Hauptmann

Now it Can Be Told: U-505 Capture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuK42CFfl2Q&feature=related

Moving the U505:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUuQIpVuhCg&feature=related

Dan :cheers:

Here's the tour which includes the interior:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlf8PbFHYjs

Dan :cheers:

Nick, there seem to be two basic types of this knife... one with a threaded and one a peened tang. Basically the threaded type has a pommel cap that is, after the grip/guard assembly has been installed, screwed/bolted to the end of the tang to hold it all together. However, things that are screwed/bolted can of course come loose over time or come apart. The peen method heats the end of the tang after assembly, and on these I'm assuming a machine would then peen the end of the tang, ie: hammer or more likely in this case use high pressure to form the end of the tang into the pyramidal shaped "cap" which holds it all together. Works great, until you get a situation such as you have where the grip has to be replaced.

If you go here you'll see two examples of this knife, one with a threaded tang/pommel and the other that is peened:

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t65710.html

You'll see they are distinctly different. The example you show in the pic you posted definitely seems to be the peened tang type. Normally, if you didn't have the guard to worry about you could make a repair as shown in the example of a sword here:

http://sbgswordforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=swordcustom&action=print&thread=10675

But with the guard involved you cannot afford to lose any of the tang's length.

Here is what I would suggest. Finish your cleaning/rust removal. Then either make (or if you are not good with woodworking get someone who is to make) a new grip for it but in two halves, taking care that once complete they will fit together very well leaving a very small seam. Fit it together on the tang then once the fit is right glue the halves together, sand the seams to make them less noticeable, then finish it out (stain, etc.) and if done well there will be very little of the seam to see.

I would suspect that with these peened types that this is what would have been done when grips were damaged/split, etc., when these were originally issued/used. I'm guessing it would not happen often but must have on occasion over the years they were used. Either that or field repair would have been made, most likely with someone carving out a grip, inserting the halves over the tang, then wrapping the grip with tape, twine or leather in order to hold it together.

If done as I describe and done well, then I think you'll have a great display piece that will still be functional but as it is not being used in combat it won't take heavy punishment... only occasionally being handled and I'm assuming the rest of the time laying in a case or hanging on a framed display. It will maintain the look of the original if the right wood and stain are used and I think will display well.

Of course others may have a better way of doing this, but that's the best I can come up with. I hope you're able to finish the restoration as it's a great piece of history and shows to what level of brutality the trench warfare reached during WW1.

Dan :cheers:

Clue #1: Getting this new job gave me lots of perks and benefits, although there were a few nervous moments. I worked for my "boss" throughout WW2 and into the early 50's.

Dan :cheers:

Sorry... incorrect. I'll say this... our man was not a leader.

Dan :cheers:

Many thanks for the insights on this one. This is really outside my areas of interest and I was at a loss to give him much info on it. He's been having problems logging on but hopefully once he's back on he'll pop on and thank ya'll in person.

I know his friend is wanting to know and I've no idea... but any thoughts on what something like this is worth? I'm assuming not a ton but again it's just not within my bailiwick so no earthly idea.

Dan :cheers:

Told a friend about the two KGB LS medals and a bit later he said he'd managed to find me the one I needed to finish the set. Lo and behold on my birthday I receive not only that but a full set of the other type of KGB LS medals with the Roman numerals! Needless to say it was a great birthday! :jumping:

Here they are... all together in a riker mount:

Best part... the 10 and 15 year Roman numeral types are on a bar together!

He wants to remain anonymous but my deepest thanks go out to him!

Dan :cheers:

Question 44:

My name is Alex but I was called Ivan when my story was told. I'm not giving last names here as it will give me away. I was totally loyal and had absolute faith in my master till he died then realized the error of my ways. I lost my friends, my wife and much of my life to this man... but gained a daughter in the process.

Who am I (give both names)?

Who did I work for?

What organization did I have to join in order to work for him?

What did I do for him?

My story was told in two ways... what were they?

Good luck!

Dan :cheers:

Posting this for a friend who is a newer member. Someone he knows has it and said he was told it is a Bishops dagger or sword. I'd never heard of such a thing so hoping one of our more learned members in the area of swords may be able to ID/value this one.

They're thinking it dates to around 1000 to 1100.

Far as I know men of the cloth back in the times of swords and such were not permitted to fight with any weapon that could stab someone... only things like clubs, maces, staffs and such. So no idea why such a personage would have a sword/dagger... unless this is just what it's called and it doesn't have anything to do with an actual Bishop.

Again any info deeply appreciated as we're totally and absolutely in the dark on this one.

Dan :cheers:

Name of the ship: Soviet cruiser Ordzhonikidze

I'm assuming you meant the two Soviet leaders on board the ship at the time: Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin were on a diplomatic mission to England at the time.

Name of the British Commando Officer/Diver: Lionel "Buster" Crabb OBE, GM (28 January 1909 – presumed dead 19 April 1956) was a British Royal Navy frogman and MI6 diver.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Crabb

Dan :cheers:

I don't suppose anyone would happen to have a Navy Cross mini they don't need and would consider letting go for not too much? I've had a miniature bar sitting here for ages and all it's missing is the Navy Cross mini. Even one without a ribbon, etc., would be fine as I have all that on the bar.

