Gents, I have been fortunate to acquire from his nephew a nice gathering of items from Unterofficer Karl Graser who served in Fallschirmjager Regt 1 and jumped into Crete. I acquired his visor cap (named), his Kreta beer mug, and his gravity knife. The nephew had sold his Junker para badge to another Forum member - who I contacted to try to keep the group together - and he - in a class manner sold me the Junker para badge. Thank you my friend in Poland. There are some great members on this Forum!
Recently, the nephew decided to sell me 5 flare gun casings that Karl, while in Russia - Leningrad area - I think, managed to etch or somehow create symbols on each casing. They are quite remarkable. One is a likeness of the para badge. Another is a likeness of the Luft close combat badge. Ather shows Russland. The last two show 1943 and Kreigsjahr. They are very detailed. I hope of the photos capture it.
In correspondence, the nephew shared that Karl, served in 1939 with the 7. Fliegerdivision, Transportkompanie. In 1940, with Fallschirmjager Regt 1, 2. Kompanie Fallschirm - Machinengewehr- Bataillon 1. He further served in Russia and Italy - Monte Cassino. He was killed inaction in Feb 1944.
In the photos, the helmets, ground combat badge, Ostfront 1941 are original but not his. The Kreta cufftitle is original but, again, not his.. Since we know Karl was in the 1. Fallschirmjager Regt, I was fortunate to obtain an original cufftitle recently from another Forum member. Thanks to a gentlemen is Bavaria.IMG_6450.jpg
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Recently, the nephew decided to sell me 5 flare gun casings that Karl, while in Russia - Leningrad area - I think, managed to etch or somehow create symbols on each casing. They are quite remarkable. One is a likeness of the para badge. Another is a likeness of the Luft close combat badge. Ather shows Russland. The last two show 1943 and Kreigsjahr. They are very detailed. I hope of the photos capture it.
In correspondence, the nephew shared that Karl, served in 1939 with the 7. Fliegerdivision, Transportkompanie. In 1940, with Fallschirmjager Regt 1, 2. Kompanie Fallschirm - Machinengewehr- Bataillon 1. He further served in Russia and Italy - Monte Cassino. He was killed inaction in Feb 1944.
In the photos, the helmets, ground combat badge, Ostfront 1941 are original but not his. The Kreta cufftitle is original but, again, not his.. Since we know Karl was in the 1. Fallschirmjager Regt, I was fortunate to obtain an original cufftitle recently from another Forum member. Thanks to a gentlemen is Bavaria.IMG_6450.jpg
IMG_6451.jpg
IMG_6442.jpg
IMG_6437.jpg
IMG_6444.jpg
IMG_6434.jpg
IMG_6436.jpg
IMG_6440.jpg
IMG_6447.jpg
IMG_6449.jpg
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