OSS Weapons

[digi-shots]

I would like to share some OSS items from my collection.

 

First up, In the ordnance department, is the "Beano" grenade which was an experimental hand grenade developed by the Office of Strategic Services with assistance from the Eastman Kodak Company of Rochester, NY.

 

It was the approximate size and weight of a common baseball and would arm itself in-flight. Once thrown, the cap detached from the body and a length of string would unwind until a secondary arming pin attached to the far end of the cord was pulled, arming the grenade to detonate upon impact with a hard surface.

 

The first contract was awarded to Kodak in October of 1943 and development continued up until the end of the war. The war ended before the Beano could be put into regular production.

 

Thanks for looking !

 

If anyone else has any OSS weapons, please feel free to post them !

[robinb]

I'll add a few things. Both types of Smatchets.

 

[robinb]

Stiletto and Beano grenade.

 

[robinb]

Folding lock pick and Burma Campaign badge.

 

[digi-shots]

Very nice blades...! I've been looking for a lock pick for sometime now and still haven't found one!

 

Thanks for posting!

[kwill]

That lock pick and those Beano grenades are very cool. Here are some OSS handguns, some of which are not common. The holsters are harder to find than the guns, however.

[digi-shots]

Wow... that's a great assortment of weapons and holsters!

 

The Hi-Standard and holster are killers!

[kwill]

The Super .38 pistols shipped too late to make it into action but were bought on an OSS contract.

[collector]

 

 

i

 

Once thrown, the cap detached from the body and a length of string would unwind until a secondary arming pin attached to the far end of the cord was pulled, arming the grenade to detonate upon impact with a hard surface.

 

 

Do you have a shot of that string mechanism? Sounds interesting.

[digi-shots]

Very nice looking Colt! You don't see too many Super .38's as it is.... an OSS contract makes it even nicer!

 

I'm sure you probably have your own stash of ammo.... here's a box I have: Remington Arms, Lot #5001

[kwill]

Very cool, digi-shots. Here is the ammo for the High Standard HDMS, with the waterproof wrapping.

 

[digi-shots]

Do you have a shot of that string mechanism? Sounds interesting.

I personally don't have any photos... I saw something online that was copyrighted.. I'll see if I can find something.

[digi-shots]

Very cool, digi-shots. Here is the ammo for the High Standard HDMS, with the waterproof wrapping.

T-42.jpg

 

I've seen boxes of .22 ball but never one with a waterproof wrapping. Do you know if these were lead nose or copper jacketed? (Before the copper was made mandatory)

[kwill]

This is the jacketed ammo. It was adopted as M24 and if you remove the wrapping this is what it looks like:

 

 

[digi-shots]

Smith & Wesson .38 special Victory revolver and components of the OSS SSTR-1 radio.

 

In John Brunner's book, OSS Weapons, there is some excellent information on these clandestine radios. They were made by three different companies with a contract price of $450 each. There was a total of 7,500 requisitioned ... how many were actually made is not known. Even at the end of the war it was still considered "highly classified".

 

According to S&W factory records the Victory revolver in this photo was shipped to the OSS's Rosslyn, Virginia warehouse in December of 1943.

 

 

 

 

[kwill]

digi,

You could have your own museum with the OSS stuff you have. Does anyone have an OSS crossbow?

[digi-shots]

There's still quite a few items i'd love to find.. the search is half the fun!

 

No crossbows (yet)... I had the opportunity to view and handle (up close and personal) some of the archived items at the Special Forces Museum at Ft. Bragg. This was the collection from John Brunner. I have a close up pics of one of the crossbows.

 

I do have a couple of crossbow bolts... I'll get them out and post some photos.

[hink441]

All great historical pieces!! I love the Beano and the Victory revolver !!

 

Chris

[digi-shots]

Thanks, Chris!

 

The Victory revolvers are my favorites... I'd say a very large majority of the .38 Specials were shipped to the US Navy (some marked, some not)... others went to various other US forces, including the OSS.

 

The plexi-glass case for the Beano is a craft store "baseball display" - I removed the sales card in the slot and replaced it with my own description card.

[digi-shots]

The first proposal for a crossbow was dated November 10, 1942. The result was a compact "pistol" style crossbow. "It was to be made of heat-treated aluminum alloy with the bow positioned vertically, in line with the handgrip, thus making the weapon quite flat and relatively easily concealed. The weapon came to be known as the Little Joe Penetrometer or simply the Little Joe. A satisfactory prototype was finally completed and sent for testing on September 14, 1943". (Brunner, OSS Weapons, p. 85).

 

The Little Joe Crossbow was the only one produced in significant numbers. Below is a photo I took of the "Little Joe" at the JFK Special Warfare Museum, Ft. Bragg, N.C.

 

In addition to the Little Joe, there were a couple other models... the Joe Louis or Elmer 5 mortar model, the Big Joe 5, Big Joe 6, the William Tell, Little Joe Pedal 1 and Little Joe Pedal 2. The bolts i have were most likely for the Little Joe Pedal crossbow.

 

Here are photos of actual crossbow "bolts" or arrows that I have in my collection. The author of "The OSS Crossbows", John Brunner was kind enough to autograph his book and authenticate my arrow.

[digi-shots]

The Little Joe Pedal Crossbow is shown in the top photo. The "fins" of the bolts were made of aircraft aluminum, and will sometime show remnants of red paint or lettering. I can't quite make out what's on my arrow, but it looks like it could be a partial number 2 (??)

[kwill]

Excellent! You do have a museum. I think that is a "2" too. But, it is greedy of you to hoard two of the bolts!

 

I guess a garrote or shoe knife is next.

[kwill]

Even though there were some M1903 Colt Pocket Hammerless pistols and Detective Special revolvers shipped to the OSS, most personnel that needed a handgun got the standard issue M1911A1. This Ithaca is in the right range to be an OSS shipped gun but I haven't dug deeply enough into the shipping records to verify if it is or not.

[digi-shots]

Kevin, nice looking Ithaca!

 

And yes, I am greedy... I thought I could part with the second bolt but you'll have to wait for the 3rd (well, maybe the 4th - I have a 3rd one that is a bit different and not really sure what it is. John B. says he's pretty sure it's a bolt but it is unfinished and much thicker than the others- no fins but it does have what looks like a Rockwell hardness punch dot.

[digi-shots]

I guess a garrote or shoe knife is next.

No shoe knives... but there's a garrote around here somewhere. I'll have to get it out and take some pics.