Figured it couldn't hurt to ask. Just tired of seeing it sitting there incomplete.

Many thanks!

Dan :cheers:

Hi Dillon,

First, welcome aboard! Secondly, I would suggest you also post this in the Firearms & Ordinance section:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/forum/29-firearms-ordnance/

As far as your question... I don't believe there would be a way to trace the original owner. There were so many of these made and many records from the war were either deliberately destroyed or destroyed during the normal course of the war (bombings, fires, etc.). If it is marked to a specific unit it might be possible to narrow it down but still rather doubtful.

Is it possible for you to take some good pictures of it (both sides, markings, etc.) that you could post? I for one would love to see it and I know of a number of other members who I'm sure would say the same. With good quality pics we may also be able to tell you more about it.

Congratulations on getting one. I was lucky to obtain one about nine years ago after waiting a lifetime. A very good friend of the family had one that I have a feeling he was going to will to me, as he knew how much I loved his and wanted one. His was about a minty as they come, all matching, etc. Had the smoothest action on a handgun I've ever run across and was extremely quiet which really surprised me when firing it. He'd made it known to his family that he was planning to go to his attorney and have a will drawn up after he got back from a routine treatment at the hospital that he'd gone through tons of times during his life. Sadly, this time he passed away so didn't have a chance to make the will. He had an utterly fantastic collection of military pistols from the Civil War up through WW2 and they all went to the four winds. I know it would have broken his heart as I honestly believe he wanted certain pieces to go to certain friends and such. Just goes to show everyone, but especially collectors, should have a will.

A number of years later an acquaintance of mine owed me some money on a deal we made and he knew I'd wanted a P-38. His brother had several, so he talked him out of one and gave it to me in lieu of what he owed me. Needless to say I was overjoyed. It's a good shooter, looks good and serves as a good example of the type in my collection.

Hope you manage to get yours soon. They are nice and a dream to shoot.

Dan :cheers:

http://cgi.ebay.com/...em=400235828542

Hi,

I've purchased this silver navy wound badge, but i would value some opinions on it as i haven't been collecting for a long time. I had to write down the URL because i can't (or haven't figured out how) upload pictures of good quality yet.

Thanks a lot

I tried your link on this one and couldn't get the Ebay page to come up. So here it is again: http://www.ebay.com/...#ht_2531wt_1270

And here are the pics:

Wish I could give a thumbs up or down... but I'm definitely not an expert on these naval WB's. I will say, if I saw this one for really cheap and had the money to spare, I'd grab it on the chance it was real. But one these, screw backs or anything more out of the ordinary I tend to defer to my fellow members who are much more expert in such things than I.

Anyhow hoping this helps and that it turns out to be okay.

Dan :cheers:

Okay, I left this open much longer than I'd originally planned but have only gotten the one comment, so I'm going to assume, at least for now, that the quiz has died on the vine.

If, down the road, folks want to get it going again please let me know and I'll be happy to do so.

Dan :cheers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Leonov

Leonov was mentioned several times throughout the article, including the fact that he was in on the coverup. Mentioned a couple of times about Leonov in a photo that proved the coverup and scowling.

Re: the pics:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/soviet-space-propaganda/?pid=1179

http://www.google.com/search?q=Grigori+Nelyubov+photo&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=643&prmd=ivnso&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=pKBZTsHKOKPQiAKN5PmiCQ&sqi=2&ved=0CBkQsAQ

Dan

YES! :jumping: Was beginning to wonder if anyone would ever get this one. Tell me, did I give enough info on the original question and clues or not? I thought I had but want to make sure. By the by, that was indeed my source.

Anyhow, congrats on a job well done!

Dan :cheers:

Sorry re: pics Mervyn... I searched through a number of links on a google search and none of the reports had pictures of the award. No idea why unless the museum just wants folks to have to come there to see it in person.

I just pray the family made the loan properly with paperwork drawn up by an attorney. I've been involved in museums in the past as has my family and honestly I can tell you some horror stories. Families or individuals who "loaned" pieces or whole collections only to years later ask for it back only to have the museum say it belongs to them, there are no records of such a loan... or that it was given to them originally, etc. Also times where the museum sells off such items later without the permission of the actual owners... and generally it seems they get away with such behavior. As a consequence I always advise folks considering such "loans" to have it all clearly spelled out in documents drawn up by a reputable attorney, having said attorney keep an official copy, as well as keeping a set themselves in a safe or safety deposit box along with their will and other important documents so down the road they can go back and reclaim their possessions. If the museum no longer has their records you can simply show yours and you have it. At least if they've broken the agreement you can take them to course and nail them to the wall. A shame that some museums give others a bad name like this.

Dan :cheers:

Gents... I've given you plenty to be able to figure this one out. Just "carefully" read the original question and the clues. I've actually all but given it away. It is on the web... and will give you all the answers. But if you still need a clue:

Clue #4: A certain famous Soviet Air Force General was rather put off that this cover-up was finally found out.

