I love the history behind it all. It makes everything so much more special with provenance. Thanks for making these vids. More of the Greatest Generation please.
Thank you! About 50 years ago I bought a 7.65 Walther PP with money from my newspaper route. How can I send you the serial number that you might check this out for me? I love your presentations! Best, Kurt
In April of 1945 my dad was with the 9th US Army trying to liberate the Ruhr Valley in S. Germany. The story goes that during a horrible rain storm my dads unit was chasing German soldiers retreating through a massive factory complex, that was still operating, even with the roof mostly blown off! There was a firefight, workers scattered or surrendered, many were slave laborers happy to be liberated, at that time, in the pouring rain, my dad looked down and saw the grip of a P-38 sticking out of the mud. He reached down and pulled it up, not thinking it could have been booby trapped! It wasn’t....and thats how he “captured “ his war souvenir. But he said that there were weapons laying everywhere. That there was a severe long gun shortage among the troops, mostly irregulars, defending the Ruhr, and many were armed with pistols only. I did not inherit the pistol another relative did, but I remember it had reddish grips and was in excellent condition, still fired occasionally by my dad in the 60’s.
My dad was 101st airborne on D-Day behind German lines....he was a signal corpsman and got to blow up stuff as well.....They don't make "boys" like this anymore....the greatest generation....much respect. I still have his B-25 "loadmaster" slide rule with the airplane's serial number in it.
Some ways "Gus" might have run across this Walther PP: Airfield capture, as you speculated. Also, Luftwaffe ran all of the Flak units, of which Patton's Third Army (The Shoulder Sleeve Insignia Gus is wearing in the photo is 3rd Army) overran a whole bunch of. Also, Luftwaffe Field Divisions, formed from "combed out" Luftwaffe personnel of the rear areas, given a few months training and sent into combat, mostly to get slaughtered. Also the Luftwaffe ran the radar sites behind the Atlantic Wall which also got overrun by the advancing allies. Not to mention various supply and training facilities. The Luftwaffe was thick on the ground in France since they'd been running aviation, Flak and Radar and support units there since 1940.Almost forgot paratroops (Fallschirmjager) which were also Luftwaffe, of which there were a respectable number in France in 1944.
Yes, I agree. This was a testament to the world once renowned that does not exist anymore. For me it is heartfelt. But I am old enough to have my grandfather address me demonically for wearing a "Surfers Cross" when I was a young kid..... I was immediately banished from his home in Cheyenne, WY and I was told by my Mom that I had to surrender my surfers cross or stay on the porch. Quite a bit for an 7ish year old kid. I never saw or had the cross in my possession again in my childhood and my Paternal Grandfather never, that I can ever remember, treated me as his sons son...... never. But his family was Czech..... I can give a nod to that... But Grandma was German.... 100% and her family crossed by covered wagon into Montana and Oregon long before the war....and eventually some settled in Wyoming where I was born. Grandma was always sweet on me. She was my best Grandma.
another great video from you . ewery time i sea a video from you guys i learn something new. looking at your videos make me love my rare mauser 1934 kriegsmarine O marked with both O marked magazines and holster,even more. its only made 800 of this .and now i have positive proof that it comes from a submarine .that was surrendered in the city of bergen norway.
keep up the great research, you inspire me to continue collecting though my means are small. the best is only the next "barn find" away was deeply saddened to hear sauer had closed their home plant. and what will happen to schul now vty r.g.w.
Thanks Tom. I can really tell that you are a great guy with a great heart and that you love what you do and it shows in everything that I have watched you do.... Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a father figure ... but I do think that I do come from a just like respect as you and I honestly appreciate what you bring to the table. When I see you hold and show a Himmler PPK, which I never thought that there was ever such a thing that existed or could exist, I am fascinated by seeing these things and I'm trusting that you have the real deal and that there are these distinguished guns available and that they do have providence. I never believed this before your Legacy Collectables. I thought "Yea, Maybe..." And wow, you bring some beautiful rare guns and history and memorabilia that depict and reveal the truth and emotion of civilized life back in the days of my grandparents and it truly affects me what you do. I wish I could win the lottery and be the curator of several of these finest arms.... just to touch and hold just to say that once, they were mine. But no one ever really "owns" them.... anyone with one just keeps it safe and preserves it to pass it on to it's own history to the next keeper of its history that passes it on. Thanks for what you do. I do own one of the ivory/plastic handle parade daggers that you showed in this video.
