Elegant Gold Engraved Walther PPK WW2 Capture Story
I'm excited for this
Hey guys, I'm so excited to do this video for you because I have a really cool gun to show you and one of my favorite videos is to do a veteran bring back to talk about the story of the veteran and a bring back and it's an engraved gun. It doesn't get any better than this. So I'm excited to do today's video.
Another Dirty Little Secret
Last time I did a video I gave you a dirty little secret about that Patreon Program, actually the VIPs and another dirty little secret usually, first of all, this is the shirt that we sell, the black button down, they also come in polo. You can check those out if you want. I always wear a grey shirt when I do the videos that you probably are more familiar with. The reason I wear that is because, check this out, when I have a blued gun like this, and I hold it up against his black background, it doesn't really stand out. But I can wear this today because this -- Well, you'll see.
I can wear black today
Gold engraved looks great with a black background. Don't you think? That's why I could wear this black background. This is the gold engraved gun that was brought back by Robert Stenger.
Today's Preview
I'm going to tell you a little bit about his story. This gun was made in 1944. It was a special presentation. We're going to talk about presentation guns in 1944. It came in this beautiful red case, probably one of the nicest red cases I've ever seen. And there's the case itself, Walther PPK. Notice the gold magazine, but also the color of the grip and the finger extension bottom. Well, we've had great grips, they look like this. Of course in '44 it would be a black grip. I'm not sure what this is, it is a greyish brown, almost purplish look. But just a beautiful gun, we'll talk more about that. But first, let's talk about the guy who brought this back Robert Stenger.
Who was Robert?
So Robert had an interesting life. He was born in 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, son of an immigrant family. His father came from Germany, so it must have been after World War I. The economy was bad over there, they immigrated to the United States, his mother came from Poland. So he grew up in a house where he actually did learn a little bit of German. And that, of course, helped him out later because he was stationed in Germany for a while. But he went to high school; actually, here's a picture of him right after graduation with a couple of his buddies.
Thanks Steven
Thank you to his son Steven, who provided a lot of this information as well as the pictures. Most of all, Steven provided me with this gun, and I am forever grateful. Thank you so much.
Robert's dream job
But Robert Spangler, then after graduation, had a dream job. Many of you are going to be jealous when you hear what he did. Have you heard of the CCC? Yes. During the Great Depression and the Roosevelt era, one of the ways that the government, much like COVID, wanted to stimulate the economy. And so they poured money into the economy. But unlike what we did during COVID, we gave money to everybody for doing nothing, back then the CCC was the Civilian Conservation Corps. And these were young men and women who went to work for their country by going into the forest and cleaning up the environment and nature. They also got involved in building dams and other construction projects. But he took an assignment; he volunteered to go into the CCC and he went to Yellowstone Park. He was a ranger there and helped maintain the park on behalf of the Federal Government. So what a great job.
Then the dream job ended
He did that '41 and '42. Of course, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941 December, and in January then he was drafted into the Army in 1942. So I have a few pictures of him here in infantry training. I think it's a little interesting because as I look at these pictures, these are not like -- they're definitely not selfies. It's almost
like this was done for like promotional purposes for the US Army. But this is Robert Stenger looking pretty professional holding a World War I era Bolt Action Rifle, I believe that is the 1917 Springfield. Also several other companies made those for World War I. The early years of training, the US military was not prepared for war and therefore they were still using old equipment, 1917 Bolt Action Rifle. And then also in this picture, we see him using a Browning Belt Fed Machine gun. So this is part of his infantry training.
Robert was a pretty smart man
He then was selected for officer’s training school. So there are a couple things that tell me that Robert was a pretty smart guy. First he took tests, he excelled and they put them into an officer's training school. So this was throughout '42 into 1943. The second reason I think that he was a very smart man was because he brought this back.
What should we do with porcelain dishes and silverware dad?
Now I always get a big smile on my face when I think about my father-in-law. He's no longer with us. But he was in Germany after the war, and he sent home hummels and porcelain dishes, and silverware. And I used to tell him all the time, Dad, what were you thinking, why didn't you send this home? But yes, the GI's often went to Germany. And then after the war, they were looking for souvenirs, of course, and all the shops and villages. Germans were trying to reignite their economy. So of course, they sold things to the GI's. And at some point, we'll talk more about this. At some point, he picked up this presentation piece.
Robert was in the 36th Infantry Division
So he went into the military, we're up to 1943. It was later in 1943 that he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He stayed stateside, but finally entered the war in May of 1944. Now he went into the 36th Infantry Division. That division was formed out of Texas, their logo, you can see it here and I saw it on his uniform. It is an arrowhead with a T in it. And so it is the Texas National Guard formed the 36th Infantry Division. They were sent over to the Mediterranean. So it was after the North Africa campaign, after Sicily. He entered the war in 1944, with the invasion of Italy and in Anzio. Now, those of you who know about the Anzio invasion, it was very deadly for both sides, but we had a lot of casualties. It was rough going. Basically he was in that battle from Anzio to Rome, and they lost a lot of men. In fact, at the end of the war, the 36th Infantry Division had the distinction of having the highest casualty rate of any division in World War II in the US Army. The actions in southern Italy, whether was Anzio or near there.
