Military leaders who carried "other than standard issue" sidearms?

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strangelittleman

strangelittleman

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The thread about the German WW2 revolver got me thinking. What are some of the historic military figures that carried personally owned, non-standard sidearms and what have they carried?
Some of you mentioned Goering carrying a S&W .38 snubbie and I read some where of Otto Skorzeny purportedly carrying a .38 snubbie in his jump jacket, as a hideout piece, I assume. Most of us know of Gen.Patton's love of his personal pistols, as well as young Winston Churchill's fondness of the Mauser M-96 Broomhandle.
What are some of the other ones you all have noticed either in print or picture? With as varied a background that many of The High Road people have and as many history enthusiasts are here I'll bet you all can really bring to light some interesting revelations on this subject. Yeah, I really like obscure history like this.....Thanks!
 
hitler had 2 engraved Walthers PP's i belive.
i want to say iv seen pictures of stalin with a non nagant revolver, but i cant back that up.

What are some of the historic military figures that carried personally owned, non-standard sidearms and what have they carried?
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The Rough Riders of Teddy Rosevelt fame had privatly purchesed colt M1895 "Potato Diggers" during the war.
 
I haven't seen any other than issue models, but I did handle a one-star's M9. The slide was high-gloss mirror polished, heavily engraved with gold inlays, and stored in a padded case. There wasn't a scratch or scuff on that thing; my jaw dropped when he holstered it like it was a Glock.
 
General MacArthur carried a pocket pistol, presumably a .32 acp, during the siege of the Philippines during 1942. He vowed that he would die rather than surrender to the Japanese forces. Not long afterward, he was evacuated to Australia to head the Allied counteroffensive from there. Whether he continued to carry from that time forward is unknown to me.


Timthinker
 
Patton also slept with a carbine. Patton carried a lot of unusual arms but the .32 and .380 Colts were issued to general officers. My great aunt kept a .38 SW revolver her husband "took off a dead german" the markings were illegible but it looked like a S&W, only it wasn't.
 
General MacArthur carried a pocket pistol, presumably a .32 acp, during the siege of the Philippines during 1942.
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MacAurthur carried a Remington .41 rimfire Derringer -- he mentions it specifically in his memoirs and tells how one of his aides scrounged up ammunition for him.
 
General George S. Patton...

With his Smith and Wesson .357 Magnum 3" and his fully engraved Colt Peacemaker .45 Colt 4 3-4" both stocked with Custom Ivory Grips. Both beautiful guns!!!

-Tre
 
I haven't seen any other than issue models, but I did handle a one-star's M9. The slide was high-gloss mirror polished, heavily engraved with gold inlays, and stored in a padded case. There wasn't a scratch or scuff on that thing; my jaw dropped when he holstered it like it was a Glock.
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Because of interest and staff assignments, I got to see a number of general officers' pistols back in the 1960s and 1970s. Most were standard M1911s, some were Officers Models or Commanders, but almost all of them had been either polished and reblued or were really commercial models (blued, not SS). Most had been accurized by one Ordnance Depot or another. The niftiest was a M1911 brought up to National Match standards by the shop at Rock Island Arsenal (then still part of the Army's system), reblued (high polish), serrated front strap, a Millett rear sight (I think) and then boxed in a beautiful mahogany box (name on a brass plate on the top) with a sub-caliber set right in with the pistol (the flag ranker was an Ordnance general, commander of the Arsenal). I saw it again a few years ago, his son has it now. Absolutely beautiful.

I have to say, I carried a commercial Colt Government Model throughout my fourteen years of service (including Viet Nam). It was blued, not Parkerized, but nobody every said anything about it. Sadly, it was stolen in the 1980s.
 
Wow! This is great info! I'm new here( only been a member for about a week or so) and have never been part of a forum before. All this internet stuff is quite new to me (a yr or so) I know I definitely picked the right forum! Thanks! Keep it coming!
I remember reading that Col.Bull Simmons carried a .357 mag on the Son Tay raid and used it on a couple of the oppo....has anybody heard the same?
 
Yes, MacArthur did carry a .41 derringer, but I am referring to the days before he left the Philippines. As I understand the story, the general carried a small semi-auto to prevent himself or his family from falling into Japanese hands. In addition, "Mac" fancied the 1911 pistol and was instrumental in adopting the vaunted Garand rifle for the army.

Another little known fact is that Eisenhower was issued a .38 revolver by the army, but he is never seen carrying it. Whether he carried it concealed is something I do not know.


Timthinker
 
Patton's Colt SAA in museum

Here is a picture of General Patton's Colt Single Action Army, which is silver plated and engraved. Notice his initials on the ivory grips. This gun is in a military museum in Kentucky.

PATTONCOLT.gif

george1.jpg
 
Very nice looking revolver Patton had. As an extra tidbit (which i'm sure many of you already know) his SAA had two notches carved into the handle, which were allegedly to mark Patton's dispatching of two of Pancho Villa's lieutenants. In spite of this he referred to the .357 mag as his "killing gun".
 
General Officers are allowed pretty much any uniform or weapon they want. They only have to worry about looking better than the next higher general.
 
The days of guys like Patton 'designing his own uniform' (he did) are over. Flashy generals making bizzaro demands (like neckties in combat zones) were put in check by Truman, and belive it or not, Ike. I can't think of a single time I saw a photo of Ike with a sidearm.

Back on topic until Vietnam officers could carry a personal sidearm IF it was chambered in 45ACP. Inside combat zones, many troops in Iraq are carrying scrounged weapons.
 
Back on topic until Vietnam officers could carry a personal sidearm IF it was chambered in 45ACP. Inside combat zones, many troops in Iraq are carrying scrounged weapons.
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I carried my personally owned Series 70 Colt on the DMZ in '81.

One of the previous commanders of the 2nd Infantry Division, nicknamed "the gunfighter" carried a stag(?) handled nickeled Model 36. There were pictures of him all over Division HQ, if I recall. I think he was 2ID commander when they cut down the tree in Panmunjom.
 
Earlier this spring I had a 1-star come through my firing line I had to shoot that had his own M9. I don't know if you would call it a "non-standard" issue pistol but General grade officers have the option of being issued (and l even buying) a General-grade M9. The only difference is that they are polished blue rather than the typical matte finish and have wood grips (in this case, the General had his initials engravd on them) but other than that, it's nothing really that different. Oh, and the belt and holster rig were a padded black leather rather than the green pistol belt and suicide holster.
 
when I was in Iraq a couple of years ago, I saw only one pistol that was obviously personally owned by an officer. He was a brigadier and of all things he was carrying a Taurus PT92!.
 
I have a hard time imagining Ike dressing up in an Elvis jumpsuit.

And once again I pause to clean beverage spray off the computer monitor . . . I seem to recall Ike accepting the nomination with "Thank you, thank you very much . . . " Since actively perusing THR forums, a container of wet wipes & a roll of paper towels have become standard-issue computer station items & I thank you ladies & gents sincerely.
 
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