If his letters don't mention taking a Luftwaffe airfield, it is possible that the pistol came from either a "Herman Goering Field Division" (ground troops) or from some Airborne (Fallschirmjager) troops. Maybe even a Flak unit. All could have been in towns overrun by the 29th. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the video. At about 1:47 it shows a newspaper clip of Leslie aka Gus. If you can read it, the other two in the clipping are his brother Boyd and sister Cleo. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Gustafson. Three siblings serving.
@@thomaswhiteman4261 He is my Uncle. Bill is my wonderful cousin. In my other comment, the pic's that didn't upload were of the ceiling tiles at our local VFW. One for Uncle Gus and one for his other brother, Uncle Richard.
When he was in St.Avold he captured my Homecity-Saarbrücken..... St Avold nowdays is just 5 km or three miles from Saarbrücken away- they fought nearly till end of the war in march the americans and french captured it-others where in this time near Berlin... Everybody who married in wartime get mein kampf as a present. Hitler makes a lot of money with this book-but by the way who would read a book from Trump ;-) so a lot of germans never read this book!
This Walter my Grandpa later has as Policemen by the french gouverment-my part of germany returns in 1956 to germany bevor this time we was a own "country" under french controll so my grandpa was first a gendarm and later ein Polizist when they came back to germany-but the german-french controlled police used this gun as standard pistol and in the two first jears after war he had to use it often times because there had been a lot of gangs from young people which all had bad damages from war-he said this was a more dangerous time for him than his service the kriegsmarine!
Great video, Tom. My dad Jack was a medic that landed D Day +1 on Omaha Beach. He was in a Signal Corp unit, first day there was busy splinting and patching walking wounded not seriously injured to be evacuated, didn't sleep for 48 hours. Lots of linemen with crushed fingers from stringing comm wires from big reels; guys that fell from poles and trees stringing wires etc. His medical battalion surgeon taught him how to stitch up cuts, pull big splinters out etc. Not well known but medics also treated injured German POWs.
Not many killing of the enemy stories... Butt plentiful stories of what he did on the firebase when not in combat you'd think he wasn't in a war 3 tours in Vietnam with the 1st cav retired with 25 years of service in The United States Army love you dad hope Valhalla is treating you well.
My grandfather gave me a walther pp that he took off of a German officer who was surrendering at the end of the war. The holster has the officers name in it and the same initials are on the gun. Lt. Franz Lackner I’m always hoping to get more insight on the history. Would you be willing to help?
Thank you for another Veterans story. Gus’s PP had bottom mag release and others later in video has side button release, any rhyme or reason to this? Thanks you again.
MAN!! I would love to have a 9mm Walther PP ! I only knew of .22, .32, and .380cal. I wish they would have gone into full production. Everything is strong enough for 9mm. Just a little more in length. I think the blow back would work just fine with 9mm. Thank you for the information that you provide to us on these wonderful firearms
The 'accident ' involving the landing craft that were sunk may have been the slapton sands incident when night time manoeuvres were discovered by german schnell boats and many Americans were lost in the surprise attack it was hushed up until long after the war ended and many American families never new the truth of their loved ones deaths ,this incident is almost certainly the reason why gus had to go on June 6th.
Very interesting and touching story. I felt a sense of loss as the story came to an end. Thanks for this video. You did a great job presenting this small but so meaningful piece of history.
