Quintilian

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Yugoslav Partisans, The Fifth Overseas Brigade (a British and Yugoslav-organized unit, 1944)

Thank You Richard ! In the early 1990s, most of these Thompsons ended up with members of the Serbian Army of Krajina and the Army of Republika Srpska, while a smaller amount was used by other warring parties. Army of Republika Srpska (Garda Panteri unit) ........................................................................................................................................................................................... Interesting facts. In the late 1930s, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was looking for a submachine gun to equip its army. Faced with a lack of automatic weapons, Kingdom of Yugoslavia decided to purchase Thompson submachine guns for her elite parachute forces. The first 100 M1928A1 submachine guns were ordered in late 1940 but arrived only in April 1941 (The April War) when they were still captured by the Germans. Some authors speculate that these submachine guns had the markings of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, but I have never seen a single crest. However, M1928A1 submachine guns were parachuted by the Allies during 1942 and many believe that they were actually submachine guns purchased two years earlier. On the terrains of Yugoslavia in World War II, M1928A1 submachine guns were in frequent use in units of the of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland (The Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army). Chetniks with Thompsons General Draza Mihailovich, leader of Yugoslav Army in the Homeland (Yugoslavian guerrilla army known as the Chetniks) General Draza Mihailovich with his M1 Carbine (colorized) General Draza Mihailovich with U.S. officers "Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas", war film made by Twentieth Century Fox in 1943. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035729/ United States war comics The Legion of Merit, awarded to general Draža Mihailović by U.S. president Harry Truman During that time in Croatia: Ante Pavelić, a Croatian dictator who founded and headed the fascist ultranationalist organization known as the Ustaše in 1929 and governed the Independent State of Croatia. Adolf Hitler meets Ante Pavelić Mussolini and Pavelic

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065938/trivia „The three Tiger I tanks used were actually ex-Soviet Army T-34 tanks, converted in great detail by specialists of the Yugoslavian Army. They are not the same ones used in a previous movie, The Battle of Neretva (1969), which were much less well done. The care taken to make the T-34s look like Tiger tanks was notable, most period World War II movies used unmodified modern tanks as their vehicles, with minimal effort to change their appearances, often no more than painting the tanks with gray or yellow with distinctive German crosses. Oddball's (Donald Sutherland's) Shermans are Yugoslavian Army M4A3E4 Shermans (post-war U.S. upgraded to 76mm in original 75mm turret).“

@GaryKeim No problem, this is a well-known fact. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065938/locations Kelly's Heroes (1970) Filming Locations: The coast South of Trieste, Yugoslavia Vižinada, Istria, Croatia (street scenes) Beočin, Serbia (Scene with the general) Obrenovac, Bridge over the Kolubara River, Serbia ................................................................................................................................................................................... "The film was a US-Yugoslav co-production, filmed mainly in the Croatian village of Vižinada on the Istria peninsula." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly%27s_Heroes "The film was made and released during a time of great financial difficulties for studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, in the early days of the turbulent ownership of Kirk Kerkorian." "Operating Loss of $l.9 Million Posted by MGM: Despite 2nd Period Deficit, Firm Earned $4.9 Million During 1st Half of Fiscal '70 Filming Costs Charged Off". The Wall Street Journal. April 22, 1970. p. 5." "It was shot on location in the Istrian village of Vižinada in Yugoslavia (now Croatia) and London. One of the reasons for the selection of Yugoslavia as the main location was that, in 1969, it was one of the few nations whose army were still equipped with operating World War II mechanized equipment, both German and American, including in particular the M4 Sherman tank. This simplified logistics tremendously." "King, Susan (October 10, 2014). "From 'Patton' to 'Fury,' tank films that roll". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 17, 2019." ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 30 things we didn’t know about Kelly’s Heroes – Donald Sutherland was ill, expected to die before his wife got to Yugoslavia https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/kellys-heroes.html ................................................................................................................................................................................................... Kelly's Heroes - Filming Locations - Then and Now: 1. 2. 3. Vižinada, Istria, Croatia. Town square. .................................................................................................................................................................................................. The airsoft event played (12 - 14.10.2018.) in Vižinada, Istra (Croatia), where movie was filmmed: .................................................................................................................................................................................................... The abandoned Spitzer Castle in Serbia (Beočin, small place near Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia). Major General Colt's headquarters. Clint Eastwood at Petrovaradin Fortress, Novi Sad, Serbia, relaxing in between shooting Kelly’s Heroes. ...................................................................................................................................................................... The old railway bridge in Serbia (Obrenovac) was blown up for the purpose of shooting this movie. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Movie poster from ex Yugoslavia

By the way, all Thompsons in the movie Kelly's heroes (1970) were donated by the Yugoslav People's Army. Kelly's heroes (1970) was shot on locations in Yugoslavia. One of the reasons for the selection of Yugoslavia as the main location was that, in 1969, it was one of the few nations whose army were still equipped with operating WWII mechanized equipment, both German and American.

I have no experience with PB Blaster. But, what I know from experience, if rust is severe - WD40 is like Aspirin : ) (in my country for something that neither harms nor benefits is said to be like Aspirin) Würth Boltex http://media.wuerth.com/stmedia/shop/masterpages0000/std.lang.all/15216.pdf .......................................... Yugoslav soldiers with Thompsons (border guards), 1950.

