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Spanish Revolver Bring Back


WWIIBuff1945
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WWIIBuff1945

Another acquisition courtesy of Matt from Axis Arms. He picked it up this past weekend at a gun show. Here is the description of the gun I received in an email : I bought this Spanish revolver with papers this weekend. I have never seen another with paperwork. Very nice bore, locks up tight. Holster is original to the pistol. Paper is a little worse for wear, but I found it in the bottom of the holster. It has to have been there since the vet put it in there. The seller did not know it was there until I pulled it out. I have already been researching the vet. Looking for info on the revolver. Looks like it says 1914 on the grips.

 

 

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WWIIBuff1945

Interesting info from a member of another forum: The 1914 dated grips I believe are some of the guns that the British contracted with Spain to produce during World War I for British army issue. If it were picked up in Germany that may mean that it was captured by a German during World War I and brought home as his trophy. Then picked up by an American in World War II. I have a Webley that went that route as well. Very nice looking revolver as well.

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Salvage Sailor

It may also have been taken from the BEF in 1940 when they went "in the bag" and liberated in 1945 by the GI

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a member on this form who know firearms etc. also a forms moderator do a member search and send him a pm

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Since Flick is a member here, why doesn't he just respond so we all can learn?

 

WWIIBuff1945

I like the outfit! A great addition to your museum:)

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WWIIBuff1945

Someone on another forum noted some info on Dunn that I didn't catch. According to the records he enlisted June 1, 1945. The capture papers state the EM was in the ETO prior to VE Day May 8, 1945. So this particular Dunn was not in Europe yet. There are 8 Dunn's listed in the National Archives and we thought we had the right one. Obviously he is one of the other 7 and since I don't have his service number it will be tough to track him down. I contacted the Army Corps of Engineers and they had no information on the 2753rd Engineers. I was hoping they would have a roster. This may be one of a few bringbacks that I have no further info on.

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MS Collector

The pistol appears to be a Spanish-made copy of a S&W type pistol. I have observed a similar pistol with a local WWII veteran in my area; his pistol was sourced out of surrendered Italian equipment in North Africa. In prior posts on another forum, I was told that the Italian military procured these pistols from Spain in the early part of the WWI era . . . . the pistol I observed had apparently remained in Italian military service up into WWII when it made its way to North Africa with Italian troops supporting the German "Afrika Korps".

 

I would check to see if the bring-back veteran's unit was involved in operations in North Africa or Italy.

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MS Collector

I found a couple of my photos of the very similar looking North Africa bring-back pistol that I mentioned in my post, above. Based on a response received from an Italian member on another forum, the pistol is a Spanish production copy of a Smith & Wesson revolver. These Spanish copies were imported to Italy c. 1916 for use by the Italian military.

 

BTW: The grips on the pistol I observed were replaced with ivory while my WWII vet friend was in India (although he still had in his possession one of the original grips - shown in the photos). My WWII vet friend acquired his pistol in India when he was in the USAAC stationed there (the pistol having been brought to India by a USAAC bomber pilot when the pilot was transferred to Italy from North Africa). As related to me by my WWII vet friend, the pilot's story was that he had obtained the pistol from an Italian "surrender pile" in North Africa; brought it with him to India; then gifted it to my friend.

 

So, I again suggest that you focus on a possible connection between Italy and/or North Africa and the bring-back vet's unit. Assuming, of course, that the unit listed on the war trophy retention authorization papers was the bring-back vet's unit during wartime. It is always possible that the bring-back vet had been transferred into another unit for purposes of rotation back to the US (and that the retention papers were created as part of the process of sending him home at war's end), in which case the unit listed on the Capture Papers will not accurately reflect his actual wartime service.

 

 

 

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MS Collector

Here is the photo of the one (1) remaining original grip that accompanied the North Africa (via India) USAAC bring-back example that I have noted, together with a photo of my WWII vet friend with his war trophy.

 

My friend passed away 2-3 years ago; I need to reach out to the family to see what they might want to do with the pistol. As far as I'm concerned, the pistol is of negligible monetary value . . . I would just like to have it because of the interesting bring-back story from a WWII vet that lived down the street from me when I grew up.

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WWIIBuff1945

MS Collector thanks for the info and sharing the vets story and picture. You should definitely contact the vets family right away and inquire about the pistol. Hopefully they still have it and will be willing to part with it. We have researched the signing officer Hooper and he was commanding officer of the 56th Armored Engineer Battalion for at least the 11th Armored Division. The C.E. after Hooper's rank might stand for Combat Engineers or Commander Engineers. Now we have to find out if Dunn was a member of that outfit? The 56th did not operate in Africa or Italy.

 

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WWIIBuff1945

Received the gun and holster today. You can tell its been stored in the holster for a long time. I cleaned all the rust off and here are some new pics Spanish Gabilondos Eibar Model 1914? No British marking on it. There is something that I'm not sure of so check out the pic. Still researching it.

 

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