militbuff Posted June 22, 2018 Share #1 Posted June 22, 2018 I got these items many years back from a machinist who worked as a machinist for the US Navy Yard in DC and later in Maryland at the US Navy Ordnance Laboratory. According to him, the German Wind Tunnels used to test the V1 & V2 rockets were brought to the Naval Ordnance Lab after WWII (as part of Operation Paperclip). This is corroborated by a Washington Post article I read a few years back (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/how-nazi-scientists-and-their-wind-tunnels-ended-up-in-dcs-suburbs/2015/11/11/9ca5b3aa-6888-11e5-8325-a42b5a459b1e_story.html?utm_term=.c05fd6e6d93f). A friend of his removed the switches an gave them to him. He also did a write-up for me to serve as provenance. I also got a copy of his old US Navy Yard ID (he didn't want to part with his ID) and an old western union telegram offering him a job as a machinist at Pearl Harbor in October 1940 which he turned down for the Navy Yard job. Take a look at my other post for Pearl Harbor shrapnel removed from the USS Arizona's 16" guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
militbuff Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share #2 Posted June 22, 2018 More Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
militbuff Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share #3 Posted June 22, 2018 More Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
militbuff Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share #4 Posted June 22, 2018 Last Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
militbuff Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share #5 Posted June 22, 2018 Last Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USCapturephotos Posted June 22, 2018 Share #6 Posted June 22, 2018 Now that is an unusual souvenir! I have a small piece of a buzz bomb that a Gi shipped home. Thanks for sharing. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aznation Posted June 22, 2018 Share #7 Posted June 22, 2018 These switches and the shrapnel pieces from the USS Arizona are definitely unique items of history. Wonderful that you have them and may be the only ones like them in existence. Without the provenance, who would know. Great that you obtained that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
militbuff Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share #8 Posted June 22, 2018 Thanks! It's truly fascinating what people were (and are) interested in collecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted June 22, 2018 Share #9 Posted June 22, 2018 Those are amazing historical artifacts. And as a bonus, they kind of look like Daleks! Mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsbody Posted June 22, 2018 Share #10 Posted June 22, 2018 Wow, these are truly unique and certainly not mainstream collectibles. @ Mikie: my thoughts exactly.......... Rene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomP Posted June 22, 2018 Share #11 Posted June 22, 2018 Interesting! Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
American Graffiti Posted July 3, 2018 Share #12 Posted July 3, 2018 How cool is that! Great AG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1st Sgt CES Posted July 4, 2018 Share #13 Posted July 4, 2018 Nice find ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
militbuff Posted September 24, 2018 Author Share #14 Posted September 24, 2018 These switches are now up for sale on ebay if anyone is interested. After 21 years, its now time to move them on to the next collector! Heres the link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/113263390692 Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now