Great, great video once again Tom! Thank you for the American vet biography and showing us the captured pistols. When you say these pistols were issued to the Luftwaffe, does that mean they were issued to both bomber crews and fighter pilots of the Nazi Airforce (Luftwaffe)? Thank you for the response!
Very little talk about the subject '9MM PP' which would have been fascinating as I never knew there were PPs (PPKs?) in 9x19 IF that is what is being reported. HUGE PET PEEVE: When I am buried a firing party will fire THREE VOLLEYS to honor me unless, by coincidence, the firing party is made of seven riflemen, it will not even total twenty-one---and that is OK. Regardless, this is NOT a 'Twenty-One Gun Salute'. Gun salutes of varying number, up to 21 (to honor heads-of-state and a few others) are fired by ARTILLERY (cannons), one-round, in-sequence till the total is reached.
I don’t understand how luftwaffe contracts bring so much premium, only about 1% went to pilots. The ground troops were subpar as far as ground fighting success...
Camp Maxey at Paris,TX is still used by the Texas National Guard (although it was reduced in size in 1945. ) Used to use the ranges there in the USAR in the 1980's.
Interesting, they had well functioning 9mm P38, yet 9mm PPs were also made. Probably because it kind of looked better and not many soldiers could get them.
Hi u have a walther it’s serial number did 220,0xx P marked on the slide and frame and has the matching serial numbered magazine only 1 not the second one is this a luftwaffe
Why it's aways (in this video) pronounced "Vaffen stamp"???? It's WaffenAmt stamp (it means Wa3ponsOffice stamp). Don't change the history with your lack of knowledge
waffen is short for waffenamp. It is call an "abbreviation". Like mag, means magazines. And I did 10 reps at the gym, means 10 repetitions It is not an abomination to use abbrev. !
Tengo una Wáter pero no tengo Cargador..La pistola es del Ejército..Me la regalaron..Sólo se.lo que pone..Super destroyer.pistola Automática 7'65mm No la quiero..
Nice pistol and story. However just FYI it is not a 9mm (as in 9x19 or 9mm Luger), it is a 9mm Short aka .380ACP.
I love the history behind it all. It makes everything so much more special with provenance. Thanks for making these vids. More of the Greatest Generation please.
You’re right. That is a gorgeous gun.
You do a fantastic job honoring our great American heros. Thanks.
Thank you! About 50 years ago I bought a 7.65 Walther PP with money from my newspaper route. How can I send you the serial number that you might check this out for me? I love your presentations! Best, Kurt
In April of 1945 my dad was with the 9th US Army trying to liberate the Ruhr Valley in S. Germany. The story goes that during a horrible rain storm my dads unit was chasing German soldiers retreating through a massive factory complex, that was still operating, even with the roof mostly blown off! There was a firefight, workers scattered or surrendered, many were slave laborers happy to be liberated, at that time, in the pouring rain, my dad looked down and saw the grip of a P-38 sticking out of the mud. He reached down and pulled it up, not thinking it could have been booby trapped! It wasn’t....and thats how he “captured “ his war souvenir. But he said that there were weapons laying everywhere. That there was a severe long gun shortage among the troops, mostly irregulars, defending the Ruhr, and many were armed with pistols only. I did not inherit the pistol another relative did, but I remember it had reddish grips and was in excellent condition, still fired occasionally by my dad in the 60’s.
you should go get it from the relative
@@dalcallcenter2879 Sure he should!
My dad was 101st airborne on D-Day behind German lines....he was a signal corpsman and got to blow up stuff as well.....They don't make "boys" like this anymore....the greatest generation....much respect.
I still have his B-25 "loadmaster" slide rule with the airplane's serial number in it.
“Just because I know you need more gun porn.” LOL! Thanks for the great video!
