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Post by Ryan_M on Apr 3, 2015 17:12:08 GMT -5
I'm a little off the flat fender topic but since there are a good number of WWII nuts here I thought this might be appreciated. I scavenged these out of a basement today. Very cool stuff IMHO:  The knife is a CASE XX 337 Quartermaster. WWII vintage I do believe. There's a shipping box complete with some sort of manifest of its contents, including the typed description: " Picture frame, with pictures (knocked down) (POW made)"   Then inside the box I found a June 1945 Paris edition of "THE STARS AND STRIPES" and the "QUEENBELL" sign.  And then there's a really cool ashtray made from a 105mm and 50cal shell.       And to top it off I also acquired that flashy red Craftsman toolbox everything is sitting on.  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2015 19:29:23 GMT -5
The trench art V-1 is very cool.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2015 20:30:58 GMT -5
The trench art V-1 is very cool. X2, very cool! Lee  |
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Post by Ryan_M on Apr 3, 2015 21:00:18 GMT -5
"Trench Art" and "V1". I had heard of both of these terms but didn't realize that's what this is. Fascinating history here.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2015 22:32:05 GMT -5
HG will get all giddy when he see's the address on that box!   |
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Post by Haines Garage on Apr 3, 2015 23:49:05 GMT -5
I just did!!!
Grandpa Haines was from there. Worked at the GE Schenectady Plant.
Here is something even more , I believe Cherbourg is one of the French towns he fought in .1945
I think I posted at timeline in Veterans Salute.
That is too spooky that it would turn up here like that!!!
I am going to check the timeline post.
Too cool!
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Post by Haines Garage on Apr 4, 2015 0:01:32 GMT -5
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Post by Ryan_M on Apr 4, 2015 6:11:26 GMT -5
HG - Good stuff here. The date on your grandfather's inventory list is 6/21/45. The date on the newspaper in my wooden box is 6/24/45 and presumably the day the Lt Col packed it up. I also checked the map and it's only 5 miles from Eleanor St to Cornelius Ave in Schnenectady.  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2015 6:49:03 GMT -5
My guess is that the LtCol caught a troop transport from Cherbourg back to the U.S. I was wondering if the Queenbell was the ship's name, but I couldn't find any references. Ryan....did you say that he was a POW? I love the handwriting on the box. It is gorgeous. Can you tell if it's painted by hand or is it like a stencil? I have done many fancy scoreboards using various fonts of calligraphy in my time. It's a lost art now in the age of computers. I always appreciate nice artwork with letters and numbers. |
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Post by Ryan_M on Apr 4, 2015 7:03:45 GMT -5
I don't think the LtCol was a POW but if you look at the first item (Picture frame) listed on that inventory sheet it states it is "POW Made". I'm clueless on "Queenbell". The letters are definitely hand done and the box appears to be an old ammo/grenade crate of some type. Photobucket is playing its "upside down game" this morning. Not sure if these pics will display correctly:   |
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Post by jeffwho on Apr 4, 2015 7:13:11 GMT -5
The museum geek and WWII collector in me is going gaga over this stuff, thanks for the post! Most of this stuff is the true one-of-a-kind variety that you just don't see every day!!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2015 8:31:10 GMT -5
Check it out, Ryan.... linkI didn't read it all, but I bet the same Catlett is listed on page 5, the last part of the chart. I'm guessing he was the C/O of the 791st AAA? Cool! |
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Post by zooke581 on Apr 4, 2015 8:50:40 GMT -5
Fantastic! What treasure.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2015 9:50:29 GMT -5
I'm drooling over the P-61 Black Widows.
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Post by Ryan_M on Apr 4, 2015 10:35:48 GMT -5
Check it out, Ryan.... linkI didn't read it all, but I bet the same Catlett is listed on page 5, the last part of the chart. I'm guessing he was the C/O of the 791st AAA? Cool! Looks like that's the guy. Very cool. Thanks for posting that. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2015 15:21:43 GMT -5
Ryan, even the cale of the buzz bomb looks correct. Very cool indeed. And Haines, what's with the two white stars on those two Jeeps windshields? Was that a unit specific marking? Oil
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Post by Ryan_M on Apr 5, 2015 18:02:07 GMT -5
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Post by jeffwho on Apr 6, 2015 16:37:48 GMT -5
More one-of-a-kind stuff! Incredible, Ryan, really. I hope I can find a treasure trove like that someday ... for now I have to wait to the kindhearted in the world to bring them to the museum! Short story, not to take away from your incredible thread.
A guy stopped in the museum one day when CPT Bowman was there and he dropped off a footlocker. He saw it at auction, he said, and as an Army veteran himself decided he couldn't let anything happen to it. Inside was a collection of letters to and from the owner and his wife during his deployment in Europe during WWII, along with a large collection of the owner's service records and other paperwork. A short search of the ASN yielded some history on the man who, at age 52, died and whose wife remarried - a man with three children. They did not have children of their own, so there was no heir - and no telling if there are brothers, sisters or other family. Strange, it seems an invasion of privacy to read them, but who knows what stories they will tell?! Curiosity will win out, and I am sure that I will dig into the trunk if I get time to.
(I can hear Moosey groaning: "FOCUS YOU FOOL, FOCUS!")
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2015 20:23:52 GMT -5
Yes, I'm groaning, Detard.
Ryan...the poker is awesome and totally confirms him being the same Lt. Col from that publication! I'm having a crappy time finding his unit history. Anybody else find anything?
This is like being a history detective!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2015 20:33:21 GMT -5
I am in need of a few good detectives of WW2 history!, who is in ?. Lee |
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Post by jeffwho on Apr 7, 2015 4:44:47 GMT -5
I'll try to give you a hand as I can, Lee.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2015 5:38:24 GMT -5
I did a quick look and came up with a photo of an 8" Howitzer like the 791st used;
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Post by Ryan_M on Apr 7, 2015 6:15:54 GMT -5
FWIW the LTCol's grandson told me he commanded a unit of half-tracks with some sort of giant anti-aircraft gun(s) mounted to them. I always feel stupid in those conversations as I don't even know enough to ask the right follow-up questions.
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Post by jeffwho on Apr 7, 2015 6:50:04 GMT -5
As for M3 half-tracks I'm thinking most had crew-served, quad-mount antiaircraft guns, I think were 40mm but not positive. I have a friend in town whose grandfather served with an armoured AAA unit in Germany and has a slew of interviews with him. Off the top of my head, I can't recall the unit ... maybe I'll dig that up to verify the caliber of the weapons in that configuration. I bet if you googled antiaircraft halftrack you'd turn up a variety of photos. It's awesome you can get information still from his grandson! Too many things turn up a complete mystery with no roots. Enjoy that, you are fortunate!!
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Post by jeffwho on Apr 7, 2015 6:54:45 GMT -5
There were at least a couple variants:
The M3 half-track modified with anti-aircraft gun combination to become T28E1 in Tunisia
The M16 was famous for downing low-flying aircraft and was nicknamed the "Meat Chopper" because it tore the aircraft's fuselage to pieces with its machine guns and was extremely popular with soldiers.
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