French M1892 Bringback

[thorin6]

This M1892 French pistol was brought back after WWII by a friend's father. He sold it to me because his sons were not interested in it and he felt that I could provide it a better home. When I bought it I told him that if any of his kids wanted it at a later date I would resell it to them for what I paid him for it (which wasn't all that much). I have copies of his father's Enlisted Record and Report of Separation and his Honorable Discharge. He left service in October 1945 at Fort Bragg and was a SSGT in Troop B, 85th Cav Recon Squadron Mechanized throughout the war, had 2 years of stateside service, and 1 year and 8 months overseas service in Europe. I believe the 85th Cav Recon Sqdr was assigned to the 5th Armor Division.

The pistol is a M1892 that has the serial number F5260 and is dated 1893, making it the 5260th pistol made in this series, out of over 300,000 that were eventually produced. I have no back story on how he picked it up, but the bringback paper with it confirms that he had it in August 1945 when the unit was preparing for return to CONUS. The holster is one he made to carry the pistol, but I don't know if he made it in Europe or after he returned.

One of my more treasured WWII trophies.

[thorin6]

Bringback paper:

 

[sundance]

Great item. Love 'em with bring back papers. Glad it found a good home.

[Brian Keith]

Cool Souvenir! Thanks for posting it.

BKW

[doyler]

Very nice and to have the paper work is not real common.Typically gets lost or tossed.