Some ways "Gus" might have run across this Walther PP: Airfield capture, as you speculated. Also, Luftwaffe ran all of the Flak units, of which Patton's Third Army (The Shoulder Sleeve Insignia Gus is wearing in the photo is 3rd Army) overran a whole bunch of. Also, Luftwaffe Field Divisions, formed from "combed out" Luftwaffe personnel of the rear areas, given a few months training and sent into combat, mostly to get slaughtered. Also the Luftwaffe ran the radar sites behind the Atlantic Wall which also got overrun by the advancing allies. Not to mention various supply and training facilities. The Luftwaffe was thick on the ground in France since they'd been running aviation, Flak and Radar and support units there since 1940.Almost forgot paratroops (Fallschirmjager) which were also Luftwaffe, of which there were a respectable number in France in 1944.
FOUND OUT TODAY MY SON BOUGHT A PPK A COUPLE YEARS AGO FROM YOU FOR MY BIRTHDAY .THANKS
Gustafson from Minnesota?
Was he a *grumpy old man* ?
I wish there was a "love" button like Facebook..
Yes, I agree. This was a testament to the world once renowned that does not exist anymore. For me it is heartfelt. But I am old enough to have my grandfather address me demonically for wearing a "Surfers Cross" when I was a young kid..... I was immediately banished from his home in Cheyenne, WY and I was told by my Mom that I had to surrender my surfers cross or stay on the porch. Quite a bit for an 7ish year old kid. I never saw or had the cross in my possession again in my childhood and my Paternal Grandfather never, that I can ever remember, treated me as his sons son...... never.
But his family was Czech..... I can give a nod to that...
But Grandma was German.... 100% and her family crossed by covered wagon into Montana and Oregon long before the war....and eventually some settled in Wyoming where I was born.
Grandma was always sweet on me. She was my best Grandma.
Facecrap doesn't like weapons nor heroes....
another great video from you . ewery time i sea a video from you guys i learn something new. looking at your videos make me love my rare mauser 1934 kriegsmarine O marked with both O marked magazines and holster,even more. its only made 800 of this .and now i have positive proof that it comes from a submarine .that was surrendered in the city of bergen norway.
Thank you for your videos...
One of my favorite channels, thanks.
keep up the great research, you inspire me to continue collecting though my means are small. the best is only the next "barn find" away was deeply saddened to hear sauer had closed their home plant. and what will happen to schul now vty r.g.w.
Tom, thanks for the in depth of this PP and Gus' life. Very much appreciated and again, thanks for the great job.
Thanks Tom. I can really tell that you are a great guy with a great heart and that you love what you do and it shows in everything that I have watched you do.... Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a father figure ... but I do think that I do come from a just like respect as you and I honestly appreciate what you bring to the table. When I see you hold and show a Himmler PPK, which I never thought that there was ever such a thing that existed or could exist, I am fascinated by seeing these things and I'm trusting that you have the real deal and that there are these distinguished guns available and that they do have providence. I never believed this before your Legacy Collectables. I thought "Yea, Maybe..." And wow, you bring some beautiful rare guns and history and memorabilia that depict and reveal the truth and emotion of civilized life back in the days of my grandparents and it truly affects me what you do. I wish I could win the lottery and be the curator of several of these finest arms.... just to touch and hold just to say that once, they were mine.
But no one ever really "owns" them.... anyone with one just keeps it safe and preserves it to pass it on to it's own history to the next keeper of its history that passes it on.
Thanks for what you do.
I do own one of the ivory/plastic handle parade daggers that you showed in this video.
If his letters don't mention taking a Luftwaffe airfield, it is possible that the pistol came from either a "Herman Goering Field Division" (ground troops) or from some Airborne (Fallschirmjager) troops. Maybe even a Flak unit. All could have been in towns overrun by the 29th. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your service Gus! Our fathers of the GREATEST GENERATION are prized and.loved!
Thanks for the video. At about 1:47 it shows a newspaper clip of Leslie aka Gus. If you can read it, the other two in the clipping are his brother Boyd and sister Cleo. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Gustafson. Three siblings serving.
Thanks for pointing that out
@@thomaswhiteman4261 He is my Uncle. Bill is my wonderful cousin.
