mind as a buyer if she wanted to go that route. She could, by law, have mearly designate that the gun be destroyed. She chose to sell it.

The pistol cleared NCIC. A Property Custody report was done along with a receipt and the Mauser was legally mine at that point.
The entire transaction took place right inside the PD and she was very happy the pistol wasn't going to the furnace and surely appreciated the money for it too. I paid her $400 for it at the time.
With it's finish nearly all worn to grey and only a fair bore,,it certainly had not been a closet queen. It had seen extensive use somewhere.

With the pistol was the capture paper which made it all that more special.

I kept it till just a couple years ago when I finally sold it to a friend who collects military souvenier pistols & other items with 'capture papers'.
He knew about it all those years and I told him if I ever was to sell he'd have first right of refusal. It's in good hands.

I asked about the sword. She described at as about 3' long with a sheath and 'fancy' (her words). The kids played with it and finally managed to break it she said throwing it at a tree. Her husband ground it back and made a knife out of it. From there she didn't remember where it went.
The flag was about 4'x3',,perhaps a bit smaller. It hung in the basement for years. It came down and became a blanket for the dog to sleep on! Finally just a torn up dirty old rag ,,,and was thrown out!
Such is the end for alot of trophys I'm sure.

 

[kobsw]

Ok, as you noticed on the certificate the S/N of this Walther ends in a K.

Well, according to some information I found guns manufactured from 1940 to mid 1945 had a K or P suffix. S/N's ending in a K would indicate a Walther PPK (Polizei Pistole Kurz aka Police Pistol Short) and a P as you would guess a PP(Polizei Pistole aka Police Pistol).

This gun is a PPK based on this info. (Seems to easy though)

Also, .32 Cal for this pistol means .32 ACP or 7.65x17mm or Browning SR or 7.65 Browning.

kobsw...

 

[jimmyj]

Hi:
A relative who served in the Navy during and after WWII said that the saliors would start the rumors about the returning GIs being searched for firearms/weapons on reaching port in the USA. The GIs would throw the weapons overboard or leave them aboard ship before leaving the ship. Then the saliors would get the weapons as souvenirs.
On another topic of permission slips to bring back war trophies- as a kid after WWII I remember my Father's friends brought back everything from knifes/bayonets,swords, pistols, hand grenades, rifles, SMGs, to full machine guns. These guys were Army, Marines, Navy, and Coast Guard.

 

[kobsw]

Good stuff Jimmy.....

 

[K.38]

Sometimes your in the right place at the right time as I was when the kids of a 506 PIR soldier sold his WWII bring back. It is a Walther Olympia-Pistole Jagerschaftsmodell, also called the third reich hunting society pistol. The pistol is like the Olympic model except with a 4 11/16" barrel.

Happily they still had the original paperwork. The gun had the original holster also but some little dirtbag stole it and threw it out the window of his car while on the way to rob a hotel with the Walther.

Police caught him and he is now in jail and family got the pistol back minus the holster. A couple of years latter they decided to sell the pistol and I happened to be in the right place at the right time.

 

[kobsw]

K 38, that's just wrong...I'm glad you were able to acquire the gun.

Any pictures by chance?

 

[DCWilson]

When I was still a teenager I was given a WWII bringback by the family physician, who knew I was interested in guns. Walther PPK, 7,65mm, excellent condition with black leather holster and trophy letter. The letter was signed by Col. Everett C. Perlman.

I let that gun go about 35 years ago for reasons that were good at the time, but I still wish I had found a way to hang on to it.

Perlman, I find out, was born in 1905 and died in 2001 at the age of 95. I bet he had some stories.

I hope whoever has the gun now had the good sense to keep the letter and holster together with the gun.

 

[ElToro]

wow . crazy small world Paladin's relative and kobsw friend's relative 70 years apart re-connected.

 

[K.38]

K 38, that's just wrong...I'm glad you were able to acquire the gun.

Any pictures by chance?

Not the best pictures but you go:

 

[kobsw]

K38, thanks for posting those pics. That's a neat gun.

Does it have Nazi party proof marks such as an Eagle N?

By the way these are worth quite a bit of change. I checked the Blue Book and saw that the Jagerschafts' are going anywhere from $600 for a basket case and as much as 2,200 for 100% and my book is a few years old.

Not to mention the letter....

 

[K.38]

Aside from Walthers markings and caliber the only other markings on are two Crown over N stamps side by side on the barrel.

The asking prices are high but they don't seem to sell or at least they hadn't 6 or 8 months ago when I was looking and trying to firgure out what I just bought. Not a lot of history on these neat little pistols and from what I can find only around 7000 - 8000 were made in the late 1930s.

It doesn't like standard velocity ammo which I firgured it would shoot just fine. What works great in it is the Federal automatch.