Show us your GI War Booty photos

[Killjoy]

Surrender

another

[Killjoy]

would this be considered War Booty?

another

[militaria.no]

Here is another one. Just imagine what went into those GI bags The German soldier is smiling ohhhh so bravely, as his medals are being “taken care of”

[TWP]

He's saying, "Oh you bastard, I hope you choke on my EK. heheheh."

[DocKoehler]

It is never too late!

Hello,

this photograph is not part of my interest! I kept it, because it is not to be seen every day. The guy in the middle waited too long to surrender! In fact I believe your guys had found a school or a doctor's office.

Kind regards

Dr. Köhler

[W Petz]

It's been awhile since I last posted on this thread...here is a pic of a GI and his newly acquired war booty!! K/G43 Rifle, Dagger, and peaked cap. Bill

[DanH]

Here's one.



And one from the other side.



cheers-
/daniel

[W Petz]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for sharing your one GI War Booty. I see you slipped in a German one too....I would like to keep it strictly GI captured War Booty. I believe there is another thread out there that shows Germans with their captured booty.

Here is a 1st Infantry Division GI wearing a captured Officer belt and holster.

[Rich Pouncey]

Show Us Your GI War Booty Photos

Thanks to all who have shown photos and commented. I get a lot of enjoyment out of seeing these photos.

I do have a question: I had several uncles who were ground-pounders during the War,and when they came home at War's end I remember them commenting that they never picked up battlefield souveniors because of the probability of them being booby trapped. Is there anything to this? I'm talking about the European Theatre and not the Pacific.

[W Petz]

Rich,

I've talked to a few vets and not all came home with War souvenirs. Some had their souvenirs ripped off/cut from their Duffle bags and some were never interested in picking up any war booty....they just wanted to get back to civilian life. A Majority did pick up some type of War Booty during the war or post War. I would say not picking up souvenirs due to the probabillity that it was booby trapped was probably a smart decision and maybe one of the reasons they made it back home. Bill

Thanks to all who have shown photos and commented. I get a lot of enjoyment out of seeing these photos.

I do have a question: I had several uncles who were ground-pounders during the War,and when they came home at War's end I remember them commenting that they never picked up battlefield souveniors because of the probability of them being booby trapped. Is there anything to this? I'm talking about the European Theatre and not the Pacific.

[Bruce Simcox]

Pacific......

......Theater. Discovered while doing a house remodel.

#1

[Bruce Simcox]

Pacific......

......Theater #2

[W Petz]

Bruce,

Nice pics and thanks for sharing them with us. Here is another pic of three 1st ID soldiers with some souvenirs. Bill

[Bruce Simcox]

Hi Bill......

......I've had these pics for awhile now. I have, in the past and present, enjoyed your photographic postings very much. I'm happy that I could finally contribute to one of the threads.

-------------------------

Bruce

[Alan Smith]

Soldier's Death in ETO as result of souvenir hunting

I have no knowledge of the Germans having intentionally set out booby trapped souvenirs, as is well documented by the Japanese in the PTO.

I can, however, relay a story told to me by a WWII U.S. veteran of the ETO. My (now deceased) veteran friend once told me about how one of the men in his unit got killed near the end of the war, when he was picking through a large pile of surrendered arms/ordinance located in the town square of a German village. The soldier wanted a P.08 (i.e. "Luger" pistol) and was sorting thru the arms cache to try to find one. The soldier, however, apparently set off a German grenade that was among the surrendered ordinance, with the resulting blast taking his life.

According to my veteran friend, after this incident the unit's officers ordered the troops to stay out of the captured weapons/ordinance piles, in an effort to prevent any more such incidents.

On veterans and war booty: I can attest for a fact (having solicited hundreds of vets for souvenirs) that a large percentage have told me that they "cared nothing about war souvenirs and just wanted to get home ASAP." Thus, I have begun to think that those vets who brought/shipped home significant amounts of war trophies were probably in the minority, with most vets only keeping a few small items and with a significant percentage of them bringing home no souvenirs.