Thursday, August 28, 2008

Recognise This Pistol?


From the Star Telegram:
By Chris Vaughn

WEATHERFORD — The woman wears a knee-length dress and has a dark coat, about the same color as her hair. She has a berette on the left side.

She stands in front of a couple of shrubs, at what appears to be the side of a house. She isn’t smiling, but neither does she look unhappy.

For decades, she has not moved, her photo overlaid with plexiglass and screwed into the grip of an Army-issue 1943 .45-caliber. She is almost certainly the sweetheart of a U.S. serviceman who fought the Nazis or the Japanese during the Second World War.

"It’s got a pretty good history somewhere," said Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler.

Trouble is, Fowler hasn’t been able to crack this case. Not for lack of trying, though...

...Last December, Parker County deputies executed a search warrant at a house in search of a suspect. He wasn’t there, but they found the gun under a mattress. The homeowner told them he thought it was stolen.
Someone here in North Texas is missing an important family heirloom. I'll bet the goblin stole it from an elderly couple and they may not even know it is missing. Heck, it may not even have been stolen in N. Texas. It sure would be nice to reunite this piece of American history back with the family who owns it.

Here is an image of the grips:

Who is She?

Anyone with information about the woman or the pistol can contact the Parker County Sheriff’s Department at (817) 594-8845.

Update: Great News, Mystery Solved

7 comments:

Alan said...

I've never seen a photo on a grip before. That's definitely one of a kind.

I hope they find the owner.

TexasFred said...

If the owner is still alive, the rightful owner, I sure hope they can get this back into their hands, or that of appropriate family...

Great post JR...

Ride Fast said...

Nice of you to post this. Hope it finds its way back to the original owner or family.

Hey Alan, this was actually a common practice in War Two. Pretty neat.

Chas S. Clifton said...

@ride fast

You are so right. In one of his columns (later books) the war correspondent Ernie Pyle visits an Ordnance depot behind the lines, where he sees an M-1 whose owner has inlaid a woman's photo in the stock, covered with a piece of Plexiglass.

Of course, at the depot, the rifle is refurbished and tossed into a collection of M-1's to be re-issued, which makes Pyle's point.

David Codrea said...

They found the owner.
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/872306.html

John R said...

It is pretty outstanding that the family is going to get this piece of history back.

NotClauswitz said...

Awesome that they got it back!!