My family heirloom: a ww2 German helmet

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

Great that you have more than one family member interested in preserving history. I would encourage you do document as much of the history of the items as you can (Great Uncles name unit etc) and keep it with each item. It may not contribute much to the value but perhaps down the road it will be priceless to the next generation of your family. I have a WWI scrapbook that was my Grandfathers without a single caption on a single photo. The names etc.. lost forever.

[burb1989]

Everything I have I've kept together as one grouping and I've started to document not just my great uncle's bring backs but the other pieces of my collection that I've personally purchased from vets and their families. I printed out many pages of info in regards to my great uncle and I even have a picture of his tombstone in the Brittany war cemetery as well as the row and plot number so I could go visit it someday. I did learn he was born in 1921 in south bend Indiana and he joined in 1942. His first action was the landings in Normandy on d day and he landed in the second wave on Ohama beach. He died in August of that year when he was 23 years old. He survived the beach, the hedgerows, and several battles before he was killed in Brest.

[burb1989]

Hooked I also know about ww1 artifacts from the family. At my cousin's home in Pennsylvania she has kept my great grandfather's room just as he would've had it when he was alive. He served in ww1 with the Canadian Expeditionary Forces as a howitzer operator. Among his items are his uniform still hanging in his closet, his medals and unit insignias in a display case next to his bed, and his private journal that he kept while in the service. He never mentioned anyone or any place by name but he did describe the horrors of war as he saw it. There was some pretty gruesome stuff in it when I read it. My mom has it now and she never takes it out of our bookshelf where it is being kept.

[Harlan (Deceased)]

Very exciting burb! Please keep sharing what you discover...

Jim (BAR) browningautorifle how can you hold SO much info in your mind!

The SAME for you HOH! You know more than I do about a lot of gear, and I specialized it it! I'm happy you continue to help me with this forum.

Humbled by two of our best members,

~ Harlan

[browningautorifle]

how can you hold SO much info

Depends on what info it is...wish I could hold a Master's or Doctorate in there.

[Brian Dick]

I'm lucky to have a Hitler Youth knife picked up by my Great Uncle near the Faliase Gap where he fought with the Canadian Army.

---------- Post added at 07:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:38 PM ----------

Oops, should read "Falaise Gap".

[burb1989]

That's very cool Brian that you have your great uncle's hitler youth knife. My great uncle sent one home too but my brother wanted it so I let him have it. I know you cherish your heirloom a lot (I know I cherish mine a lot as well). The only other knife I have from a war besides my dad's kabar is an m3 fighting knife that one of my great uncles had on him when he was captured during the battle of the bulge (he was a paratrooper and got stuck in a tree. A german soldier saw him and shot him in the head but didn't kill him). I have no idea how he smuggled that knife into a pow camp but he was always very crafty. He survived his wounds and a nazi surgeon put a steel plate in his head to patch the wound (he loved sharing that story).