Product Details
A 1in. (FLARE) SINGLE-SHOT SIGNAL-PISTOL SIGNED HARRINGTON & RICHARDSON, serial no. 7144, all steel construction with chequered plastic grips,
Provenance: The vendor has very kindly provided us with the following information:
"The friend who passed on his Flare pistol to us had a remarkable war. He was escorted to his wedding by two Red Caps for flying his Blenheim too low over the church in which he was going to be married.
Later he flew Lancasters and was shot down in the desert. The crew bailed out, with the co-pilot helping him put on his parachute before he went. Unfortunately in the hurry the parachute was put on back to front. He righted this on the way down, however it opened too late and he hurt his back badly on impact. He was nursed by Italian nuns and then transferred to an Italian hospital where there were men from the SAS. They plotted an escape from a nearby airfield. Our friend was lowered by a sheet line, put on a bicycle and pushed to a plane. They actually managed to board the plane only to find the battery was flat.
They were recaptured and this time they were destined for a German POW camp. However, on the journey, and with the help of a loose floorboard and an unexpected halt, he managed to escape and walked north to join Tito's Army. He found they and the Royalists were fighting themselves, not the Germans, so he walked back to Italy. It was at the time of the Italian capitulation when there was Guerilla fighting, and he fought for one of these groups. This lasted for about 6 months and he seemed to be going nowhere so he headed south again.
In due course he was recaptured and this time imprisoned in a German POW camp. For his exploits he was duly punished, and on one occasion being chained in solitary confinement.
When the Russians began to move forward into Poland he was on the Long March walking at the back helping those who fell along the way. At some point along the way he decided he would be better on his own, so he made his way towards the American line, crossing a river with a demolished bridge along the way. Eventually he fell in with an American truck driver and was driven to his camp where he was interrogated as a spy!"
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Estimate £30-50
S1