WW2 Colt 1911A1 Pistol | Veteran War Story
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- Опубликовано: 27 май 2020
- MEMORIAL DAY SPECIAL! To honor our veterans, this video is about a Colt 1911A1 and the story of the man who carried it, Paul Tidwell. Paul enlisted in the army in 1944 and eventually became a pilot. He was involved in major WW2 campaigns such as the Battle of the Bulge, Operation Market Garden, the crossing of the Rhine River, and more!
In this video, we also show you how to tell the difference between a Colt and Union Switch & Signal 1911A1 pistol. 
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Wow. Thank you for passing on a great man’s life. How wonderful that his son is allowing us to experience it thank GOD for these brave men and women that served and are serving.
Wonderful collection and story. It would be nice to see this find a home in a museum, where the story can be told to (or read by) those observing the artifacts. The greatness of that generation may never be seen again.
The E6B, I still have mine from 1973. No different to include the carry case. Much respect for this veteran and his family. 🇺🇸
My father served in the Navy during WW2. He is 94 years old. I need to check if he still has his dog tags. Great story about Capt. Tidwell.
My dad was on the battleship North Carolina in WWll 🇺🇸
You’ve done a great service for this man and his family with this video.
My Grandfather also served. He was 27 yrs lod married and had children. He served aboard the uss nssette apd73. Picked up survivors from the uss indiaopis.
Great historical perspective. A true American Hero. I especially liked the recounting of his most dangerous mission, transporting wounded soldiers and Holocaust victims and the "Yearbook", which included African-American soldiers. I didn't know that these Army-Airmen were also located in Missouri, and not only in Tuskegee.
Also, the Union Switch & Signal 1911 was most certainly maintained most fastidiously and is in pristine condition! I did seem to notice that another difference between the Colt and US&S 1911's was that the bottom of the grip safety was somewhat irregularly machined vs. the Colt, for what that's worth.
Thanks again sir!
Thanks for posting this story, I was living about one and a halve mijl away from the bridge at nijmegen [market garden] as a baby and badly burned, this operation saved my live because the allieds did have the right medicine, it's people like him that I'am greadfull and deep in dept and I'am still here today.
P.S. I'am that Dutch guy that picked up that Mauser HSc a few days ago.
A small note of historical accuracy. The British 1st airborne division was tasked with capturing Arnhem bridge and holding it for two days until relieved by the armoured division. Due to the presence of two SS armoured divisions in the area and the resistance they offered, only the 2nd battalion of the Parachute Regiment reached the bridge. They captured the bridge and although heavily outnumbered, held it for four days, twice as long as the entire division was expected to. That bridge is now named after the commanding officer of 2 Para, John Frost.
Thanks!
Great story that needed to be documented somewhere. Thanks for sharing an overview of his wartime service
I love hearing the stories of those who served our country (especially the WW2 generation). The many personal items provided with the pistol bring so much depth to Captain Tidwell's story.
Yea ok john
Interesting video. My father, Jack W Keith was an Air cadet at Coe College, IA in his second year. His whole class was scrubbed and sent to Ft Sam Houston in San Antonio in the fall of 1943 and all were made medics. He landed on Omaha Beach on day 2, and was a combat medic with a Signal Corp company. He was at Hurtgen Forest when German troops disguised as GIs massacred American Soldiers at Malmedy. The medics in his unit were issued 1911 sidearms to protect the wounded from German imposters. This was in December of 1944. He never fired the pistol. In February, after that Battle of the Bulge, the medics had their pistols taken back to the armory. He is deceased now, but I well remember how much fun we had shooting together when I bought my 1911 A1 in the 1980s. Thanks for the memories of Capt. Tidwell.
Wonderful of his family to honor his service , by making his story available to us all. Thank you.
All of his effects look like they were issued recently they look so good
My Dad was a WW2 Marine Raider and he really liked the 45! I remember speaking really highly of his 45!
His family will be proud of the way you presented his life's achievements. Perfect!!!
The Army Air Corps became the Army Air Force in 1941. My dad flew P-51s in Italy in WWII.
My po8 and pair of p38s were bring backs from an army air corps veteran
Great story and beautiful gun....
👍😎🤝
I have mine from 1983, I've never opened it, just having a new testament was a comfort...😊
Laughed at the tid bits cut like seeing you being goofy. Thanks for the great story and video tom
Such a wonderful story, a perfect showing of why I like historical firearms videos on RUclips. There is so much story to be found in an old gun if you look at the history of them and who they impacted.
Thank you for this episode!!!
Another Great Story! Thank You for bringing these stories to your loyal listeners!
