Excellent 1944 Remington Rand 1911A1 - WWII Bomber Crewman Provenance

Description

10/20/26 - This is an excellent 1944 Remington Rand M1911A1 with provenance to a WWII bomber crewman. It is all correct, with all the proper markings, including the two-line "REMINGTON RAND INC. / SYRACUSE, N.Y. U.S.A." slide legend, the "FJA" inspector mark on the left side of the frame, and "UNITED STATES PROPERTY / NO. 1955854 / M 1911 A1 U.S. ARMY" on the right. It is fitted with a correct "HS" marked High Standard barrel. The original parkerized finish rates about 95-96%, with just minor high edge wear, muzzle wear and very light thinning on the front strap. Fitted with correct reddish plastic grips, and comes with two magazines, one of which is parkerized. Very nice bore, 8.5/10 with great rifling. This pistol belonged to the consignor's grandfather, William B. Cole, and comes with a letter signed by his granddaughter, along with a printout of his service record page from the 465th Bombardment Group's website. The 465th flew B-24 Liberators with the Fifteenth Air Force out of Pantanella airfield in southern Italy from 1944 until the end of the war. According to the letter, Cole served as a bombardier with the group's 782nd Squadron, flying on the B-24 "Margie the Magnificent" until the war ended in 1945. The letter states that the pistol was issued to him during his Army Air Corps training and remained in his possession until he passed away in 2019 at the age of 93, when his granddaughter took possession of it. He was the only one to fire, clean and service it, it was never altered, and she has cleaned it only once with his kit and has not fired it. The service record printout lists him as a Sergeant and later Staff Sergeant, with the Air Medal awarded 12/04/1944 and Oak Leaf Clusters added 2/24/1945 and 3/30/1945. We cannot independently confirm the statements in the letter, but it is a great piece of history to go with an excellent WWII 1911A1.