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Lt.. C. Carwood Lipton 506 PIR 101st Airborne Photo Album, Documents, 506 Officer's Silver Cup


warpath
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You might want to consider removing the photos and documents from those album pages. I had some baby photos in a similar album and after only a few years, it was necessary to use a knife to lift them from the sticky backing. Also, the chemicals in the backing will eventually leach into the photo paper, causing discoloration. You need archival-safe storage.

 

Nice collection!

 

---Mike

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Kurt Barickman

Good grief Ed, what a fantastic grouping from such well known personality; "Lip, you're standing on my hand.!" Those 506 officer chalices are so hard to obtain. When I was trying to get one every officer I talked with (years ago when more were yet alive) that is the ONE thing that they would not even consider selling. Uniforms, patches, documents, German souvenirs were a maybe usually but never the 506 chalice.

 

Thanks for sharing,

 

Kurt

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Absolutely stunning, and as Kurt said those chalice's are the one thing those 506th vets would hold on to more than anything else - It's the one thing that's always eluded me

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Link to another 506th PIR Silver chalice: http://www.battlefieldmuseum.org/engine/inspect.asp?Item=67

 

Original WWII 506th Parachute Infantry Regimental Officer's Silver Cup...These cups were made for the officers serving in the 506th during the occupation of Germany at the end of the war...The cup is engraved 1st Lieutenant C.C. Lipton and GERMANY at the base rim...hallmarked on the bottom A. KLAMMER INNSBRUCK 900.

I am always interested in acquiring examples of these cups...Please contact me if you have or know of any for sale.

...silver coins from a German SS payroll found at a railroad siding by the Landsberg, Bavaria, Germany, area work camp liberated by the 506th PIR in April 1945 were later used to make cups for 506th PIR Officers, and the additional silver needed to make these cups was liberated from Hitler's private dining room in the famed Eagle's Nest atop Kehlstein Mountain near Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany in May 1945...

However, according to Mark Bando, author of several books about the 101st Airborne Division in WWII, "In May, 1945, when troops of the 506th occupied Fischhorn Castle at Bruck, Austria (adjacent to the SS Horse Farm), a quantity of silver chalices were liberated. These were marked on the base as having been manufactured at Innsbruck, Austria, and the silver content was .900 fine. An Austrian silversmith near Zell am Zee was commissioned to customize these drinking vessels as follows: One style, having an overall hammered surface, was adopted by the 506th and engraving was done for every officer in the regiment, with each officer's name and rank, the words '506th Parachute Infantry Regt', and a set of facsimile parachute jump wings (slightly smaller than actual) were attached to the center front. Around the top of the base were engraved the campaigns in which the officer had participated."
...the 506th PIR officers sent the chalices to a silversmith in Saalbach, Austria, northwest of Zell Am See, where for 7 Reichs-marks per chalice, the silversmith added the under-sized jump wings and engraved the name, rank and campaigns of each officer.

The officers also had a wooden case made to hold the cups and the Sink Grail. The case had an inlaid wood Parachute Reserve on the front. As each officer left the 506th, they took their cups with them.

 

post-3653-0-89137200-1442836715.jpg

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The cups or chalices were engraved with the campaigns when the officer actually served with the 506th...Lt. Lipton wasn't commissioned until after Bastogne so his reads GERMANY on the base...My understanding is that only officers who were serving in Germany with the 506th at the time they were made were given the cups, but there are likely exceptions to that...I know there were a couple given to Airborne officers in other Airborne units that were either attached to or served with the 506th. Ed

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