Paladin601 Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 (edited) Dave is going to post some pictures for me of a 1928 Thompson that has Battle damage. The soldier that was carrying the gun on D-day and he carried it until he wore it out, I believe the story goes. Probably carried because it brought him good luck. Edited January 27, 2015 by Paladin601 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalbert Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 I had some trouble pulling the photos off the site link, but here they are... David Albertdalbert@sturmgewehr.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin601 Posted January 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 (edited) Thanks, Dave These were taken from a Boards thread, and cannot link it or pull it up now. Edited January 27, 2015 by Paladin601 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Hound Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 Thanks, Dave These were taken from a Boards thread, and cannot link it or pull it up now.The easiest way is to just use the snip it tool to capture the photo and save the picture. Then you can easily post it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timkel Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 That Thompson saved his life. What a history to that piece. Battle damaged weapons are in a category of their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalbert Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 I don't have the book with me, but it seems like this Thompson may be featured in TUTB... David Albertdalbert@sturmgewehr.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD. Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 This Thompson along with the story regarding its history is featured in The Ultimate Thompson Book (TUTB) on page 371. It is serial number S-130420. Note the British Broad Arrow markings. It was probably one of the last cash-and-carry guns purchased directly by the British Ministry of Supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bug Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 and now that I have your book, Cash-and-Carry has a whole new meaning for me. Well done. Bob D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
full auto 45 Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 I tried to buy a MP-44 few years back, that had a 30.06 bullet still lodged in the side. Story was the guys grandfather picked it up after a US plane strafed the artillery the 44 was guarding. It did have some minor blood pitting on the back of the receiver. Looks like the '28 took a pretty hard 8mm hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colt21a Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Mike what American plane used 30.06 in its wing gun's? I think Avenger's and Dauntless, used that in rear guns only. maybe a Spitfire retrofitted for 30.06 more likely a G.I. firing his Garand rifle..Dennis Todd had a MP-44 with battle damage for sale a few years back., nice History but I will take condition over all of it.Colt21a Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bug Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Yeah Ron, the Todd 44 was hit by a 303 round. Bob D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timkel Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 This RPG7 has 2 .30 cal bullet strikes visible in the pic. It was captured by the Israeli military.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/timkel24102410/stuff/RPG-702.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
full auto 45 Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Yeah, Todd is the one who ended up buying it. I talked to the guy whose grandfather brought it back.It was at the show in Louisville. I talked to him for about an hour. The story as he told me was planes strafed a artillery site and then his grandfather came in afterwards and cleaned up. He took it off of the dead German. Duffle bagged it and brought it back. The round stuck in the side sure looked like a 30.06 round. I made a very reasonable offer, and he liked that it was going into a private collection. He walked around to look and Todd made a "stupid offer", as the guy told me, and he could not pass it up. It was about double the price said he would sell it to me for. Dennis must have wanted it real bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin601 Posted February 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 Just curious, did the MP 44 still function? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colt Chopper Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 Yes, it appeared to be fully functional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustebadge Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 Hi Dalbert and Gentlemen, The pictures of the battle damaged Thompson were taken by me. I cared for this Savage-made Thompson while we were working on it's transfer to a local museum. The curator had been encouraged by the ATF to surrender it for destruction when he called for advice. The person at our local ATF office didn't know enough about Class III to direct the curator to ATF-NFA. Me being a firearms instructor (and a Class III dealer at the time) at the local police department led to the curator calling me for help. We got it properly papered to the museum where it resides today. Being a Thompson owner, I was more than happy to assist the museum and ultimately submitted the info and pics to Tracie Hill. He in-turn included them in TUTB. The story: A local WWII vet said that he was at a farm house, inland from the beachhead on D-Day +2 and found it under a dead American paratrooper. He surmised a German 8mm round from a machine gun burst killed the soldier. I always wondered if the dead trooper was really British since the Savage was British proof marked. Maybe the old vet was mistaken or time had taken it's toll on his memory. Anyway, he recovered the Thompson and filed off some sharp edges created by the bullets passage through the receiver, that kept catching on his clothing. He brought it home following his service and never fired it. He decided to donate it to the museum because he was aging and felt it would be a safe home. I can testify that the old battle-scarred Thompson ran like it was new, even though the bolt group was visible through the hole in the receiver. In 1999 I had of my greatest privileges - to shoot this lovely warhorse, 55 years after it was last fired, presumably by the dead paratrooper and recovered by the vet. It seemed a sacrilege and appropriate at the same time. Every trigger pull was an honor to John Thompson and the "Greatest Generation", and especially the paratrooper who carried it in battle and lay on it as he died. I'm glad I stumbled on your pics and the interesting discussion. Thank you for all of your contributions to the Thompson SMG. Greg 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgvince Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 It's great you were contacted. That would have been a great loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
full auto 45 Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 What museum is the gun currently? What state, city? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelkih Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 Love this stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 British ownership would explain the provision of a VFG, as US issue guns seem to be pretty much exclusively fitted with horizontal foregrips from what I have observed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustebadge Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 The Thompson resides in the Marietta, Georgia Museum of History along with many other fine historical firearms. This underfunded local museum has done extraordinary work in preserving local history. If you're ever in the metro-Atlanta area, a visit to the Marietta Museum of History (1 Depot St #200) is worth your drive. They even have an aviation wing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSMGguy Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 No forward firing .30 wing guns in front line US military service after the P-40C, that I'm aware of. The .30s were installed mostly to make for cheaper aerial target practice. USAAC Lieutenants Welsh and Taylor flew their famous missions on the morning of December 7, 1941, with only their .30 guns loaded because their unit had been deployed to an outlying field for gunnery practice, scheduled to start the following day. No .50 ammo was initially available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mk VII Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 Some US-made aircraft supplied to Britain had .30s, which the British regarded as equivalent to the .303s that they were (initially) happy with in aircraft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MG08 Posted November 1, 2016 Report Share Posted November 1, 2016 I had an MP-40 that was supposedly brought back from North Africa by an officer after the initial North Africa Landings. His family had the gun - story was he shot the German with his M1 Carbine, and at least one rd went through the horizontal lower grip and trigger housing . Somewhere along the way the phenolic grip was replaced, but the bullet hole was still in the trigger frame. gun ran fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye_Joe Posted November 2, 2016 Report Share Posted November 2, 2016 For some reason I think I have seen this gun on this forum before..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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