Identify these WWII firearms?

[Idaho45guy]

My grandpa took a lot of pictures in WWII as a tanker. His unit was very highly decorated and I was told that the movie "Fury" was based on various exploits of WWII tanker units; grandpa's being one of them.

I was sharing pics of grandpa's .45 S&W revolver, which the one from the movie is a copy of, and ran across a few photos of various pistols, rifles, and submachine guns that I didn't know the identity of. Of course I recognized the M1 and Thompson, but wasn't sure of the others. Maybe a P38?

I figured there has to be some WWII firearms buffs here that would know...

217002

217003

217004

217005

217006

And of course grandpa's prized revolver featuring grips he carved from the windscreen of a downed German plane...

217007

[M-Tecs]

The sub is a MP40

[corbinace]

I never really thought about what they would have to do with all of the captured weapons. Did they have a bunch of Privates scurrying around and cleaning them up off of the battlefield? How were they disposed of once collected? Maybe I should go Google before I hijack Idaho's thread.

Always interesting to see old photos, thanks for posting them.

[EDG]

My dad and his twin were WWII veterans of the Pacific War.
Their old campaign books show Japanese small arms that were surrendered. They were stacked in Higgins boats and dumped at sea..

[DougGuy]

Those grips are the ultimate statement of victory. Likely the only pair in existence made from a Nazi aircraft!

[Valley Forge]

You are correct that the 1st photo is a P38. and I wonder by the disks on the stocks of the rifles in the 3rd photo if they are Mauser 98's?

[43PU]

Yes K98s converged from WW1 G98 rifles

[Thumbcocker]

The Red Army had units that were devoted to recovering anything useable from the battlefield. Quite a bit of equipment switched sides on the Eastern Front.

[lightman]

The top picture is pretty blurry but it looks like a P-38. The next is either an M-1 or M-2 Carbine. The big stack of rifles look like Mauser's. The Sub being fired looks like a MP-40. It also looks like a MP-40 and a Thompson laying by the Jerry can. You Grandfathers pistol is cool and the grips make it even better! Those Guys truly were the Greatest Generation, not to take anything away from any Veteran.

[bob208]

p38,m1carbine, pile of 98 mausers,mp40, mp40 front Thompson rear. s&w 1917.

[Idaho45guy]

My grandpa brought back a few items from over there. Notably a couple of Mausers and bayonets. I was fondling one of the bayonets last week when in my dad's gun room. I was told since I was a kid that it was taken off of a dead German soldier. I looked it over for any Nazi proof marks and found nothing other than various numbers and letters that didn't seem unusual.

One Mauser was given to my uncle and the other to my dad. My uncle's was lost in a house fire in the 70's. My dad still has his, but I haven't seen it since I was a teen in the 80's.

[10-x]

The krauts had letters for the mfgs. Look it up on line. Theres a whole world of collecting their stuff, usually big $$$$$.

[Idaho45guy]

Theres a whole world of collecting their stuff, usually big $$$$$.

I really have no interest in making money off of the couple of items grandpa brought over. Just seems to cheapen his memory.

[Hardcast416taylor]

My older half Brother served in Pattons 3rd Armored in a M - 3 `Stuart` light tank. He had several disabled under him during the war. He had different `trophies` he found or relieved soliders of during his time over there. All he brought home was a P-08 in matching serial holster and extra clip.Robert

[Plate plinker]

Please make sure nobody tries to rip off your pops by offering to take that old war junk off his hands. Thanks for the post neat stuff!

[Battis]

The grips on the revolver are called Sweetheart Grips. I learned that on this forum while researching the grips on a St. Etienne 8mm (Lebel) revolver that I bought. They were made from the windshields, windows, etc of downed planes, and soldiers would slip photos of their wives, girlfriends, etc under the grips. You can see the ghost outline of an old photo under the grips on mine.
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2016/05/03/world-war-ii-sweetheart-grips/

[FISH4BUGS]

The top picture is pretty blurry but it looks like a P-38. The next is either an M-1 or M-2 Carbine. The big stack of rifles look like Mauser's. The Sub being fired looks like a MP-40. It also looks like a MP-40 and a Thompson laying by the Jerry can. You Grandfathers pistol is cool and the grips make it even better! Those Guys truly were the Greatest Generation, not to take anything away from any Veteran.

You are correct!

[10-x]

Idaho, wasnt implying to sell the mementos, just there is a huge collecting community out there. Not sure how you took my post as that? I collect US militaria from WWII - Vietnam, no interest in the nazi stuff but know many that are. Have several fighting knives GIs made scales for out of A/C plexiglass, pics of wife or girlfriend underneath. GIs had lots of time on their hands. Good you know and value these mementos, make sure they stay preserved and the next generation values them too.

[trapper9260]

It is nice to see the guns. I have some items of my uncle that was KIA in the south Pacfic . I will not let go. One of them is the manual of the M1 date in the 1940's also his flag that he was buried under. it have 48 stars on it.

[shooter93]

If you want to know what happened to all the captured weapons read....Ordnance went up Front by Dunlap. many were fixed or refurbished and give to the local militias or police forces if a town was captured and now safe for the Allies. It's a great book and a real eye opener to a lot of myths about the weaponry. Well worth the read and it very "readable".

[Idaho45guy]

Grandpa took a lot of "human interest" photos as well...

217147

217148

217149

[10-x]

Idaho, nice pics. Tanker helmet with skull and crossed bones is interesting. What tank Bn was he in? Thanks for posting.

[35isit]

A neighbor who served in Europe at the end of the war brought back a Luger. He was in Germany when they were surrendering in bunches. He said they dug a big hole and as they marched the Germans by they threw in their rifles, pistols, knives or anything else considered contraband or a weapon. He said the Allies would walk by the hole one day and pick something out. The next day they may see something they liked better. So they would throw back what they had and pick up the new thing. I told him a lot of the things in that pile were valuable. He said they didn't think of the value. They just wanted a souvenier.

[10-x]

Hah! Wish Id bought all the Vietamese mades patches when over there, $0.25 then, $400-$1000+ today, not so bad. Then there were the tiger stripe uniforms.......

[Idaho45guy]

Idaho, nice pics. Tanker helmet with skull and crossed bones is interesting. What tank Bn was he in? Thanks for posting.

752nd.

[10-x]

Idaho, have the info on his unit? Can pm some to you and there are unit histories out there but kind of pricy.

[10-x]

Wow! 5th Army. Few tank units in Italy. My Dad was in Italy ,MAAF around Foggia.