Souvenirs of an RCAF mechanic from Germany 1944-45

[Avitas]

Hello fellow gentlemen,

I was just on a trip to my cousin's wedding up in Northern British Columbia, Canada and finally had a chance to have another good chat with my grandpa William (Bill) Thompson about his time in the RCAF in Germany during the latter stages of the war. He showed me his souvenirs again for the first time in about 15 years (he finally found the box!) and it was great to see them all again, and he let me have a few pieces to keep in a very special collection. Before I get to the items in the collection here is a brief history of my grandfather's service in the war.

Bill Thompson arrived in England in the summer of 1944 and soon moved out to the front in Germany as part of the Royal Canadian Air Force's 412 Squadron, in the 127 Wing. http://www.rcaf.com/squadrons/400series/412squadron.php

He was a Leading Aircraftman and a mechanic on the Spitfires and transport trucks in this squadron and the above link gives a detailed summary of the squadron's late war efforts in the Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes) in the winter of 44-45 and the push into the Rhine and Germany in 1945. My grandpa was involved in the Ardennes campaign and the push into Germany and up until March/April of 1946 was stationed in Germany. Although he was a mechanic he still saw some combat action as varied units of die-hard Nazi's were still attacking the 412th Squadron's airbases located in Germany up until the end of the war, and he himself claimed at least three men. This is where he collected his souvenirs (as grim as that sounds, but it was a way to keep your head in it I guess) and a particular Luftwaffe Officer met his fate in a fight with Bill. Grandpa Thompson said he was keeping his Luftwaffe Officer's dress dagger for a while more, but he would pass it down to me in a little while, but he gave me a few of his other items. William (Bill) Thompson, a farmboy from Choiceland Saskatchewan, was awarded the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and the British 1939-45 War Medal and is still actively involved in the Royal Canadian Legion as the local Chapter President. He doesn't remember a lot of the details of his service, but a few pieces of history he kept help paint a picture (and if Michael Johnson or anyone can help me research his career more in depth, please PM me).

Alright, now to see some of the souvenirs my gramps brought home (and I think all of them, or 90% was off of the soldiers he personally fought). First up, the Luftwaffe Officer's items, including the cap wreath.

Cheers,

Pat

[Avitas]

Here are a few ribbon bar devices, most of which were the Luftwaffe officer's (the LW service awards, 40 year service award, ek2 spange) and the Wehrmacht service awards and the Polizei service award were from other people. The devices are still on the original paper that Grandpa used to hold them on and I dare not try to take them off of it!)

Cheers,

Pat

[Avitas]

Some close-ups of the ribbon bar devices...

[Avitas]

more close-ups...

[Avitas]

Next in the group of items my Grandpa Thompson passed on to me are a few general awards (some of them are the LW Officer's, but not sure which ones) including this early stamped tombak General Assault Badge in great shape.

[Avitas]

Here is the reverse of the hollow-back early GAB.

[Avitas]

Here we have a Wound Badge in Black, of brass make up I believe.

Cheers,

Pat

[Avitas]

...reverse of the Verwundabziechen im Schwartz.

[Avitas]

The next bringback from Germany of my Grandpa's is a beat-up late war NSDAP member pin. I guess it is just the paint that is in bad condition, whosever it was they joined the party late-war.

Cheers,

Pat

[Avitas]

The back of the RZM M1/92 late-war painted NSDAP membership badge.

[Avitas]

Next up we have some Wehrmacht Heer uniform insignia and equipment, including this nice black painted steel Wehrmacht belt buckle, with lots of black paint left.

Cheers,

Pat

[Avitas]

..reverse of the black belt buckle, with 90% of original paint on the reverse.

[Avitas]

Here is one of two zinc Wehrmacht Cap Eagles Grandpa William Thompson collected in Germany during the final year of the war, in really good shape from being in a box for 60 years!

Pat

[Avitas]

...back of the unmarked cap eagle.

[Avitas]

Well that's all of the German souvenirs for now, he still has his best stuff! There is a Walther or Karabiner officer's handgun with a tiny Nazi Eagle stamped on the top with a serial number in the 300 000's and the previously mentioned Luftwaffe Officer's Dress Dagger as well as a lot of his personal stuff from his RCAF days including his cap and battle tunic and many paper documents. He let me take a couple of the paper documents telling the story of his trips to and from the war. The top pink Canadian Legion Club document is for his time on leave in August 1945 at a nice Bed and Breakfast in Edinburgh, Scotland of which Grandpa had fond memories of. The blue document is his pass and info for his trip home to Canada on a French luxury liner (I will have to get the name again, St. Iles or somethin) which shows his Troop Mess Hall schedule and sleeping area. These are priceless snippets into the time my grandfather spent in the RCAF.

Cheers,

Pat

[Avitas]

And lastly for now, it is fitting to have one of William (Bill) Thompson's meal tickets for the Canadian Pacific Railway trip home to the prairies, the last stretch of the journey home. It is stamped at Union (?) Grill at Windsor Station, Montreal on April 4, 1946 (he has a few of these tickets all marked April 1946, but you can't see the date on this ticket very well). Thanks for looking at the souvenirs of an RCAF mechanic and hearing the story of my Grandpa. Hopefully one day I can get some more items on my other grandfather, who spent time in the US Army Artillery division in the Pacific between 1944-46 as well, but that is a story for another day.

Cheers and please leave your comments!

Pat

[Avitas]

..back of Railway meal ticket..

Thanks again,

Pat

[Guest Darrell]

Great stuff Pat. I have some items passed down to me from a few relatives. Although not all blockbuster RARE of RARE items, they are some of the most treasured I have.

[Michael Johnson]

Pat, the key here is to get your grandfather's service number, as it is the key to getting service records. Now, since he is fortunately still alive, the government will blackout just about everything on the service file as "personal information" and that holds good until he's been dead 20 years.

So I would suggest asking him if he minded if you got a copy of his service file, and ask him to authorize the government to release it to you.

Meanwhile I'll see what I can turn up from my sources.

[Avitas]

Thanks for the comments Michael and Darrell,

I will definitely ask him about it as he mentioned that method might be a way to get his records but he wasn't sure exactly how to go about it (he saw something on it in the Legion Magazine). I'm sure he wouldn't mind authorizing it so I will get back to him in a week or so, but anything you can dig up in the mean time Michael is a huge plus!

Thanks again for looking and please leave your comments and be sure to check out the story of the 412th Squadron of the RCAF. I have linked to the overview in the thread, they were a very decorated and battle-hardened squadron.

Cheers,

Pat

[Michael Johnson]

Here's the link for obtaining service records:

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogie...-909.007-e.html

[Laurence Strong]

Nice Pat Especially they personal items from your grandfather

[Avitas]

Here's the link for obtaining service records:

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogie...-909.007-e.html

Thanks Michael for that great link to the site, has all the information I was looking for. I will PM you with some more info.

I also have a couple more tidbits of info on my grandfather's time in the war. He sailed over on the ancient ship "Aquitania" which I believe was used in ww1, and he came back on the "Ils de France", a former luxury liner so he laughed at the difference in the two trips, as the Aquitania was less than "luxury" by quite a margin . His exact location for the main airbase they took over during the war was in Uterson, just outside of Hamburg, and another small town he couldn't remember before that. If anyone has any info on the RCAF in Hamburg-Uterson area in 1944-45 please share. Thanks again for looking,

Pat

Edited October 22, 2006 by Avitas

[VtwinVince]

Great items, Pat. BTW Uetersen is now home of the Luftwaffe Museum, with quite a collection of rare items.