In my other comment, the pic's that didn't upload were of the ceiling tiles at our local VFW. One for Uncle Gus and one for his other brother, Uncle Richard.
When he was in St.Avold he captured my Homecity-Saarbrücken..... St Avold nowdays is just 5 km or three miles from Saarbrücken away- they fought nearly till end of the war in march the americans and french captured it-others where in this time near Berlin... Everybody who married in wartime get mein kampf as a present. Hitler makes a lot of money with this book-but by the way who would read a book from Trump ;-) so a lot of germans never read this book!
This Walter my Grandpa later has as Policemen by the french gouverment-my part of germany returns in 1956 to germany bevor this time we was a own "country" under french controll so my grandpa was first a gendarm and later ein Polizist when they came back to germany-but the german-french controlled police used this gun as standard pistol and in the two first jears after war he had to use it often times because there had been a lot of gangs from young people which all had bad damages from war-he said this was a more dangerous time for him than his service the kriegsmarine!
sorry for my bad written english!
Great backstory on this one
Ceiling of the local VFW in Michigan.
Leslie aka Gus aka Les, and another brother Richard. That's 4 siblings.
Sorry, didn't know the pics wouldn't upload.
Love my 32 PP from my 1st Inf. Div. grandfather, who landed on DDay on Omaha Beach. Beautiful pistol.
Thanks to the family for sharing. Prayers for all those who didn't come home.
I saw Ian's video and as soon as I saw the topic I immediately thought Legacy collectables!!
Great video, Tom. My dad Jack was a medic that landed D Day +1 on Omaha Beach. He was in a Signal Corp unit, first day there was busy splinting and patching walking wounded not seriously injured to be evacuated, didn't sleep for 48 hours. Lots of linemen with crushed fingers from stringing comm wires from big reels; guys that fell from poles and trees stringing wires etc. His medical battalion surgeon taught him how to stitch up cuts, pull big splinters out etc. Not well known but medics also treated injured German POWs.
Geeus. It's pronounced "Luft-Vaffe!"
Get a grip! This is not complicated.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Combat Engineer here - it's a pretty damn cool job.
Not many killing of the enemy stories... Butt plentiful stories of what he did on the firebase when not in combat you'd think he wasn't in a war 3 tours in Vietnam with the 1st cav retired with 25 years of service in The United States Army love you dad hope Valhalla is treating you well.
@Howie Felterbush works for me have a great day.
My grandfather gave me a walther pp that he took off of a German officer who was surrendering at the end of the war. The holster has the officers name in it and the same initials are on the gun. Lt. Franz Lackner
I’m always hoping to get more insight on the history. Would you be willing to help?
Super great video. Always love to hear the stories behind the gun especially the individual who brought it home. Hope to hear more of these.😋
Thank you for another Veterans story. Gus’s PP had bottom mag release and others later in video has side button release, any rhyme or reason to this? Thanks you again.
Thank you to "Gus" and other fellows like him for what they accomplished. Your sacrifices were substantial.
MAN!! I would love to have a 9mm Walther PP ! I only knew of .22, .32, and .380cal. I wish they would have gone into full production. Everything is strong enough for 9mm. Just a little more in length. I think the blow back would work just fine with 9mm.
Thank you for the information that you provide to us on these wonderful firearms
Thanks for posting this story! It was a very cool video! The back story on Gus was very interesting!
There was a coastal radar site run by the Luftwaffe on the Normandy coast that held out for 12 days and finally surrendered. Just Sayin!
The 'accident ' involving the landing craft that were sunk may have been the slapton sands incident when night time manoeuvres were discovered by german schnell boats and many Americans were lost in the surprise attack it was hushed up until long after the war ended and many American families never new the truth of their loved ones deaths ,this incident is almost certainly the reason why gus had to go on June 6th.
