Swampdog

I noticed on the DD-214 (Discharge Papers) that he was in telephone and telegraph.The Letye Gulf was a nasty battle as was Luzon.You have some very interesting pieces of history.And a relative who could very possibly been on the ship when Ol' Mac signed the papers being that he was in communications.I would be proud to have these copys of alegacy of a relative as so should you.Congrats on the history!

eldeguello

By George! I found it! That patch is the unit insignia of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade, which saw serious action in the Italian Campaign, and, later, in Okinawa after the Germans gave up in WWII.

It was a"commando" type special operations engineer unit. I once worked for a Major who wore this patch on his right sleeve, indicating he had been in the unit in combat.

http://www.vetshome.com/military_army_forces_patches_history_1.htm

Worn from: 17 June 1942 - 8 July 1946.
Re-designated: First Engineer Special Brigade. Worn from: 8 June 1946 - 21 June 1956.
The insignia originally was approved in 1942 for the members of Amphibian Units. The design, consisting of an anchor behind an eagle perched on top of a submachine gun, is adapted from the British Combined Operations insignia that was worn by commandos and landing-craft personnel.
Campaigns: World War II (Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Normandy, Northern France, Ryukyus).
Decorations: French Croix de Guerre with Palm (streamer embroidered Normandy Beaches).

donnyone

hmmmm, interesting. so was my wifes grand father some kind of bad ass or something? i know her dad sure scared me when i first met him lol.

i talked with my father inlaw today, all of the stuff came back in aold green wooden trunkhe said that theres some other stuff in it like some old blankets and a couple of old rifles that aremissing some parts and some other odd and ends. he said he dont know what the rifles are but he thinks there old hunting rifles that were left there before his time.

he said that i was welcome to them if i wanted them he was going to throw it all away, thats why hegave us some of the stuff that he thaught we would like in the firstplace.i guess a few more things cluttering up the house would not hurt, after all the history is getting kind of interesting.

Swampdog

By all means get any of these things that you can.You not only are preserving a part of U.S. history,But also a part of your families legacy.BTW It don't necessarily mean he was a bada$$ he just served with a unit that was.

donnyone

thanks for all the info guys, this really is facinating. i picked up the old trunk today, the out side is rather wore but the inside was in ok condition. he said that its only been opened a hand full of times in the last 50 years or so. it was a PITA getting it down from the attic. the two rifles had some light rust in several spots but i used a rag and some oil that he gave me and most of it came off. they were wraped togeather in the bottom in the old blanket and the rest of the stuff was tossed on top.



the two rifles are both marked
u.s. rifle
cal.30 m1
winchester
2,351,XXX and 144,XXX
one rifle seems complete minus the wood of course, but the other is defiently missing some parts that the other one has. im assumeing that these are also war rifles. are all these legal to own, im assuming they have been "liberated" after the war. if so wheres a good place to buy parts?

the belt and ammo belt dont quite match, there different shades. the mess kit is marked 1942 and the canteen 1945 theres 8 bullets in a holder and they have green and white tips with 43 stamped on the round end.

btw i almost forgot, i signed up for a pistol training course earlier today and had the pistol looked overat lunch timeat a local gunshop/indoor range next to where i work. i guessif its good enough to "protect" her faimly for two generations i guess that its good enough to protect mine.

the gunsmith said that the pistol is correct for a late remington rand and that it is in shootable condition but he said that its probably not a good idea to fire it much because of its condition.

eldeguello

http://www.fulton-armory.com/gca.htm

Donny, not only do you have a nice, rare version of the United States Pistol, caliber .45 Model 1911A1, but you have TWO very collectible Winchester-made WWII examples of the U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30 M1 Garand rifle, which look to be complete in your pictures except they are missing their butt stock components. Looks like everything else is there on the one, and the recoil spring and recoil spring strut are off the other one. Unless you have the stocks as well. In eithercase, you need to contact an M1 rifle collector about putting geeting the missing components and putting those two rifles back together so you canrestore them to original condition. Then get them appraised for collector value. Personally, I would be tempted to shoot them!

Acording to GEN George S. Patton Jr., "the M1 rifle is the greatest battle instrument ever devised."

Depending on condition, even without the original stocks, I would guess (and this is just a ROUGH guess), EACH of those rifles is worth at least $500.00 to $800.00 depending on condition. They look pretty good in your pictures, but I'd have to be able to inspect them to know for sure. In any case, I would keep them as family heirlooms, but I would definitely get stocks for them and put them back together.

