Vet bring back, how did they get them home?

AndyB said:
Bayonet could be 43asw i assume E.u.F.Hoerster 1943.
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Thank you. It has a thick black paint on the Scabbard which is peeling. I’m not sure if it original. I know it’s “ddl”, Joshua Corts “40”
 

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I can add two family stories on "bring backs". My uncle Frank was recruited from the trucking industry (as was my father). Uncle Frank was sent to Iran to assist the Lend Lease equipment movement to Russia. He wore the Persian Gulf Command shoulder patch. I have a copy of his diary telling of the hazards of the climate more than actual combat. After the war ended he was moved to Europe and eventually home. His pack / duffel bag was stuffed with a C96 Mauser with matching stock and harness, a 1930 Sauer and a cased set of dueling pistols. Either on arrival or departure (I can't remember which) he went to the mess hall for chow. He wanted to bring his duffel bag in but the staff wouldn't allow it. He positioned the bag near the entrance so he could keep watch. After the meal he went to discover the bag had been slit open and the cased pistols were stolen. The Sauer and Broomhandle were still there. Fast forward to 1969, my father had passed and my mother was moving us to Oregon. She sent a 10 year old boy to stay with Uncle Frank. Well, as you can assume when Uncle Frank was away I went snooping in the gun cabinet. I lusted after that Broomhandle for 40 years. Frank had two sons and when he passed I figured I'd never get that pistol. Well, a few years later one of his sons approached me to buy the gun. Of course! We made a fair deal and it's a treasured possession. A month later the son and I met for coffee- he found the "capture paper" and gave it to me. The unit identification links to a transportation unit stationed in the Persian Gulf.

Short story long.

My father served in the European Theater during WW2. Unfortunately he didn't bring home any firearms. He did bring a Kriegsmarine flag with pins and medals attached. He was a Capt. and probably had more ability to get things home than enlisted. Fast forward (again). My father had several older brothers (two served in WW1). About 1985 while visiting with my aunt Betty she related that my father had sent several packages of military items to her children during the war. He sent hats, helmets and a "big flag". I asked if any were still around, she said no and then paused, "I think we still have the flag". Down to the basement we go. Yep, the flag was still there. Still in the basement for 40 years. Yes, I was pretty excited. The flag turned out to be a RAD banner, about 18 feet long. My father and a fellow officer placed their name on the white center of the swastika.

G2
 
Had a Japanese rifle that was found in the soldiers attic after he passed, was in a wooden crate built from Japanese artillery shell crates.

My grandfather was in 3rd armor, and his brother was in a logistics company. Family lore was he sent home crates of k98s g43s lugers and p38s. Him and his brother had a huge falling out in 60s and supposedly the crates were sold/stolen for brothers drug addiction. They hadn't talked rest of their lives since then (both gone now). Uncle supposedly still has a luger from one of the crates but I've never seen it personally.
 
gunnertwo said:
I can add two family stories on "bring backs". My uncle Frank was recruited from the trucking industry (as was my father). Uncle Frank was sent to Iran to assist the Lend Lease equipment movement to Russia. He wore the Persian Gulf Command shoulder patch. I have a copy of his diary telling of the hazards of the climate more than actual combat. After the war ended he was moved to Europe and eventually home. His pack / duffel bag was stuffed with a C96 Mauser with matching stock and harness, a 1930 Sauer and a cased set of dueling pistols. Either on arrival or departure (I can't remember which) he went to the mess hall for chow. He wanted to bring his duffel bag in but the staff wouldn't allow it. He positioned the bag near the entrance so he could keep watch. After the meal he went to discover the bag had been slit open and the cased pistols were stolen. The Sauer and Broomhandle were still there. Fast forward to 1969, my father had passed and my mother was moving us to Oregon. She sent a 10 year old boy to stay with Uncle Frank. Well, as you can assume when Uncle Frank was away I went snooping in the gun cabinet. I lusted after that Broomhandle for 40 years. Frank had two sons and when he passed I figured I'd never get that pistol. Well, a few years later one of his sons approached me to buy the gun. Of course! We made a fair deal and it's a treasured possession. A month later the son and I met for coffee- he found the "capture paper" and gave it to me. The unit identification links to a transportation unit stationed in the Persian Gulf.

Short story long.