The History you share is as valuable ( nearly) as the items you show. Thanksfor the lost history
Very interesting and touching story. I felt a sense of loss as the story came to an end. Thanks for this video. You did a great job presenting this small but so meaningful piece of history.
Awesome story an thanks for telling Leslie "Gus" Gustafson's service.
Great, great video once again Tom! Thank you for the American vet biography and showing us the captured pistols. When you say these pistols were issued to the Luftwaffe, does that mean they were issued to both bomber crews and fighter pilots of the Nazi Airforce (Luftwaffe)? Thank you for the response!
Gus is a reminder that some good things can come out of Minneapolis
Those mags don't match. At least the text looks different and one looks a bit more wide. Imo. Beautiful pistol and cool history.
One mag floor plate is above and over the other mag making the other look skinnier.
@@panthermartin7784 text is diff
Great gun review and story!
Like no 57. From Batavia Indonesia.
É uma obra prima.
Thanks a lot. Great story and some nice guns.
very nice story.
That is awesome
How many 98ks went to lufwaffa?
I dont know nut but they were Eagle L proofed on the butt stock so someone out there must have a published estimate
thats a beautiful pistol.
What a great story. Thank you.
Thank you for a wonderful and timely tribute to Gus. Another terrific, educational - and fascinating - video.
Top presentation, again, Tom. Please keep up the good work: we must not forget.
Very little talk about the subject '9MM PP' which would have been fascinating as I never knew there were PPs (PPKs?) in 9x19 IF that is what is being reported. HUGE PET PEEVE: When I am buried a firing party will fire THREE VOLLEYS to honor me unless, by coincidence, the firing party is made of seven riflemen, it will not even total twenty-one---and that is OK. Regardless, this is NOT a 'Twenty-One Gun Salute'. Gun salutes of varying number, up to 21 (to honor heads-of-state and a few others) are fired by ARTILLERY (cannons), one-round, in-sequence till the total is reached.
I don’t understand how luftwaffe contracts bring so much premium, only about 1% went to pilots. The ground troops were subpar as far as ground fighting success...
rarity
A great tribute to a great man. God bless America and all our vets.
A great story behind a gun, thanks for sharing and honoring this man
nice one tom
Wonderful, great story
Camp Maxey at Paris,TX is still used by the Texas National Guard (although it was reduced in size in 1945. ) Used to use the ranges there in the USAR in the 1980's.
Interesting, they had well functioning 9mm P38, yet 9mm PPs were also made. Probably because it kind of looked better and not many soldiers could get them.
Thank you. Interesting video, as always
Hi u have a walther it’s serial number did 220,0xx P marked on the slide and frame and has the matching serial numbered magazine only 1 not the second one is this a luftwaffe
Very nice and well deserved tribute. Thank you.
I bought a couple of these Walther PP in 9mmK, looking forward to the book.
Love the American surplus compared to Nazi..
🍸👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Great video. Thank you sir.
Thank you!!!!
"Luftwaffe" ist "Luft-vaffe" auf English!!!!
Duh? Duh? and again, DUH?????
Here is the US W is pronounced differently than in Germany. I dont eat vaffles in the morning. And we say Jesus and not Hesus.
@@thomaswhiteman4261absolutely delicious response... lol.
Excellent presentation, loved it!!
Thanks again...!1+
nice storys from maddness. mm
9mm short ,Kurz ?
Love the honesty by Gus
Bravo Zulu! "Gus"
Barry Robert Pepper ?
we luv GJ
Why it's aways (in this video) pronounced "Vaffen stamp"???? It's WaffenAmt stamp (it means Wa3ponsOffice stamp). Don't change the history with your lack of knowledge
waffen is short for waffenamp. It is call an "abbreviation". Like mag, means magazines. And I did 10 reps at the gym, means 10 repetitions It is not an abomination to use abbrev. !
Tengo una Wáter pero no tengo Cargador..La pistola es del Ejército..Me la regalaron..Sólo se.lo que pone..Super destroyer.pistola Automática 7'65mm No la quiero..