Mike

Delivered

On the Road Home !! I followed the truck just in case .....You can see the brown tarp

Didn't want to worry the Locals so --

I don't have a clue why someone painted a Japanese Meatball on the front ...another collector thought it could have been a Captured Gun used by the Japanese and brought back here for evaluation ...I don't think so.

Hi Guys ....I'd been trying to cut a deal for this for about 5 months and finally we settled on a price, I bought it ..and I had it picked up by a flatbed Tow Truck. It's a 1942 Australian 2Pr Anti-Tank Gun ..since it's been cut and welded , it's technically a "non Gun" so it no longer has to be registered in any way. Luckily , my neighbors think it's great , my Wife is still thinking When it's finished , it will look great towed behind my 1944 Jeep Here it is ready for the trip home ---

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Hi Darrell ...Yes , that's one of them . I have 2 semi Thompson's and (I think) 4 -"L" drums and one "C" Drum ...the only problem is , because of our work schedule ...I have not had time to visit a range for 3 years now I hope this summer I'll be able to.

I'll post some pictures tonight ...that's one of my favorites !

Don't worry Paul ...I think there's a support group out there that can help or ...we can all chip in and get you treatments !

Hi Rick ..Something I wanted to mention, The gent I bought it from never implied that Plessen was "Criminally involved with the slaughter of any of Rome's Jews " (or anyone for that matter) ..he said he was involved in meetings re the Ghetto prob with the Vatican and Italian Gov , I'm sure something like that would have been a Huge Diplomatic Issue. But his connection was never used as a sales pitch or fairy tale ...I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea because the collector I bought it from is very squared away and would never do something like that. Thanks Rick --Mike

Ed ...that's a great idea , when I do meet up with him again I think you're right , I'll record it. I'll also have him come by our Mess Hall to have Dinner with the Troops ..we have an Inf Unit coming in next month , I think he'd love that. I'm also going to print some of this thread out and give it to him , he'd appreciate seeing it...you guys are great !

Hi Rick ..He had no idea there were any volunteer units from other Country's fighting or working for the Germans ..the whole concept floored him. And as far as how our "boys " were confused about the Uniforms etc ...I must have 10 Signal Blitz patches (with the Lightning bolt) that were given to me by 10 different Vets while I was a kid ...each time the Vet would start out with "Hey Kid , would you like to have an SS patch for your collection?" I guess being in a Signals Unit and getting captured wasn't that safe either As far as the RR guys ...there's a TD Vet that drops by now and then ..the first time he saw my collection, he walked in the room and focused on the RB Uniform ..he said " Everytime I think of those RR guys I feel sad ..it still bothers me " I asked him how he could possibly know that it was a RR Uniform after 60 years ? He said .. " We didn't know they were RR , we thought they were some sort of National Guard so ..we always shot at them ...but finally they told us not to shoot at them because they were RailRoad Conductors etc " Funny how even after 60 years ..he remembered that uniform BTW ..here's the brass cricket that many think was the only "official" style used ..the body is all Brass but the clicker part is steel

Thanks for confirming that Rick ...I didn't think he was involved because as I mentioned ...I could not find anything in any of the Trials records connecting him. But I thought it was worth asking because I might have missed something . I'll post some pictures of the signed Deposition tonight

Gentleman ...what could I say but , this is just fantastic . This is very interesting to me and thank you all for the help...the best I could do was tracing the family through the Royal records (on line) and I did find a ref his Daughter (Elizabeth) who is a writer . There was a reference to a "Plessen" involved in some Diplomatic issues in the far-east but , I don't know if that was him or not .That's when I found a phone listing in Berlin and had the conversation with the old Woman , who gave me the # to her daughter ..her daughter said they were not related to the "Von Plessen's " ..she was helpful though (spoke English) and I was able to get Elizabeth's address in Italy and I was planning on writing to her. She said the Family had dropped the "Von" from the name. This is quite a maze but ...what a challenge ! If he was involved in the Ghetto re-location ..I'd imagine there'd be many Trials documents regarding him. Was he the senior Diplomat in Rome ?

You're right ..he kept saying "I'm sorry" and asking if he was taking up too much of my time ..he wanted to talk and , I showed him my room and the flood gates opened ..the memories were flowing. He asked me about some guys he captured near St Lo ...he said they pleaded with him not to shoot because they were not German , but they were wearing German Uniforms. He was told they were "Contractors" hired by the German Army ...I told him about Vassov and the "POA" guys , he was shocked. He said some of them looked Asian so , it made sense. .."I've wondered about those guys for the last 60 years ..thanks for explaining that to me" It's nice knowing that we Collectors can provide "missing " puzzle pieces to the Soldiers who lived through it. If you ever make it to NY ..I'll introduce you to him.

Chris ...I just found it on his site and what's interesting is , Shea's was given in 1944 ! So I guess these were around for most of the War and not just 1940 . Thanks for the tip on that. You'd think there'd be more of them around then ..unless , collectors rarely saw them since the families kept them because of the cash value

The Gent I bought it from said that he was somehow connected to clearing the Ghetto in Rome but , I have found nothing connecting him to that . The grouping did however come with a signed deposition that could have been connected with the Trials. Hope you enjoy it

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Here's another new acquisition , in keeping with my looking for the "odd ball" items ...I have not had enough time to research it properly but , I "Googled" the name and found a Family member in Germany ..so I called. The older Woman that answered didn't speak English and ..I don't speak German but , she did have a great sense of Humor ..between the 2 of us trying to understand each other , it sounded like a skit from Monty Python. She did give me a few more leads (between the 2 of us laughing!)Anyway ...it's a great Passport and I thought I'd share it with you since we never really see these that often.

Thanks Christian ..I'll have to give him a call to see what I can find out about Grampa now

Thanks John , I think Herman only did this once ..so I guess if I looked up the Luftwaffe Casualties for 1940 , that would give a good idea of how many of these were given out. But I wonder if it was only for the Children of Pilots and Crew members killed or any Luft Soldiers..

Thanks guys ....There's something about having and Old Veteran walk up to you with a Shoe Box ..you don't know what to expect ! I've seen several examples of the "Cricket" clickers before , many had a bug/cricket design (some even had wings). I don't doubt that the Gov had some made for them but ..I bet the Army went to some Toy Companies back then and just bought what they had on hand as well. Is that mini with the EK a House Order of some kind ?