My father served in the European Theater during WW2. Unfortunately he didn't bring home any firearms. He did bring a Kriegsmarine flag with pins and medals attached. He was a Capt. and probably had more ability to get things home than enlisted. Fast forward (again). My father had several older brothers (two served in WW1). About 1985 while visiting with my aunt Betty she related that my father had sent several packages of military items to her children during the war. He sent hats, helmets and a "big flag". I asked if any were still around, she said no and then paused, "I think we still have the flag". Down to the basement we go. Yep, the flag was still there. Still in the basement for 40 years. Yes, I was pretty excited. The flag turned out to be a RAD banner, about 18 feet long. My father and a fellow officer placed their name on the white center of the swastika.

G2
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Thank you for sharing those family stories. We all need a little something to tie us to loved ones when they are gone.

My 2nd cousins Pat was much older than me, was a lifelong batchelor, US Military Officer, and a “Sommelier” who bought for Total Wine. I would see him every other Christmas, and sometimes on family vacations, we would talk about politics, history, and Firearms. He lived a few states away.

He was diagnosed with brain cancer on Thanksgiving and he had passed away right after New Year’s. Before his passing he called at Christmas asked “who really loves history and guns”, and my family said me. He passed away a week later and I was told he had left me his firearm collection, which I didn’t know about. It was a huge collection of all matching Mausers, Enfields, German Pistols, Russian etc. But no German Mausers, so having gotten this one I know he would’ve loved it, because in his home, he had a collection of memorabilia, including WW2 German beer steins.
 

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Embalmer said:
Had a Japanese rifle that was found in the soldiers attic after he passed, was in a wooden crate built from Japanese artillery shell crates.

My grandfather was in 3rd armor, and his brother was in a logistics company. Family lore was he sent home crates of k98s g43s lugers and p38s. Him and his brother had a huge falling out in 60s and supposedly the crates were sold/stolen for brothers drug addiction. They hadn't talked rest of their lives since then (both gone now). Uncle supposedly still has a luger from one of the crates but I've never seen it personally.
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I’m glad I can lock my stuff away. I’m sorry to hear that.
 
NC_Classics said:
Thank you for sharing those family stories. We all need a little something to tie us to loved ones when they are gone.

My 2nd cousins Pat was much older than me, was a lifelong batchelor, US Military Officer, and a “Sommelier” who bought for Total Wine. I would see him every other Christmas, and sometimes on family vacations, we would talk about politics, history, and Firearms. He lived a few states away.

He was diagnosed with brain cancer on Thanksgiving and he had passed away right after New Year’s. Before his passing he called at Christmas asked “who really loves history and guns”, and my family said me. He passed away a week later and I was told he had left me his firearm collection, which I didn’t know about. It was a huge collection of all matching Mausers, Enfields, German Pistols, Russian etc. But no German Mausers, so having gotten this one I know he would’ve loved it, because in his home, he had a collection of memorabilia, including WW2 German beer steins.
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My grandmother sold my grandfather’s WWI regimental stein to buy food.
 
I have a Kokura Last Ditch concentric circle T99 and bayonet my Grandmother personally carried home with her. She was an Army Nurse Lt. on stationed on Tinian. She was there to treat wounded B29 air crews and also prepare her nurses for the casualties that were to be sent to Tinian due to the planned invasion of mainland japan. Fortunately the atomic bombs dropped and ended the war.

She got to personally walk up to the Enola gay sometime after the raid and took a picture of it undergoing engine maintenance. She was then sent to Japan and stayed there for about a year for occupation duty. When it was her time to go home and she was walking on the docks to the ship, she said there were barrels full of Japanese rifles and Bayonets. Some were being loaded onto barges and they were hauling them out into the ocean to be dumped. Her and her nurses grabbed some as souvenirs and Slung them over their shoulder and boarded the ship. She said a nearby ship with Marines that were hooting and hollering at the nurses were laughing at the sight of a bunch of nurses in heels and lipstick carrying rifles with bayonets attached.

I later found out the Kokura factory was the primary target during the second atomic bomb raid, but was covered in clouds and smoke. So they dropped it on Nagasaki instead. The rifle that my grandmother brought back almost wasnt brought back, it was nearly destroyed by an atomic bomb there at Kokura.

I wish I knew & asked how the rifle was stored once she got it on the ship… fwiw the bolt matches on it so I assume it stayed with her the whole time. Her being an officer I would also assume she had a shared room vs a giant bunk room for the enlisted.
 
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