My personal memorial to D-Day..

[virginia mountainman]

Since to day is the 65th Anniversary of D-Day, let me show my friends, a few of the things My family and I have to remember this day by....I have been collecting military arms, for many years now, so let me share with you a few pieces from my personal collection. To help us remember, the brave soldiers, who carried these rifles and pistols into battle that June day, not so long ago.

First off, is the Standard American Battle Rifle, the M1 Garand



Secondly, the M1 Carbine, this was also carried on that fateful day in June.



The 1911 Pistol, this one, was my grandfathers, he carried it in the Pacific...It is shown here, because many 1911's where carried by our soldiers on that day in June



Here is my Canadian, Lee Enfield no4 MkII rifle, this specimen is dated 1942, and is built by the Long Branch Arsenal, near Toronto..



Here is, my British, Lee Enfield no1 Mk III*, or built by the rifle factory at Enfield, in 1916, during the “great war”, odds are it also saw service during WWII, this rifle is on the bottom, it has been rudely sportized...The Middle Rifle, is a Australian, Lee Enfield no1 Mk III* This rifle is in great shape, but alas, probably did not see action on D-Day, in Europe...

The top rifle, is the Canadian Rifle, photographed above, and the top of the pic, is my nosy, but very lovable Cat, “Sir Thomas the furry”



Here is some of the weapons, our solders could have faced, that fateful day in June.

Here is a photograph, of one of my German, K98k Mausers, this was, the standard German Rifle, of WWII..

This particular example, is special, it was built with the use of slave labor from the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in 1942, the markings on the rifle, show this. This rifle, when you hold it, makes you think about all those innocent victims of the Nazis, I make double certain, that anyone who holds this rifle, knows its history....I will share it with my friends on DU...



This rifle, is slowly being restored (in a way that will not destroy its historical significance) so pardon me, for not having all the accessories in place {sight hood, cleaning rod, sling}

Here is my German P-38 Pistol as well...



Here is a photo, of the German K98k and P38 Pistol together..



I have many MANY other pieces, but they are not pertinent to the Invasion of Normandy in 1944

Sorry, about the different sizes and styles of photographs, they where taken over the past few years, with different cameras! Also, note, every weapon I own, is fully functional, and can be called upon, to defend freedom once more (yes, even the German ones, they have been "rehabbed", and now stand on the right side)

From time to time, I actually get to hand one of these weapons to a Vet, and many times, their eyes will sparkle, and some well up with tears, as they once again, hold the rifle that kept them alive, so long ago. Many take me up on my offer to go shooting, and it does my heart glad, to see these old men, become visibly animated, it is as if someone took 40 years away from their age.

A few years ago, I met an Ex-Canadian solder, who nearly passed out when I handed him the long branch rifle, it was such a powerful experience for him.

[uppityperson]

1. Interesting take on d-day

[NeedleCast]

2. Impresive Collection

Thank you for sharing.

[blaze]

3. the markings on the rifle, show this

"it was built with the use of slave labor from the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in 1942, the markings on the rifle, show this"

Will you share what those markings are?

I know squat about guns... but this bit of history caught my eye.

[virginia mountainman]

4. Certainly!!

It is marked with the Manufacture code of "BCD" on top of the Receiver

Here is a detailed photo of this, I took it out in the sun, trying to get it to show.

This photo, is a bit bigger, so I am trying to get it NOT to display, but you should be able to click on it..

http://yfrog.com/5bsunlitk98kdetail2j

"bcd 42" means that this rifle that was produced in 1942 at the Gustloff Werke, Weimar factory......

From Wikipeidia...

In 1937, the Nazis constructed the Buchenwald concentration camp, only eight kilometers from Weimar's city center. The slogan Jedem das Seine (literally "to each his own", but figuratively "everyone gets what he deserves") was placed over the camp's main entrance gate. Between July 1938 and April 1945, some 240,000 people were incarcerated in Buchenwald by the Nazi regime, including 168 Western Allied POWs.<2> The number of deaths at Buchenwald is estimated at 56,545.<3> The Buchenwald concentration camp provided slave labour for local industry (arms industry of Wilhelm-Gustloff-Werk).<4> World War II ended with Nazi Germany's defeat and division into East and West Germany. From 1945 to 1950, the Soviet Union used the occupied Buchenwald concentration camp to imprison defeated Nazis and other Germans. The camp slogan remained Jedem das Seine. On 6 January 1950, the Soviets handed over Buchenwald to the East German Ministry of Internal Affairs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar#Nazi_Germany

You can google any of these terms, and find a wealth of info about it "BCD", "Slave Labor", "Wilhelm-Gustloff-Werk"....