Robert got the Purple Heart and Silver Star
Evidently he was awarded a Silver Star. The reason being is here's a picture of him with his buddies. He's now a first lieutenant, you see him here in uniform, the khaki hats almost looked like the Pacific campaign, but he wasn't there. So I assume this was part of the Mediterranean campaign. Again, it's Italy. And it was here that he was awarded the Silver Star because there is a newspaper article you can see here, it has this exact same picture in his hometown paper. His picture came out saying that he was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action. Now, I don't know specifically what he did. And his son was not able to let us know. In this campaign, he received two Purple Hearts and also the Silver Star. So we know that he saw heavy combat and he was distinguished for his incredible service and bravery.
He was also in the Southern France Invasion
Once Rome was taken, he participated in a second invasion in Southern France. This was after Normandy. So he came in to southern France and his unit, the 36th Infantry Division, went through southern France up into southern Germany, when the war ended in 1945. So he was there, just entering Germany in 1945. When the war was over he stayed on through 1946. Now it's during that period of time, so he waited a year to go back home. This was not uncommon. There was a lottery system to get home, you got points for being wounded or different actions. Because he was awarded a Silver Star I'm surprised that he had to wait a whole year to get a transport back to the United States.
Probably he liked it there
But it's also possible he enjoyed being there because there are pictures of him. Well, actually, there's a picture of him here. This is in Ulm. They look very relaxed. They said that the entire city was completely flattened from the bombing. But the cathedral in the middle of town is left standing. Here's another picture, which could be humorous. He's holding a baby. His son said on the back and said no fraternizing, which I guess, was a joke, holding one of the local babies. But he obviously was enjoying his time in Germany, and we'll get back to that because he then went back to the United States in 1946. And he entered Constabulary School in the United States, I believe it was in Alabama, and you say what is Constabulary School?
Constabulary School?
Well, I didn't know either. Here's their insignia. It is the C with a lightning bolt through it. He had this homemade Constabulary School, where those people who wanted to go back to Germany and help rule the peace. So the police were generally Germans that were hired. So they would they would find former policemen who were de-Nazified or never a Nazi and they would hire them as policemen. But the US Army then set up US constabulary people to come in. It comes from the word Constable. Basically, they're state police overseeing the police within Germany. So he did come back to Germany for two years, '47 and '48. He came back as a constable in Germany overseeing the peace with the police department in the US sector.
Here comes Annalise
It was there that he met Annalise. Now Annalise, I will have to say, here's a picture of their wedding. These two girls must be relatives of hers in Germany, because he got married in our Augsburg. Here's a picture of our Augsburg, absolutely beautiful place actually. It's on my computer. What a great place to get married, don't you think?
As I said Robert was a Smart Man
He brought back two beautiful things from Germany. One was Annalise, two was this gold engraved gun, no dispute. Great job! Robert, as I said, was a smart man. So he gets married. And several months later, he comes back to the United States.
Robert stayed in the Military
He decides to become a career military man. So he stays in the service and he is both stationed home and abroad. He was in the Korean War. He got another purple heart and another silver star. So he has two silver stars, multiple Purple Hearts. So once again, he distinguished himself in battle in Korea.
Robert always served with Distinction
Now he and I believe Annalise was with him live for quite a while in Japan, Korea, but also Iran. That would have been an interesting assignment. So before the revolution, he lived in Iran for one year. So everywhere Robert served, he served with distinction. He retired in 1966. Evidently moved to Florida, Melbourne, Florida. I know right where that is. And he, he died in 1988.
Stephen didn't even know about this gun
Annalise lived longer than that, because Stephen said that he never knew the existence of this gun, this gold engraved gun, he never knew it existed until after his mother's death. So both Robert and Annalise passed away. And he said he was cleaning out drawers of his mother after her passing, when he found this and had no idea that it existed.
Thanks for watching our video Stephen
It was sometime after that -- Actually, you know what, this is very cool. He watched our video about Gold engraved guns. If you haven't watched that, make sure you go look up our engraved gun video. But he saw the video contacted me. I think in the beginning had no intention of selling it to me. But over time, he decided to part with it.
I want to keep these for now
My plan is to keep this for now. But at some point, I will move it along and make sure somebody it goes to somebody who will really honor it, and the service that Robert had to his country.
Let's get into the thick of it
Now, let's take a closer look at the gun itself and talk a little bit about what I can tell from looking at this gun a little bit more about it. Okay, I already mentioned the red case, there's only a few things in it. But the color red is beautiful, which means it wasn't out in the sun. I do see them faded. Stephen, the son mentioned that it was in a drawer. It probably stayed in that drawer and never saw the light of day or hardly ever saw the light of day. This is very common.
The cases are available in other colours
The other color that you will see is brown. I just got one of these out of the safe because this is what the Brown case looks like. And then there's also a mustard color case, which I don't think I have an example of. This one has a green interior. Another gold engraved. But this one the gold is completely worn off except for here. I believe this was added later. But oh yeah, because it does have a worn gold engraved but the gold is worn here. And then this was added later. But this is the green case. And one other case I wanted to mention is you often see these blue cases. We sell these on our website. The blue cases are all post-war cases. And you can pick them up, now they're going for like $400 - $500. These wartime or pre-war cases are much more expensive. I don't even want to quote you a number because you're liable to fall off your chair.
