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DESIRABLE WWII U.S. GUIDE LAMP FP-45 LIBERATOR

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:4,000.00 USD Estimated At:8,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD
DESIRABLE WWII U.S. GUIDE LAMP FP-45 LIBERATOR
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[?]Live Online Auction Starts In 2026 Aug 06 @ 10:00 (UTC-04:00 : AST/EDT)
PISTOL WITH BOX, AMMO & 1943 DATED PARACHUTE. Cal. 45 ACP. NSN. The FP-45 (clandestine designation "Flare Pistol") This particular piece comes with a interesting story illustrating their use in France, which has always been a mystery, Consignor shares the following story of how he came in possession of part of this lot: "In late 2020, around the beginning of Coved, an old veteran visited the museum. His daughter was his companion, bringing him to a VA medical visit and stopping on the way there. He was a tall man with a veterans hat and quite gruff. After gently going down memory lane a bit, looking at pieces he recognized from his time in WWII, he noticed a Liberator pistol. He said that in 1944 he company was going through France. It was overcast & the air carried the stench of death. There were a lot of dead horses as well as human casualties from the devastation that rolled through just before their arrival. He noticed a single tree that appeared almost untouched, which stuck out against the rubble all around it. He thought it was decorated with white Christmas Balls. Early one morning, he ventured back through the rubble out of curiosity and was standing in a demolished building doorway, where that was the only surviving part of the entire building, almost like you would see in a cartoon. As he approached the tree he noticed the shrapnel damage on the tree and the hanging items he thought were white Christmas balls turned out to be little parachutes, each with a waxy box wrapping containing 2 Liberator pistols, each. He picked a few from the tree and brought them home. Over the years as he matured the kids played with the Liberators and their current location is unknown, but he still had the parachutes, which he delivered to the museum. One of them is included with this grouping. Unfortunately, he passed shortly thereafter". The Liberator pistol was proposed, developed, and began mass production at the U.S. Guide Lamp Division of General Motors in only 11 weeks, with the Joint Psychological Warfare Committee intending on air dropping loads of Liberator pistols to resistance and partisan groups in German occupied countries during World War II. The Liberator was never designed to be used for more than just a few shots, with its main purpose serving as a rudimentary, easily concealable, and cost effective pistol for resistance fighters to use against enemy personnel in order to secure more effective small arms. Stamped sheet metal construction w/ removable plate on the butt. Milled smoothbore 4" bbl. with cast alloy cocking piece. UNATTACHED ACCESSORIES: original box in poor condition, instructions, 18 rds. with 1 box, Nov. 1943 dated Eagle Parachute Co. of Lancaster, PA parachute. CONDITION: very good appearance with patina & light marks. PROVENANCE: Military Museum Collection of Shooters Outpost, Hooksett NH. (26-1986/MD). CURIO. $8,000-10,000.