Another tear-jerker Tom, brilliant presentation: Let us never forget!
It was real nice too hear and see the Tuskegee Airmen in that graduation Flight School book
I really enjoyed the video and appreciated the background and history. Thank you!
Really enjoy your relaxed presentation Tom, & the content is always engaging. Love this channel.
A great video once again with a great mixture of personal narrrative, military history, and review of a classic American sidearm that never gets old! Well done Tom!
Excellent, excellent video. Thank you for documenting this man’s service to our country. From a fellow vet who’s also a lover of 1911s...
Very nice, great man. Great story. Great history. Great man.
Tidwell tidbit....You are an incredible dufass.its a good thing you show cool guns
Awesome story !!!!!!!! God Speed , Paul Tidwell
Awesome video remembrance of a life well lived! Thank you!
Such an interesting show, really nice pistol and personal things from the war, thanks to his family and Mr Tidwell for his service
I received my new testament at the MEPS.
What a wonderful tribute to Mr. Tidwell. He had a fascinating and full life. May he Rest In Peace.
Thank you for honoring this veteran.
This video is a good tribute to a life of this man. Good job!
Great video and story. I have a large family so difficult for me to imagine giving or sell my fater's of Grangfather's war chests including issues and captured weapons from both theaters of WW2, Grandfather in Europe, father in late stages of Pacific before deploying from Japan directly to Korea. Their decorations, citations photos they personally took and letter sent to and for my family.
I remember the first time I saw my grandfathers war chest after he passed away. And I will never forget.
Very well done,
I’m only 3 mins into the video and I’m absolutely in awe of your presentation.this hits my heart in so many ways because I was in the army and did a little time in Afghanistan and my step gpa was in the army and d-day everything plus I went to basic at fort Jackson, sc and I’m a total military history fanatic especially when it comes to specific stories of firearms and pictures to tie everything together. Thank you so much for this video and I’ll be binge watching everyone of em lol.that’s such a gorgeous 1911❤️one day I’ve set a goal to have me one or two ww2 1911s preferably with ties llike this one. What a beautiful thing that family did to honor him and what you have done too. God bless you also when I joined in 08 they actually still had older gentlemen from a church giving out New Testament bibles to any new recruit that would take one.I do believe I still have mine n I took it down range with me too n carried it. My great great uncle was in the air corps way back in the day. God bless him and he’s in his late 80s early 90s and he’s still going strong too!I love that guy lol.7 mins 47 seconds is extremely insane!!when I joined up at 29 my age group was like maximum of 17 2 mile run. He was like lightening speed then lol dang!
Thank you Zac and thanks for your service to our Country
Fantastic channel 100 thumbs up great job.
The 1911 really is not my bag but a fascinating story and another great watch..
Amazing history of an amazing man! Beautiful 45 as well!
Camp Croft was near Spartanburg SC.
great story nice one tom
Video is Beautiful...absolutely beautiful...You showed us a great piece of history and the story behind who brought the 1911 to war...
Thank you for this..
I wish I can own a piece of history like that...but that would be really hard to find..especially in the country I'm living in...
I am thankful that our previous generations were able to liberate some of their arms they carried in harms way. I've got over a decade in Iraq and Afghanistan and can't.
The Sig m17 military surplus guns that replaced the M9 are on gun broker. About 5000 of them were given back to Sig, after a 2 year stint with the Army. Most served with the Airborne. Some over in Iraq and Afghanistan If you check with your local GS you may find they have one. Thats how most were bought. Thanks for your service and Have a Great Day.
My issued pistols were the M1911A1 and M9. I know about the M17s but doesn't do me any good right now as I've been in Astan since 17'
A friend of mine has his granddad's 1911, a Union Switch & Signal. It looks utterly identical to this one, just the very slightest signs of wear, presumably more from holster than from use. Otherwise just beautiful.
Malden Missouri is extremely close to my home town. I used to fly in and out of there a lot getting cross country experience in southeast Missouri. Always knew it was an old training field especially with the old hangars and shut down cross runways. Cool to tie this into our local history.
That was fantastic!
SUBSCRIBED! Great channel
Great video!
