Description
2/27/26 - This is a Mauser P.38, manufactured in 1943 and issued to the German Military. All matching, including slide, frame, barrel, and locking block. Proper Mauser waffenamt acceptance proofs. The pistol has retained about 90% its original finish, with wear is concentrated on high points and contact edges, thinning along slide rails and front grip strap, brightening at the ejection-port edges. There is also some muzzle wear, which extends along the front of the barrel on the right side. A large rub mark with light surface freckling visible on the right slide flat around the acceptance-stamp area, and milder freckles dotting the front grip strap. The bore is shiny with sharp rifling, and just some minor frosting in the grooves. Mechanical function is excellent. Included are two WWII P.38 magazines, one an earlier Walther-produced example (toe-numbered 6297h), and one proper late-war unnumbered magazine. Comes as a rig with a leather High Power holster, which is stamped “cgn 43” with “WaA920” and shows honest field wear plus an obvious belt-loop repair stitch. Notably, the inside flap is inked “LETENDRE” and “Fox 506”, and another interior area is inked “P38” and “7442,” providing potential provenance details which may have historical context.
The obituary for Albert J. “Buzz” Letendre states that during WWII he served with Company F (Fox Company) of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment and attained the rank of Tech Sergeant. This aligns with the holster’s “LETENDRE” ink marking and “HQ 506” notation visible in the photos, indicating the rig was retained and labeled by the serviceman associated with the name. Department of the Army lineage-and-honors documentation records the 506th Infantry Regiment as constituted July 1, 1942, activated July 20, 1942 at Camp Toccoa, and lists WWII campaign participation credit including Normandy, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe. Modern public awareness of the 506th parachute infantry experience is significantly shaped by the acclaimed series "Band of Brothers" which chronicles “Easy Company,” 2nd Battalion, also part of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. Without capture papers, tying this holster and this soldier together remains speculative, but the holster markings are nevertheless intriguing.
