History and the Fickle-Finger-of-Fate...

PerversPÃ?Â©pÃ?Â¨re · 11-11-2002, 09:54 PM

Received a message from a very knowledgeable person: "Your luger belonged to the 328 Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment that was part of the 25 th Landwehr Division and battled on the Chemin des Dames on the Western Front during WWI. "

That comes as a shock to me: my very own grandfather, Ernest Lacoue-Labarthe, was in the Argonne and in Verdun. He and his unit were engaged in the bloody fights over the "Chemin des Dames", where he sustained a minor wound to his knee from a grenade shrapnel. After all these years and distance, knowing this pistol I just bought could have been the sidearm of one of the officers from the units facing my grand father is, to say the least, rather troubling!

Edward Tinker · 11-11-2002, 10:18 PM

Troubling... Perhaps, but the history, the stroke of fate, perhaps the heavens decided that YOU should possess and be the new owner to know the history of each side.

That maybe YOUR Luger was captured and brought back, perhaps by one of the officers or enlisted of your Grandfathers unit!

Boy, I envy you, that is too cool [img]smile.gif[/img]

PerversPÃ?Â©pÃ?Â¨re · 11-11-2002, 11:42 PM

[quote]Originally posted by Edward Tinker:
<strong>Troubling... Perhaps, but the history, the stroke of fate, perhaps the heavens decided that YOU should possess and be the new owner to know the history of each side.

That maybe YOUR Luger was captured and brought back, perhaps by one of the officers or enlisted of your Grandfathers unit!

Boy, I envy you, that is too cool [img]smile.gif[/img] </strong><hr></blockquote>

Man, I just don't know what to think but this is really weird!
Something even stronger happened to my father, one day, when a Sears'repairman visiting us to repair our laundering machine,here in Quebec, Canada, told him that he was, long ago, a member of an airborne stick sent to recover the remains of a pilot named Claude Ferrer,killed in action in 1961, during the Independance War in Algeria.
My father's brother was 27 at that time and a fighter pilot in French Air Force.It was on his last active strafing mission that his "Mistral" (a variant of the DeHavilland "Vampire") disintegrated in flight in circumstances that still remain hush-hush to this day.
Mind you,hearing that guy, coming over more than 3500kms and 25 years, just standing there and realizing my father was that Claude Ferrer's brother...Whew!I still get chills just thinking about it!
That is really OT but it is true.
PP.

Orv Reichert · 11-12-2002, 02:13 AM

I know of a case in California where the widow of a WW-2 fighter pilot married [12 years later] a naturalized German who now owned a local VW dealership. He also was a fighter pilot during the war.

Years later, when some of the first husbands buddies came by to visit, [and the war stories were being told] it was discovered that the new husband had become an Ace on the same day that her first hubby was downedÃ¢?Â¦..and, they were both fighting in the same general area.

It is a SMALL WORLD!

Orv Reichert

"Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you fight with your neighbor. It makes you shoot at your landlord and it makes you miss him"...Irish Proverb

11-11-2002, 09:54 PM	#1
PerversPÃ?Â©pÃ?Â¨re User Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 15 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	History and the Fickle-Finger-of-Fate... Received a message from a very knowledgeable person: "Your luger belonged to the 328 Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment that was part of the 25 th Landwehr Division and battled on the Chemin des Dames on the Western Front during WWI. " That comes as a shock to me: my very own grandfather, Ernest Lacoue-Labarthe, was in the Argonne and in Verdun. He and his unit were engaged in the bloody fights over the "Chemin des Dames", where he sustained a minor wound to his knee from a grenade shrapnel. After all these years and distance, knowing this pistol I just bought could have been the sidearm of one of the officers from the units facing my grand father is, to say the least, rather troubling!

11-11-2002, 10:18 PM	#2
Edward Tinker Super Moderator Eternal Lifer LugerForum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: North of Spokane, WA Posts: 15,935 Thanks: 2,033 Thanked 4,533 Times in 2,093 Posts	Troubling... Perhaps, but the history, the stroke of fate, perhaps the heavens decided that YOU should possess and be the new owner to know the history of each side. That maybe YOUR Luger was captured and brought back, perhaps by one of the officers or enlisted of your Grandfathers unit! Boy, I envy you, that is too cool [img]smile.gif[/img] __________________ Edward Tinker ************ Co-Author of Police Lugers - Co-Author of Simson Lugers Author of Veteran Bring Backs Vol I, Vol II, Vol III and Vol IV

11-12-2002, 02:13 AM	#4
Orv Reichert RIP Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: SW Washington State Posts: 339 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I know of a case in California where the widow of a WW-2 fighter pilot married [12 years later] a naturalized German who now owned a local VW dealership. He also was a fighter pilot during the war. Years later, when some of the first husbands buddies came by to visit, [and the war stories were being told] it was discovered that the new husband had become an Ace on the same day that her first hubby was downedÃ¢?Â¦..and, they were both fighting in the same general area. It is a SMALL WORLD! Orv Reichert "Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you fight with your neighbor. It makes you shoot at your landlord and it makes you miss him"...Irish Proverb __________________ ORVEL L. "ORV" REICHERT

11-11-2002, 11:42 PM	#3
PerversPÃ?Â©pÃ?Â¨re User Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 15 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	[quote]Originally posted by Edward Tinker: <strong>Troubling... Perhaps, but the history, the stroke of fate, perhaps the heavens decided that YOU should possess and be the new owner to know the history of each side. That maybe YOUR Luger was captured and brought back, perhaps by one of the officers or enlisted of your Grandfathers unit! Boy, I envy you, that is too cool [img]smile.gif[/img] </strong><hr></blockquote> Man, I just don't know what to think but this is really weird! Something even stronger happened to my father, one day, when a Sears'repairman visiting us to repair our laundering machine,here in Quebec, Canada, told him that he was, long ago, a member of an airborne stick sent to recover the remains of a pilot named Claude Ferrer,killed in action in 1961, during the Independance War in Algeria. My father's brother was 27 at that time and a fighter pilot in French Air Force.It was on his last active strafing mission that his "Mistral" (a variant of the DeHavilland "Vampire") disintegrated in flight in circumstances that still remain hush-hush to this day. Mind you,hearing that guy, coming over more than 3500kms and 25 years, just standing there and realizing my father was that Claude Ferrer's brother...Whew!I still get chills just thinking about it! That is really OT but it is true. PP.