From the display of his awards, he was only a transport pilot. Reason is he doesn't have the Parachutist Badge as a Paratrooper would be awarded back then which consists of 4 weeks of Airborne School at Ft. Benning GA. which was brutal back then. Like pilot training not everyone qualified to be a Paratrooper. Airborne School was mostly concerned with training infantrymen, combat engineers, artillerymen, and other soldiers inside of an actual combat airborne division. The didn't have pilots go through parachute training because the injuries are very high and it was very expensive to lose qualified transport pilots. This was the same for glider pilots. Not very many of them went through parachute training because they had to train very hard to fly gliders and they have their own special qualification badge. A few hundred men were killed during parachute training and thousands were injured during WWII. Pilots are special people, their skills cannot be perished because they were needed for the war effort. Infantrymen are expendable. The US Army had 4 Airborne Divisions in WWII. Each division had normally had 3 Parachute Infantry Regiments and one Glider Infantry who were not jump qualified along with glider pilots assigned to the division. The glider infantry regiment were treated really bad because they were discriminated by Paratroopers and were not qualified for hazardous duty pay. They were not volunteers like Paratroopers and went to parachute school. Glider infantrymen were assigned with no choice of their own to airborne divisions and died by the hundreds in training too on glider landings. Glider pilots were respected by Paratroopers because after landing they had to fight like parachute and glider infantrymen after landing. No disrespect to the transport pilots because they had to drop the paratroopers into combat without getting shot down. Transport pilots are very important during WWII.
A higher percentage of pilots died during WW2 than ground combat troops - about 51%.
@@allangibson2408 I agree. The US 8th Air Force lost more men over in Europe than the Marines in the Pacific in WWII. In my opinion, the Infantry has to take ground in order to advance. Ground taken and held by men on the ground by Infantrymen is ground to be fought for till victory. From my experience is that pilots from training and in past wars is that the pilots can deliver hate and animosity to the enemy by delivering Infantry and other arms into battle. No disrespect to the air services of the US Air Force or Army Aviaton. Total respect! I have jumped out of airplanes and landed in helicopters enough.
@@reddevilparatrooper Pilots and aircrew spend more time being shot at. Infantry spend more time in transit - and actually sitting on ground the captured between times the enemy dispute that position. Which is not to say the infantry don’t periodically get the shit kicked out of them - it is just a smaller percentage of the time.
Great videos and great content! So my understanding is pilots in WWII were issued a 1911 - as indicated here - but also in addition to standard 'ball ammo' were issued survival ammunition which was designated either M12 or M15. It was basically mini shotshell cartridges designed for 45acp to take small game and birds in a survival situation. Have you ever come across any of that?
That was a great story!
I have my father's prayer book that he received when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942. Being Jewish, his book was "PRAYER BOOK ABRIDGED FOR JEWS IN THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES, printed in both Hebrew and English. A Fabulous keepsake!
Yes they still issue out religious scripture
Thank you,and this man's family. He is an American hero, for sure.
Wonderful video, thank you for posting. This is what I consider valuable history. I've always considered firearms more like tools than collectables but I'm thinking a WW2 Colt 45 would be great to own and preserve as a historically significant tool.
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks!
Excellent!
Another great story. Thank you.
Next gun from my top 10.
Good that I'm WW1 fan (the book have very interesting WW1 chapter {I wish to read this) 📖🤔
I still have my Dad’s E6B. I got my wings at the same AFB where I was, as my Mom put it, “the product of a lunch break”. Lining up my approach to the old Castle AFB, I always think of him in his bad ass B29!
Thanks. a lot of very useful information. I have a Remington Mod. 1911. The armor at the police dept. advised me it was a Korean War model.
Excellent.
Best story ever 👋🏻😎
So cool
Can you make a video talking about 1918 reworked Colt 1911s? I mean they have to hold more value than what you mentioned, we’re talking about a 1911 that serviced WWI then reworked to service WWII !! Would love to see a video on reworked 1911s. I think they hold more value than what you mention
If i had my dads or grandads firearm that would be the last thing i sell.
Absolutely agree! :-) It's family Saint. Like Mother and Father Wedding Rings. Should be give to the Next Family Generations :-)
People don't value family or heritage anymore these days.
@@garthland380: May all hippies (except for your parents) and Millennials burn in hell!!!
He had no kids, his family is selling like this in part to make sure it goes to an owner who will recognize it as an artifact of history with a story to tell.
I have arms from both my dad and grandfather. They are my most prized possessions. One from 1940. Soon to be illegal possessions.
I really enjoyed watching this video and man I was into it
Travis Hoover gave my Pops his wings. Mr. Hoover was in the second plane behind Jimmy Doolittle on the Tokyo raid. Truly the Greatest Generation.
Ahhh, there it is. I was waiting on your next “fix” for me video.
You look great in those RayBans !
Thank you
Best intro ever
Wow! What a hero!!!
Thanks
Noticed that the grip safety tang is an "incorrect" short pattern as in the original M1911 "WW1" sidearms before the upgrades of the "A1" series starting in 1926. Perhaps indicting an armorer's rebuild mixing that part. ?
