WWI Capture, 1914 DWM Luger Rig W/ Matching Mag - Featured On YouTube

Description

4/1/26 - This is a very nice example of a DWM issued to the Imperial German military in 1914. It is all matching and has the proper Imperial military acceptance proofs. It has retained about 93% of its original bluing with general high edge and muzzle wear. While there isn't a ton of actual finish loss, there is light spotty oxidation covering most of the gun. Fitted with matching-numbered wood grips. The rifling in the bore is fairly worn with minor pitting throughout. It comes as a rig with one original matching-numbered magazine, a blank tool, and a 1916-dated tan leather holster. There are a couple of things scratched into the back of the holster - one clearly says "WILSON" and the other appears to be a German name (hard to read) with "No. 2617". It's possible the German name is the soldier who had the holster, and Wilson is the name of the GI who captured it (we can't say for sure). Inscribed neatly on the left side of the gun is "Marcelcave, Aug 8th 1918".

August 8, 1918 is one of the most important dates in WWI history. It was the opening day of the Battle of Amiens, what German General Erich Ludendorff famously called "the Black Day of the German Army." It was the most devastating single-day defeat suffered by Germany in the entire war, and many historians consider it the beginning of the end of WWI.

Marcelcave is a small village just east of Amiens in northern France, and it sat directly in the path of the main Allied assault that morning. The attack, led by Canadian and Australian forces supported by nearly 600 tanks, shattered German lines so completely that entire divisions collapsed or surrendered en masse. The Allies advanced up to 8 miles in a single day, an almost unheard-of achievement in WWI.

Using context clues, it is most likely this gun was captured by a Canadian soldier as a war trophy, and commissioned the inscription as a memento (but of course we can't say for sure). This gun was featured in one of our YouTube videos. Skip to the 8:15 mark to watch. Link below.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FCv2XzRWc0