Minty U.S. Property Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless - Attributed to BG Elmer P. Yates

Description

11/11/26 - This is a minty, U.S. Property-marked Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless attributed to Brigadier General Elmer Parker Yates. The published general officer pistol records list serial number 569662 as issued to BG Elmer Parker Yates on 9/29/66 (see the last photo). First developed in 1903 as a small-frame hammerless pocket pistol, the 1903 became one of Colt's most successful designs and was adopted by the US military during WWII as both a compact sidearm and a general officer's pistol. This one was manufactured in 1943, during WWII, and is chambered in .32 ACP. General Yates (1917-2011) was born in Bangor, Maine, and graduated second in the West Point class of 1941, winning the Robert E. Lee Saber for the top standing in mathematics. Commissioned in the Corps of Engineers, he served with the 3rd Engineer Battalion, 24th Infantry Division, in Hawaii and the Philippines during WWII, later earned a master's degree in engineering physics from Cornell, and worked with the Atomic Energy Commission and at the Pentagon. He went on to serve as chief engineer of the Army Corps of Engineers' Philadelphia District and North Pacific Division, and as director of construction in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970. He retired as a major general in 1971, having been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and the Air Medal. The slide is numbered and matching to the gun. The original Parkerized finish rates about 98-99%, with some surface scratches and marks, mostly along the top of the slide. Fitted with minty wood grips and comes with one blued magazine. Mint bore, 10/10.