Didnt notice that. I will check it more closely
@@thomaswhiteman4261 You can spot the differences while viewing the video as different handguns are being shown, especially on full screen. I have a commercial Series 70 Government and a reissued Colt 1911 limited series run from about 2010 and comparing the 2 side by side the tang spur lengths are obvious. Just curious about the short one on this pistol. Maybe the manufacturer was using up parts on hand to complete assembly ? The video states that the gun is original and was never rebuilt or tampered with.
Great video. Would love to see on on the Springfield 1911. The real Springfield's made 100 years ago.
I just sold a NOS set of walnut grips for one of those and now I have a magazine for one.
Back in the 80's I and my partners bought 110 Colts, USS, Remingtons, Ithaca slides and Colt Ace Service 22lr conversion units, NO Singers though, from a company called Sidems UK.
We paid £1500 for the lot. All the parts were in sealed military packets. The only things missing were the frames but after spending two days at INTERARMS UK we matched frames to slides and sold them over 2 yrs at £350 for colts and the rest at £250 each except for the USS at £450 each. My my don't times change.😨👍👍
Well done.
😀👍🏼😮😀 What an Amazing Guy
To bad it's already sold,our V.A office here in Clinton TN has a military display room filled with various weapons and articles brought back from our (U.S) wars,we might have bought everything to put on display for all to enjoy,it is a secure room in our county courthouse,it's our small museum free to anyone to look at and enjoy,nothing for sale of course,so if you're ever around Clinton,in Anderson Co TN,feel free to come and look.
Just a note. In the military, they’re not Divisions, they’re Branches.
you're right ORIGINAL WWII .45's are rare. I only have 4....
ধন্যবাদ...
thanks
I would have inherent my grandfathers service 1911 but it went missing a few years before his death. The belief is that one of the towns maintenance workers talked him out of it.. pretty pissed about that one. I still got the garand, nambu pistol and type99 rifle but damn do i wish i had that pistol! It was the one gun he kept loaded in his bedroom. Ive owned a couple 1911s but would love a colt government model like his. Im unsure of which exact one he had. He retired as a colonel.
I have a 1944 Ithaca that has that same parkerized finish, love that look and the modern repro ones just don't have it
The son may regret selling his fathers legacy.
maritn norbeck he states in the beginning that he has no heirs to will it too upon his death
So it would all end up either in a landfill or perhaps a picker would end up with it
He prefers it to be sold to someone who will care for it
Hence this presentation
No. I'm guessing he thought long and hard about it. If he didn't sell it the world/we would never even have known about captain tidwells service.
@@gibsondrummer If not the landfill or the picker/scavanger, maybe a desk sergeant at the police station getting it for free or a gun / pawn shop buying it for $100.
@Dodge Mustang Yeah, thats why the pawnbroker would "buy" it for about $100.00
He has no one to leave it to. This video and what the sale will bring will mean more to him than anything else. Fitting.
My father was in the Navy and he got a new Colt 1911 in the Pacific from an Army Sgt.He traded him a canned Ham for it ..Years later he sold it for $10.00.
I would love one of the Lugers...I was a combat engineer in Vietnam/Cambodia...69-71
You look like a fighter ace with those glasses
My grandfather was a glider pilot in WW2, fortunately for me he was an instructor or I may not be here 🙏😁
So far nothing equals the Singer you did a video on 😎. Great video! Also military chaplains still give out Bibles, Quran’s and Torah’s. Not to many atheists in combat.
I have an airsoft 1911 that is licensed by Colt and looks almost exactly like this except the K on that trigger guard reads T on mine, and the G.H.D is vertical on yours, it’s horizontal on mine. That’s the only differences I noticed, I think it’s a replica of the ones made in 1944. I am not sure.
I believe you are correct, 1944
@@thomaswhiteman4261 thank you
Looks like my 380€ norinco. trigger serrations, sights and ejection port cuts are a bit different
Recently I just aquired a 1918 colt from a pawn shop I deliver to. I asked about the history of the gun. Due to being laid off from this covid pandemic the guy had to pawn it. Had been in the family since ww1. Extremely sad situation
I don’t own a 1911. There it is, I have said it..... 😞
You poor bastard😢
When you said Paul Tidwell I thought we were talking about the Paul Tidwell that piloted the Enola Gay that dropped the first atom bomb but still a very impressive story.
thomas k I believe the pilot of the Enola Gay was named Paul Tibbets. Sounds similar though.
@@johndilday1846 Thank you, I remembered after I made the post but I'm getting old and facts just are as clear to me as they used to be.
Wow! Close to my home! I know some of his cousins🇺🇸