I hope this is what your looking for if not, just ask!

[blaze]

6. Thanks, VM

for taking the time to post this.

That's a chilling bit of history.

Like I said, I know squat about guns... raised in suburbia w/no guns... moved to Colorado where a lot of folks own guns...

It's a subject that fascinates me and scares the crap out of me at the same time.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[virginia mountainman]

10. Your Welcome!

And thanks for the question! If I lived closer, I would invite you to the range with me, so you can hold, and fire these historical items for yourself, after a a quick lesson in gun safety of course!!

I even have a supply WWII era Ammunition, for most of my rifles, it is amazing, how "Hot" the British and German WWII ammo is, in relation to what you buy for these same guns today, and to top it off, the British ammo, is loaded with Cordite gun powder, this is the same stuff that they use in big battle ship guns! You get a "brown" smoke and a acrid smell from the WWII stuff, that you don't get with modern propellants.

We could shoot some of it! Provided you help me clean'em up afterwords!

I really enjoy sharing my collection with those that appreciate history, like I do!

My Gun Collections, spans from 1890's till the modern times, I even have a sizable collection of Semi-automatic versions of modern Assault Rifles, and Light Machine guns.

All completely legal, of course! But my favorites, are the WWII era Semi, and bolt actions. And I have them from all over the world, from China, Japan, Australia, Germany, USA, Canada, Finland, Soviet Union....the list goes on and on!!

[X_Digger]

11. re 'hot' loads..

I remember reading a while back (can't find the source) that those 'hot' loads were the standards, and today's loads for those older guns are intentionally light because they're likely to be used in a gun that's 50+ years old and of questionable working order. I don't know how much truth there is to that, but it makes sense if true.

[rockymountaindem]

5. I am very impressed by your collection

When I finally get a real-world job, I'm going to start collecting myself. I already have a collection of antique military medals which I've been working on since I was a kid, and I know exactly what you're talking about. Holding things like that in your hand really make you feel connected to the past and the people who lived those events. My British Army 1915 Star is inscribed with the recipient's name, regiment and number, but unfortunately I was unable to find any information about him in the UK online military database because apparently 40% of their records were destroyed in the Blitz. But it's still amazing to think about :)

[Hoopla Phil]

7. Very nice collection. Thank you for sharing.

[BigBluenoser]

8. Beautiful guns and a great tribute...

I'm holding off on purchasing an M1 Garand and Carbine. I have decided they will be my "citizenship rifles" when I am allowed to become a US citizen. The day I get my citizenship I will be placing my order with CMP. That will be my way of honoring the folks who bled for this country in WWII and an important marker in my progress towards becoming a citizen in the true sense of the word. Sure I could get them now (F2F or FFL), but it wouldn't be the same.

[krispos42]

9. The furniture on your Garand is gorgeous

:wow:



WANT!!!!!



:patriot:

[X_Digger]

12. No kidding!!

VM, have you refinished that, or was it done at some armory somewhere?

[AtheistCrusader]

15. Looks like he got it out of a time machine.

I have never seen its equal.

[Xela]

13. Nice collection.

(Late to the post)

Thanks for sharing.

Xela

[iverglas]

14. Canada's collection of memorabilia

from the liberation of Europe:





http://nagonthelake.blogspot.com/2008/05/ottawa-tulip-festival.html

The Canadian Tulip Festival has grown into the largest Tulip Festival in the world from a gift of International Friendship given six decades ago. In the fall of 1945, Princess Juliana of the Netherlands presented Ottawa with 100,000 tulip bulbs. The gift was given in appreciation of the safe haven that members of Holland's exiled royal family received during the Second World War in Ottawa and in recognition of the role which Canadian troops played in the liberation of the Netherlands.


And also:





http://members.home.nl/hins/Cemgroesbeek.htm

Canada's 5,7O6 war dead in The Netherlands are buried mainly in the three Canadian Commonwealth War Cemeteries, or are commemorated on the Groesbeek Memorial By far the greater number of the men buried in the Groesbeek cemetery were Canadians, and many of them lost their lives in the Battle of the Rhineland, when the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions, and the 4th Canadian Armoured Division took part in the drive southwards from Nijmegen to clear the territory between the Maas and the Rhine, in February and March 1945. Canadian casualties from 8th February to 10th March of that year totaled 5,304.