After two months in diesel fuel : Frame after first electrolysis: Steel brushes and sandpapers: Vertical rear grip and horizontal fore grip; S - Savage Butt stock markings GEG: Wood filler (a mixture of wood glue and sawdust): 24 hours after bead blasting and hot bluing (wooden parts oiled with boiled linseed oil): Non firing, deactivated. Not for sale.

https://www.ballistol-shop.de/Klever-Quick-Browning-50-ml-coat-browning_B-S_281.html

@whit Nothing special, only electrolytic rust removal and cleaning. But, it doesn't matter. Smg is retired forever. Non firing, deactivated (welded solid) at the present time. Not for sale.

Thank you all, once again ! This particular Thompson was found in the attic of an old mountain house (cabin) on the border between Bosnia and Croatia (2 years ago). It was explained to me that in the late 1940s, after the WWII, the Yugoslav army organized a chase for gangs of Croatian and muslim nazi terrorists and war criminals - the Ustashas. On that occasion, an officer of the Yugoslav army donated a submachine gun to the old man (a partisan), owner of a cabin in which a detachment of Yugoslav soldiers spent the night. Otherwise, these submachine guns have long been in the warehouses of the Yugoslav Territorial Defense and were used in the The Yugoslav Wars (from 1991 to 2001). Several books and articles quotes a figure of 34000: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thompson_submachine_gun "The Yugoslav Army received 34,000 M1A1 Thompsons during the 1950s as part of a US Military Aid to Yugoslavia Agreement. These guns were used during the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s." (Dyker, David A.; Vejvoda, Ivan (9 December 1996). Yugoslavia and After: A Study in Fragmentation, Despair and Rebirth (1st ed.). London: Routledge. p. 120. ISBN 9781317891352.) ......................................................................................................................................................................................... Bojan Dimitrijević (Belgrade, 1968), Ph.D historian, deputy director of the Institute for Contemporary History, Belgrade, Serbia. "Relations between Yugoslavia and NATO 1951–1957" ............................................................................................................................................................................................. Bojan Dimitrijević (Belgrade, 1968), Ph.D historian, deputy director of the Institute for Contemporary History, Belgrade, Serbia. "Isporuke naoružanja u okviru zapadne vojne pomoći od 1951 do 1957 u Jugoslaviji-Faktor modernizacije armije", Vojno-istorijski Glasnik 1-2/2001 ; strana 144 do 160. https://www.mycity-military.com/Opste-vojne-teme/Jugoslavija-i-NATO-1951-1957.html#p304749 .............................................................................................................................................................................................. As I said earlier, restoration requires endless patience (6 months, winter project). 1. Love, patience and patience 2. I carefully unscrewed all the wooden parts with the help of Wurth Boltex 3. Soak the gun in diesel (hermetically sealed container, for a 2 months) 4. Stripping (complete disassembly) 5. Electrolytic rust removal (no springs!!!! - possible hydrogen embrittlement of springs) 6. Extra fine steel brush 7. Sandpaper, different grit sizes (removing pitting, very carefully at the edges) 8. Bead blasting 9. Hot bluing 10. Cosmoline (preservation) Thompson was in a fully functional condition after the restoration and I fired a few bursts (just to make sure). Don't ask me about the laws - my country does not allow full auto working machine guns and what I've done is actually a crime. But I'm not a criminal ! Submachine gun is retired forever. More photos After hot bluing Ammunition (badly corroded) Cheers !

@TSMGguy Sir, thank you for the information, very interesting ! And yes, restoration of antiques (especially heavy rusted guns) is in the first place a matter of patience. One must remove as many as possible holes caused by rust, yet without removing too much of the surrounding metal. But this piece was too rusty. How to find manufacturing month and year ? Thank you all ! An original, Yugoslavian M1 and M1A1 Operator's Manual (just part):

Hello everybody ! I'm writing you from Banja Luka, the capital of Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina, part of former Yugoslavia). I'm a passionate gun enthusiast since childhood and for many years restoration of old "Tommy guns" is a hobby of mine. Here's a story "Despite Josip Broz Tito's firm adherence to communism, because of the ideological note and personal conflict with Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Union - and thereafter all the Warsaw Pact's pro-Soviet governments - denounced his treaty of friendship with Yugoslavia on September 27, 1949. For some time it seemed to be a serious threat and a real danger of an intervention of the country by his former allies, so Yugoslavia accepted readily the American offer of assistance. There were even discussions at that time on its possible inclusion into North-Western Alliance. The Mutual Defense Assistance Act (An Act to promote the foreign policy and provide for the defense and general welfare of the United States by furnishing military assistance to foreign nations) was a United States Act of Congress signed by President Harry S. Truman on 6 October 1949. Following negotiations, an agreement on military assistance was concluded in Belgrade on November 14, 1951, between the governments of the (then) Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia and the United States. The agreement was signed by Marshal Tito and George V. Allen, US Ambassador in Belgrade. Under this agreement, Yugoslavia is included in The Mutual Defence Assistance Programme. Thompson M1 and M1A1 submachine guns were delivered to the government of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (over 34000 pieces). Yugoslav armed forces received during this period standard NATO military equipment and arms - such as the F-86 and F-84 Thunderjet jet fighters or M36 Jackson and M18 Hellcat tank-destroyers." This is my restoration project. Heavy rusted and pitted Thompson M1A1 (S - Savage), before and after restoration. Thompson had been forgotten in the attic (old house in the mountain village, Bosnia and Herzegovina) for 70+ years. Sincerely, Draško Dragosavljević Electrolytic Rust Removal Brushing and sanding After bead blasting Furniture Hot blued (and heavily coated with cosmoline) Yugoslav People's Army soldiers with Thompsons. 1950s.