Interesting Relic: Slice of KongsTiger barrel

[hassiman]

Why in God's name would Aberdeen make up items like these?

[danno81]

Why Wouldn't they... ??? G.I's. loved souvenirs... my relatives brought back all sorts of things... if you worked in the testing area of Aberdeen, were tasked with cutting items and some Officer(s) or others decided, "that would make a neat paper weight etc... " it wouldn't take much else... look at the trench art... explain that... why? and there is tons of that floating around... some made of shells, other items made of planes etc... you attend the SOS or MAX, how many items do you see that are "pieces" of things, or are made of "pieces of things"... the why is an easy question... the "who" is the hard part... and when I find something unique like this... I always try to find the "who" as that answers the majority of the "why."... I have the perfect example... I have a friend who served on the USS Yorktown in WWII... the carrier... he MADE a coffee pot from a steel shell container, used a TBM cap as the percolator part, and the handle was bakelight... he gave me a "playing card" holder that was made from canopy material from the fighters...

[danno81]

Let me ask.. you have one of these... where were you able to locate it? Just curious of it was found in the same area or not... doesn't matter much as folks from all over served and it would have been taken along where-ever... but was it near PA or Maryland?

[hassiman]

No.... I got mine from an antiquities store in Oregon. The reason I asked why Aberdeen would ever make these is that, if you have handled one of these, they are extremely well made. Lathe cut and beveled... expertly inset and welded into what I would guess to be a very nicely cut piece of Krupp armor as a base. Well plated and engraved. These were not mass produced. I would venture a guess that very few were ever made and probably made for presentation to ranking officers.

[danno81]

Thanks! I was curious... I agree these were beyond well made... and Aberdeen would have the toys needed to produce such things... especially during WWII where many of the captured tanks were sent to be tested... even more so than in the ETO... it would make sense that a group of officers etc would want such souvenirs, especially if they were armor experts... unfortunately there would be no records... and much of the items would be scrapped after whatever testing was done. I'll send a photo up to what is left of their museum as ask if they have seen these... will be interesting to see if they have any information.

[Danmark]

We had a similar situation here at Puckapunyal Army camp in Victoria where there was also a proving ground. During the push back through North Africa, all types of German armour ( hard and soft skinned ) were shipped back to Australia for ballistics testing and to develop the armour piercing technologies of the day.
What do you do with second hand enemy tanks once you have blown the s**t outta them ....... a souvenir is my logical choice
Cheers, Dan

[Walkwolf]

These are such fabulous and iconic WWII souvenirs, and I can't
help but think that the families where they are coming from
do not know the significance of what they actually are.
They might guess that they are large machined
gears or washers, or some old car part.


I would be absolultely thrilled to own one.........

[panzerjaeger44]

The king tiger at the Patton museum came from Aberdeen originally which is why its cut away there's a book on wwII German armor and it makes references to this stuff happening in the late 40's and early 50's they even scrapped a perfect panzer luchs coz no interest was taken in it

[LizardKing]

i wonder how many of these rings are needed in order to complete the barel... Put them all together and you have a Koenigs Tiger main canon!!!! I'm afraid the number must be a loooooot more than three!!!

Just a wild guess story! May these three rings were field made from the GIs that knocked the KT out of action as a prize??? Just a little story i made right now! Germany, April 1945. Some US engineers are being pinned down by the fire of the King Tiger! 3 GIs with a bazooka appear out of nowhere and knock out the tank with a direct hit on it's engine putting the beast aflame! The 3 GIs save the day of the poor their comrades who can't believe their luck! The engineers want to show their gratitude and they make these artifacts as gifts to their saviors! (long shot story but nice to consider as a scenario)