Capture Papers

[Perry Floyd]

Just so you know that these do get put with helmets post war. Shady Dealers/collectors like buying these to put with hard to sell helmets..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=4718

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Perry, thanks for posting that. Instant "provenance", very dangerous in the wrong hands. Many new helmet collectors seeing those capture papers could get burned on dodgy helmet if the two were combined together.
Cheers, Ade.

[Edelweiss]

Yep, lack of honesty will never be a synonym of lack of imagination...
And well, dunno for the papers, but apparently the K-Bar "was there" : I wonder where precisely...

[SgtB]

Was it an absolute rule that you had to have signed papers to send something
home like that? If so what was the punishment if you didn't? It had to have
happened all the time as I've seen so few of these and I've dealt with many vets.

[Matt M]

Thats why we say
Buy the Helmet not the story

Was it an absolute rule that you had to have signed papers to send something
home like that? If so what was the punishment if you didn't? It had to have
happened all the time as I've seen so few of these and I've dealt with many vets.

[Perry Floyd]

I've bought quite abit from vets and their familys. I have never recieved a capture paper with the items. I think many of these were discarded by the veteran shortly thereafter. I know the visor and tunic I purchased from a 2nd Armored vet was mailed home while he was still in Germany, alot of items were mailed home while the war was ongoing. I would say it would be likely you would need these papers if you were going home and had in posession items that may be questioned in route home, thus you would have a paper saying permission was given. Mailing them home I wouldn't see the need....Just a opinion..

[Edelweiss]

Quite logical IMO too.
So bad such a paper wasn't with certain binos...

[Derek O.]

I've bought quite abit from vets and their familys. I have never recieved a capture paper with the items. I think many of these were discarded by the veteran shortly thereafter. I know the visor and tunic I purchased from a 2nd Armored vet was mailed home while he was still in Germany, alot of items were mailed home while the war was ongoing. I would say it would be likely you would need these papers if you were going home and had in posession items that may be questioned in route home, thus you would have a paper saying permission was given. Mailing them home I wouldn't see the need....Just a opinion..

Perry, I have capture papers for my 3 color M42 camo saying that,"Donald L. Leland ASN 3757____ is authorized to mail the following: 1 German steel helmet." This was mailed through "Army Post office no. 56_" June 10, 1945. So from this I believe that all items mailed home had to be documented. This of course does not include the MP40's snuck back in the GI's duffel bag.

[Perry Floyd]

Well there you go, it was done for mail home items...
Although I feel a paper wasn't allways done, I think it depended alot on your C.O., some really didn't care and like war booty as much as the men he commanded and some went strictly by the book.
But once it's mailed, the papers use is gone which is why I felt it wasn't necessary..

[Tim R. B.]

I am always on the lookout for original capture papers, like everything else they are being faked. I am no expert but from the papers i have picked up along the way it seems that there were papers for post home booty and different papers for carry home, in my experience post home capture papers are more common than the carry home. If any one is interested i can try and post a couple of my papers. Tim.

[JaimeH]

I've always suspected that capture papers were issued during the large de-mobilization shortly after the war. But many soldiers performed occupation duty and just shipped stuff home sans papers.

[arjan]

please show me some papers, I rarely get to see any, because most of them are on the other site of the ocean,

Arjan

[Patrick Dempsey]

Hi all,
the link Perry posted has expired, so i'm lacking an image to look at as a frame of reference. Does anyone have an images to share of real or faked capture papers at all?

All the best,

Patrick.

[EKman]

Well there you go, it was done for mail home items...
Although I feel a paper wasn't allways done, I think it depended alot on your C.O., some really didn't care and like war booty as much as the men he commanded and some went strictly by the book.
But once it's mailed, the papers use is gone which is why I felt it wasn't necessary..

This is accurate. My uncle mailed home several German pistols during the war, he said that depending on who was in charge, sometimes he had to file for capture papers and sometimes he could just box them up and ship them out. Uncle Curtis also indicated that officers were not bound by the regs on capture papers. Can anyone else confirm this? He said that for this reason, and to avoid the red tape, many men who had good Lts or Captains would get them to mail stuff home.

[walt]

I have capture papers that were used to mail home some Jap rifles and swords during the war, and I also have capture papers for my luger that were used to carry it home after the war. The pacific papers were typed up, and the luger papers were pre-printed.