I fell off my chair and ALMOST wet my pants
I fell off my chair by the way when I when I opened the pictures. So Steven sent me these pictures. First of all, he said can I send you pictures of what my dad brought home from the war. And I very, very calmly opened up the photographs because I get pictures almost daily of rusty knives and half exploded ordinance, pieces of shrapnel that people brought back from the war and they want to sell it to us. So when I opened this up, I almost wet my pants, because I just never get offered a gun of this quality.
A close up this Gold Engraved Gun
Let's take it out, take a look at the serial number and again, I can tell you a little bit about the gun. The grip color I've never seen before. I believe that was probably specially made of you will see these late war guns with a white grip.
Remember the twins?
Presentation guns will come with a white grip, we've actually had a set we call them the twins. Here's a picture of them. They're late war. They however, do not have proof marks.
Back to Robert's Gun
This has approved mark, the ones that don't have proof marks were taken from the Walther Factory. Now Annalise lived just a few miles north of the Walther Factory. So she grew up there, she talked about how much she loved to walk in the forest around Thüringen and that whole region is a beautiful area. And so she lived not far from the factory. And so if it had no proof marks, I would say, okay, it was picked up by somebody at the factory. Obviously, Robert visited her quite often. That's how they got married.
How did Robert get this?
And so maybe he picked it up at the factory, but because of the proof marks I believe it was not found in the factory, but outside the factory. Two possibilities. One would be Robert picked it up. As a police officer, of course, people turned in their guns or as an award, maybe people gave it to him as a thank you for your service. I believe he picked this up after the war from somebody and it was not taken in battle, obviously. But because he spent two years in Germany, he was able to locate this and either bought it, or it was given to him as a gift. But this is just a beautiful gun.
Why would the Germans still find time to make these?
I mentioned from the serial number, that there's a solid block of engraved guns, there's about 20 engraved guns in this serial number in 1944. Now this is fairly late 1944 and all hell was breaking loose. The world was falling apart around the Germans and yet they took the time to make a gold engraved gun. For what reason? Well we've talked about this before, if you remember the sharpshooters, there's a picture of a presentation gun. Himmler presented these Sauer 38 H's to sharpshooters with a hundred kills. We also have looked at, I think it's in the 417 range, there's chrome guns, Chrome PPKs, made in late '44 that were presented. There's also 22 calibers that are made in high polish finish that were used for presentations at the end of the war. And there's a whole group of 20 in this narrow range that were presented, not all of them gold, some are silver, some are gold, '44, they're being presented.
The Germans were big on maintaining morale
I can only say that to the Germans maintaining morale and pretending everything was just fine, was the way they handled the end of the war. It's hard for me to imagine that when you see the Russians coming from one side and the Americans, the French, the British, all coming from the other direction you know you're getting hemmed in, the war is almost lost. And yet we take time to do this gold engraved gun. I'm glad they did because it's beautiful. And I'm glad to add this as part of my collection.
The details of the engraving
You can see that it is Oak Leaf and acorn. The oak leaves one of the things I noticed there's the acorn right there. You can see the veins pretty clearly right here but the level of detail particularly in here you'll see even the little tiniest veins and then the stippling in the background. I've talked about that before, how that's darkened in and then they always engrave around the proof marks I just showed you guys a video of one that was engraved over and I said this was not factory engraved, you don't see the level of detail. Let's look at the front strap; beautiful front strap. This is common where they do this border. Also along here and notice that both ends the screw is engraved, the other side of the screw is engraved. And then here's the magazine, the bottom of the magazine is engraved and gold. It's hardly worn at all. Again, it was made in '44. He probably got it around '45-'46 brought it home in '48 and stuck it in a drawer and never talked about it.
A letter by Robert's son Stephen
Let me just conclude. His son wrote a final paragraph. Let me conclude the video by reading the paragraph from the son about his father. These are the words of Stephen writing about his father Robert Stenger. He was wounded twice, once in Germany and then in Korea, receiving the Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster. He earned the Silver Star in Germany and in Korea. Robert retired from active service in March of 1966 with over 24 years of service. He retired as a lieutenant colonel. My father passed away in May of 1988 in Melbourne, Florida. Like many men who served their country in combat in Europe during World War II, my father never spoke about his service in the war. He never spoke about the nice gold plated Walther PPK that was unceremoniously stored in a dresser drawer, where it was located upon my mother's death. Best of luck with your German piece of history. And thanks again for the purchase.
Thank you Stephen
Well, thank you, Steven for the opportunity to own this piece of history. Hey, thanks for watching. Make sure you like and subscribe and if you would like to see this up close and personal. I'm going to bring it to the SOS, I'm not going to bring it to the gun show. But I am going to bring it to the after party. You can come and take a look at it up close and personal. You can even pick it up, you'll have to wear the white gloves but come and get your picture taken with a golden graved presentation PPK.