Yeah, it ain't D-Day. It came after D-Day.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/dday/cdnunits.html

14,000 Canadians landed on D-Day
During the first six days of the Normandy campaign, 1,017 Canadians died.
By the end of the Normandy campaign, about 5,020 Canadians had been killed.
About 5,400 Canadians are buried in Normandy.


1.1 million Canadians served in WWII, including 106,000 in the Royal Canadian Navy
and 200,000 in the Royal Canadian Air Force
(population of Canada in 1939 - when WWII started - about 11 million)



The firearm collection is interesting, and I can completely understand the interest in having such a collection.



typo fixed ...

[AtheistCrusader]

17. I did not know.

The ratio of servicemen and women, to total population in Canada.

[Euromutt]

18. It is worth noting that Canada only sent volunteers overseas

Canada did have conscription during the second world war, but only for defense of Canadian soil. You had to volunteer to be sent overseas. So the number of Canadians serving in expeditionary units was much smaller than the total of Canadian service personnel (though I shouldn't underestimate the role of the Royal Canadian Navy, which technically didn't serve overseas, if you catch my drift; early on in the war, they were the main Allied component escorting convoys and fighting off U-boats, despite having vessels that really weren't all that well suited to the purpose).

It should also be noted that for the invasion of north-western Europe (ETO in US parlance), the 1st Canadian Army was brought up to strength by recalling every Canadian unit from elsewhere (Italy, mainly). The 1st Canadian Army was it, and that had to be augmented with British I Corps and the Polish 1sr Armoured Division. But you know, not bad for a country of 11 million.

And don't let anyone think that I'm trying to rubbish the Canadian contribution to the war. I'm Dutch, and I grew up learning in school that the Canadians liberated my country. Which isn't entirely true; the British and Americans liberated bits of it. But the Canadians were the ones who cleared the 2/3 of the country north of the Rhine and accepted the surrender of all remaining German forces in the Netherlands on May 5th, 1945. My grandparents, living in the northern part, only ever saw Canadian troops.

And yeah, we had most of the royal family living in Canada, apart from Queen Wilhelmina (who was in London) and prince Bernhard (who was commander-in-chief of Dutch forces and drove a jeep around north-western Europe a lot).

I also thought it was awfully nice when I visited the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, ON and discovered the museum cafeteria was named the "Holland Liberation Canteen," replete with photos of the German surrender and Operation Manna (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Manna). It's sweet the Canadians place as much importance on having liberated the Dutch as the Dutch do on having been liberated by the Canadians.

[DonP]

16. Very nice hardware VM

Now you need to round up a Springfield '03 or 03A3 for serious long range work. It's my favorite for service rifle matches.

Your Garand looks great and is far better looking than mine. Have you tracked it's issue data on the CMP web site?

Mine was issued to the 7th Fleet Marine Force in March of 1943. Every nick and gouge on it's beat up old stock and every dark stain from a cheek or hand is part of its history.

I take parts of my collection out to a local range with friends and family on Veterans Day and the 4th of July.

I can't count the number of people I've met there that I've let put a clip from the Garand downrange. They are curious and always want to know "does it kick". They all hand it back with a big smile on their face after that final "Ping".

Last November we had a family, grandfather, grandmother and a couple of kids, around 15 and 12, at a local range. The 15 year old was obviously curious and kept looking at the Garand. The grandfather asked if the boy could look at the rifle and I said sure. The grandfather was very good about reminding him to keep it pointed downrange, finger off the trigger etc. Then after he had handled it for a while I told him that if it was alright with his grandfather and grandmother he could shoot a clip through it. Boy, did that kid light up! His grandfather had it right when he said, "Boy, you be careful with that, that's real history in your hands."

About 5 years ago I took my Dad and my (now passed on) Uncle Ray (USMC WWII, Pacific campaign Entiewok Atoll, Iwo Jima et. al.) to the range. My uncle said he hadn't handled a Garand since 1945. In about a minute he was feeding clips into it like riding a bike. He actually got misty handling it again.

When he passed he left me his Japanese Arisaka "bring back", complete with the untouched Chrysanthemum on the dust cover, original sword bayonet and those goofy airplane shooting sights.

[guardian]

19. Thanks for the photos

Nice collection. I'm just waiting for one of the gun control freaks in the forum to complain about your "Nazi fetish" just for owning some German WWII era items. Heaven forbid you try to sell one at a gun show. :-)

[proteus_lives]

20. Awesome collection!

I'm so jealous!