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82nd Airborne Grouping


ottodog8
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Hi,

Thought I would share a grouping I acquired directly from the vet. He was in the 505th, assigned late in the war.

post-2430-1221438686.jpg

 

I presume this photo was taken after the war in while on Occupation duty in Germany.

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Captainofthe7th

Wow.

 

That is an INCREDIBLE grouping. The trousers and the carbine are equally stunning. How did he make it home with that weapon?

 

Rob

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Guess that's it for now on the pics. I have a lot more, but I'll have to figure out how to resize them. I'm not a technical kind of guy.

There are also some nifty German souveniers, some paperwork etc. The trooper graduated from High School in June '44 and immediately enlisted and volunteered for the Airborne. At Jump School, they were issued M43 jackets and buckle boots, but they had some M42 gear remaining, and if they had your size, you could have it issued. He bought the jump boots himself. After Jump School, he was sent to Airborne Artillery school. He finished that, then as he put it "they decided they had enough artillerymen but not enough infantrymen", so he was reassigned and sent to Infantry school. After he was through with all that, he was finally sent to Europe, missing the Bulge. He figured being reassigned may have saved his life, as many of the guys he went through Jump School with were killed in the Bulge. He finished the war with the 505th, and did Occupation duty in Berlin. That's where he was when he sent the M1A1 home. His father was an officer in the State Guard, so he addressed it to him at the Armory. In my opinion, the carbine is one of the most historical pieces I've ever owned. It's an early (10-42 barrel date) Inland with early features, and we know it was assigned to the 505th. It is very probable that it went through the entire war with the 505th. One of the few US military longarms I've seen that can be identified with a unit. One item not picture is his overseas hat. When he handed it to me he said "gee, the riggers made these up for us". Kind of cool.

Enjoy

Steve

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Steve,

That is an outstanding group.I have seen and heard of Garands,45s.and regular carbines sent home but your para model is a first.Thanks for sharing.Sounds like he had a lot of stuff.In many cases it gets scattered.Wasnt there any family intrested?

Looks like he has a 1st Allied Airborne or 1st Airborne Army patch on the right sleeve.Is it a Brit made wool one?

RON

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Some eye candy

post-2430-1221449063.jpg

 

Both 1st Allied Airborne patches are wool. The overseas bars on the Ike are metal, never saw that before. There is a lot of other stuff, I have the rawhide laces for the jump boots and the parachute cord "dress" laces as well. The vet is still alive, a pretty cool guy. I got the carbine from him in the early 80's, it took over 20 years for him to part with the rest of the stuff. Used to drive me crazy. About once a year I'd call him and ask if he was ready to part with any of it, he'd laugh and say "not yet". Finally he relented. Some things he won't let go, his dog tags, diploma from jump school, some rigger made scarves made out of parachute silk with a fringe made of unraveled parachute cord. I sure can't complain though!

Steve

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Like Ski said, "Can't touch that".

 

Such a fantastic grouping and you have the pleasure of knowing the vet too.

 

It don't get any better than this.

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The metal overseas bars I have seen on several uniforms.I have an 8th AF in my collection as well as a couple others with metal bars..It is my understanding that this use of the metal bars was borrowed/copied from the Brits.

 

RON

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Steve,

That is an outstanding group.I have seen and heard of Garands,45s.and regular carbines sent home but your para model is a first.Thanks for sharing.Sounds like he had a lot of stuff.In many cases it gets scattered.Wasnt there any family intrested?

 

Ron

I have a folding stock carbine and parachute sent home by a vet. He made a training jump at the end of the war and then stuffed the parachute in a duffle bag and the carbine on top. When he got home he had two duffle bags. So he just put it away and opened it up about 3 yrs ago. I talked with the vet and got the story first hand.

Robert

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