1918 dwm - Page 2

Norme · 10-06-2018, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron Wood

Norm
I have a 1912 DWM that was captured at Bastogne
Ron

I have a P08 1st Issue that was a WW2 bring-back, but my belief is that it was turned in by some elderly reservist after the surrender. That's why I asked for the date on the bring-back papers.
Best regards, Norm

bayoned · 10-06-2018, 10:40 PM

Large numbers of WWI weapons were "forgotten" to be accounted for after the armistice.
They were never "officially" in the Weimar German government's hands, and were "re-discovered" later after the Allies lost interest in enforcing the Versailles Treaty.

My first Luger was purchased directly from the WWII vet who lived across the street from me when I was a teenager. And coincidentally, it too is a 1918 DWM with no additional markings other than what was original to it's WWI manufacture.

4 Scale · 10-06-2018, 11:15 PM

As far as WWI Lugers being used in WWII, I've read numerous anecdotes about WWI P08s being captured during WWII. One fascinating surprise in Gortz & Sturgess was reading the various documents regarding pistol allocations throughout the war. At all times during WWII production Lugers were distributed to the various branches under allocation orders, all branches wanted more than they got. The Germans never had enough of anything. As an example I recall reading that something like 80% of German army transport during the war was horse-drawn. Also, a WWI pistol would only be 30 years old, maybe less, during WWII - not exactly ancient. I suspect the Germans used everything they had, and I would not be surprised if many thousands of WWI pistols found their way into service.

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10-06-2018, 10:40 PM	#22
bayoned User Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 14 Thanks: 1 Thanked 9 Times in 5 Posts	Large numbers of WWI weapons were "forgotten" to be accounted for after the armistice. They were never "officially" in the Weimar German government's hands, and were "re-discovered" later after the Allies lost interest in enforcing the Versailles Treaty. My first Luger was purchased directly from the WWII vet who lived across the street from me when I was a teenager. And coincidentally, it too is a 1918 DWM with no additional markings other than what was original to it's WWI manufacture.

10-06-2018, 11:15 PM	#23
4 Scale User Join Date: Nov 2014 Posts: 544 Thanks: 194 Thanked 489 Times in 251 Posts	As far as WWI Lugers being used in WWII, I've read numerous anecdotes about WWI P08s being captured during WWII. One fascinating surprise in Gortz & Sturgess was reading the various documents regarding pistol allocations throughout the war. At all times during WWII production Lugers were distributed to the various branches under allocation orders, all branches wanted more than they got. The Germans never had enough of anything. As an example I recall reading that something like 80% of German army transport during the war was horse-drawn. Also, a WWI pistol would only be 30 years old, maybe less, during WWII - not exactly ancient. I suspect the Germans used everything they had, and I would not be surprised if many thousands of WWI pistols found their way into service.