Dan :cheers:

Looks like a good one to me and in very nice condition. The maker matches the packet (76. Ernst L. Muller, Pforzheim). Is the core magnetic? Have you checked the ribbon under a black light? Three piece construction? Plus a nice complete set right dcwn to the original protective wraper. From the pics looks like a thumbs up!

Dan :cheers:

Clue #3: A city in Russia that has bid for the 2014 Olympics. There are six good reasons this is a good clue... but I'm not telling what they are.

Dan :cheers:

Sorry folks... been struggling with a bad sinus infection and it's really knocked me back quite a few notches.

Clue #2: The events in this case were kept secret till recent years. For a bit of fun on a leave the three gave up much. The stars could have been the limit to their careers if not for what happened. One of them was not missed at all by his colleagues as he was so arrogant and full of himself, but the other two, being good, decent chaps were indeed missed.

Dan :cheers:

I don't think so. I've found in doing these news articles on GMIC that on occasion the fonts do funky things. They often put in coding that you can't see but they affect the fonts and leading (spacing between letters and between lines). Note that in posting you can go to the top and change the size, the font, etc. All I did was to copy what you had, paste it in a new post, keep it highlighted in it's entirety, change the font size and then post. Then I found I had to go back in and edit it to correct the leading between the lines. No big. My wife and I used to be in publishing so this gets to be second nature after a while. Sometimes due to the coding they put in it becomes nearly impossible to change much else. You just do the best you can. Plus staff is always here to help out whenever needed.

Dan :cheers:

I too salute you! (Just wish we had a salute icon... I brought this up years ago but still don't have one... sigh.) You are indeed far too modest... but all true heroes are just that. Those kids were able to grow up and have families of their own because of your sacrifice... that is no small thing. Who knows... one of them may some day cure cancer or save the world. A great deed indeed!

Dan :cheers:

Here's the complete article:

Pa. woman recovers hero's medal from Civil War

SAM BUTTERFIELD, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Published 11:55 a.m., Monday, August 22, 2011

PITTSBURGH (AP) — When Ann Deluca-Smith was clearing out boxes in her parents' Rochester Township home last year, she could never have guessed the family treasure she would stumble upon.

Tucked away in a storage box in her parents' attic, Deluca-Smith discovered a trinket reserved for America's most valorous soldiers: a Medal of Honor awarded to her great-great-great uncle Charles Higby during the Appomattox campaign of the Civil War.

The family had been aware of the award, but only vaguely, as they had learned of it through a 2000 newspaper article detailing Beaver County's four Medal of Honor recipients. Other than that, they had little idea of their ancestor's accolade or his life story, explained family spokesmanJay Deluca, of New Brighton.

"My mother was a Higby, and the best we can figure is that it ended up with my grandparents," Deluca said. "My grandmother was terminally ill and the house was sold and the possessions were just kind of cleaned out of the house, and it was put in boxes that my mother took out and put in our attic; we never even knew what it was."

Now the medal is being kept at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum in Oakland, as the family decided it would loan the large, gold colored medal hung from a small flag resting beneath a golden eagle to the museum for display.

The hall is pleased to have its first Civil War-era Medal of Honor, said curator Michael Kraus. Higby's award joins one from the Indian Wars. And, with the acquisition of a World War II medal in negotiations, Kraus hopes the hall will be able to display three of the medals, illustrating the changes in design and inscription on them over time.

The context surrounding Higby's award, which reads "From the Congress to Charles Higby," is ambiguous. He was given the medal for acts of gallantry between March 20 and April 9, 1865, meaning his act of bravery could have come at any point during that window.

What Kraus and Higby's descendants do know is that Charles Higby captured and turned in a Confederate flag, which, by late in the war, had been deemed grounds for receiving one of the medals.

"It was very common to get one if you captured a flag; a lot of times that meant turning in a flag," said Kraus. "You may not have wrestled a color-bearer to the death; you may have walked on the battlefield where your lines were, and there were any number of them lying on the ground, you pick it up, you turn it in" and get a medal, he said.

After the Civil War, he explained, the Army re-evaluated the grounds for receiving the medal and established the high level of gallantry now required for the award.

As for what happened to Higby after he received the medal in Washington, D.C., in May of 1865, the family knows very little. Deluca said a cousin of his is actively researching his story but has turned up scant results.

What little the family does know comes mainly from his military records, which show he was born in Pittsburgh, enlisted in the army in August of 1862, was a private in the First Pennsylvania Cavalry and lived in New Brighton again after the war for a period of time until he moved to Oklahoma, where he died in 1903.

"It looks like he was maybe a frontiersman," Deluca said.

For now, the medal is being stored in a spare room at Soldiers & Sailors, but with the museum seeking to acquire the WW II medal to round out its collection, the family and Kraus hope it will soon be a memento for the world.

"The family just wants it to be available for others to see and enjoy, and we can take our friends and family when they come visit us up to Soldiers & Sailors and feel good about it," Deluca said.