RE: "hmmmm, interesting. so was my wifes grand father some kind of bad ass or something? i know her dad sure scared me when i first met him lol. "

Well, being in that unit, and having survived all the fights it was in, at least the old boy had to be pretty damn tough!

jtb1967

You should post information about your firearms over at the respective forums at www.jouster.com. You'll need more detailed photos of the Remington Rand for an accurate value. It's a fairly common 1911A1. Without more detailed closeup pictures it seems in excellent condition. The M1 receivers are 1943 and 1941 production based on the serial numbers. It's impossible to put a value on the pistol or the rifles without a lot more information. Several years ago I purchased several complete Winchester Garands from the CMP for $500.00 each. Needless to say even mixmaster Winchesters have went up since then. It would take several hundred dollars to complete your rifles even with non Winchester parts, but it would be worth the time and effort.

hartshot101

Your dealing with a Springfield edition .45 caliber 1911. theese were used in WWII. After the army tried the .38 spc. The 38 was to much a low power caliber to stop the japanese and others they were fighting. Most of the enemy's were dopped up on drugs and anphedimines so they would feel little pain there for the soldiers would have to empty clips into the enemy before they would come down. So the army adopted the .45 round, it was a heavier caliber with better ballistics with better take down power than the smaller .38. But anyways your 1911 is in excellent shape. keep it oilled regularly and dont sell it.

eldeguello

hartshot, you have the events about right, but your description is way outof phase time-wise, and you have the enemy wrong! The revolver that didn't work was NOT a .38 Special, but a .38 Colt. There is quite a difference! The time was 1900-1903, NOT 1941-45, and the enemy that was hopped up on drugs were not Japs, but the Moro Juramentados of the southern Philippine Islands. And the war was called the "Philippine Insurrection". When the Army decided (didn't take long to figure out) that the recently adopted .38 Colt revolvers were ineffective against the Moros, they dug the old .45 Colt Single-action revolvers out of the warehouses and reissued them to the troops in the Philippines.

Later, the results of the Army's so-called Thompson-Lagarde tests of handgun stopping power once again convinced the Army that a pistol or revolver bullet had to be at least .45 caliber, and weigh over 200 grains. This decision lead to the adoption of the John M. Browning-designed Colt pistol, caliber .45, in 1911. This happenedWAY AFTER the Philippine Insurrection was over, WAY BEFORE we fought the Japs in WWII-and before we fought the Krauts in WWI, even!

This guy's pistol is the 1911-A1 version, a modification of the original design that was adopted in 1926. The modifications included an extended tang on the grip safety, an arched mainspring housing, cutouts on the sides of the frame behind the trigger with a shorter triggerso guys with shorter fingers could reach the trigger easier, and a larger notch in the rear sight along with a wider, higher front sight for better aiming. All in all, the A1 is a marked improivement over the plain early 1911's. I have shot both, and can attest to the fact that the M1911A1 is better!

These pistols were used in every war we fought in the 20th Century after 1911, including WWI, WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam, not to mention every other little scrape we got into between 1911 and 1985, when the current M9 Beretta 9mm popgun was adopted. We are just now beginning to find out this9mm was a mistake too, but perhaps not quite as bad a mistake as that damned .38 Colt!

Briman

Good Lord you're killing me, you have stumbled on a treasure trove!

Those Winnies look like they are in good condition, you just need to pick up new stocks for them, I'd reccommend stocks from Wennigs, parts are easy to find from Fulton armory. Looks like you need an oprod spring (you change the one on the other rifle as well anyway), a follower rod, follower arm &pin, and possibly an oprod catch. You should be able to get these parts for about $40 or less. A complete rifle built on a winchester receiver can easily fetch $1000, more so if it has mostly winchester parts and original barrel.


That belt alone is worth over $100,the bullets thatare loaded in those cartridges are frangible practice rounds.

And a 1911A1 pistol will still be a top choice another 3 generations from now. There really haven't been any technological improvements to pistols since the 1911A1 other than different materials used, and bigger magazine capacity- just about every pistol today uses a locking system similar to the 1911. You can't pick a better pistol than the original.

Yes and no. If you plan to keep it well oiled and clean and take it to the range to shoot and maybe in your nightstand for home protection, you aren't going to hurt it. If you plan on letting it bounce around under the seat of your truck yearround, or want a pistol for CCW, you'd be better off buying something new and save the wear and tear on your nice piece.