German Shotglasses...and lots Of them! Part 2

[Wagriff]

Nothing particularly special about this beat up old shotglass but it does have a nice Iron Cross engraved on it, so I thought that I'd post it here. Dug up in a blown up bunker in the village of Dubinin outside of Stalingrad, it could have been made by any number of different units in the area at the time but it doesn't really matter, I suppose. Beneath the Iron Cross is written "Feldzug Im Osten 1941-1942". Seeing as how it was found in a burned out and destroyed bunker, I'll take a guess and say that the maker likely did Not return from his campaign in the East of 2 brutal years. The shotglass itself is a dirty mess but I only rinsed it off under some warm soap and water and decided to not soak or scrub it too much. It looks fine the way that it is. It's taken over 70 years in the Russian soil to acquire it's present appearance, so I guess that it's earned it.

[Wagriff]

If anyone was curious, here are a couple of photos I found I had saved of the 113th Infantry Shotglass as it was discovered-before the digger "rather thoroughly" cleaned it off! lol Yes...this is what they quite often look like when being excavated...

[Wagriff]

A couple of odd bits came in today from an older Stalingrad digger that I've known for quite awhile now. The 1st one is just a nice but crudely made shotglass from the 103 Panzer Abteilung in the 3rd Infantry Division. The entire division was mauled and destroyed at Stalingrad towards the end of 1942 and the beginning of 1943. This one was dug in a bunker with a bunch of other junk. It does have a nicely made leaf on it, though...

[Wagriff]

Considering the absurd personal attacks whenever posting Croatian pieces, I almost hesitated to post this one. I probably wouldn't have, but it's a pretty rare one and the 1st I've ever encountered. Unfortunately, the digger again did me "a favor" and cleaned the living daylights out of it so that I could "see the inscription better"! The photos I had seen previously were dark and dirty, so he "prettied it up"....sigh. It will take awhile for this one to darken back down again... It does feature a nicely done curled lip and has a Croatian checkerboard shield on it. The 369th Croatians were one of the very last troops to surrender with Paulus, but there werent many of them left at all in the end in any case. They fought ferociously alongside the 100th Light Infantry for Mameyev Hill and the "Red Oktober factory" among others, taking horrendous casualties. At the end, their "section of the front" had whittled down to a mere 200 meters manned by 90 men. Considering the fates ahead for them, many preferred to die fighting rather than surrender to the Russians. But, at any rate, here it is in all it's "shining glory".



I had mentioned earlier other junk from the Panzer bunker. I did find one tiny piece irresistible and had the digger send it along as well. It is a teeny little Christmas tree and candle holder.I can only imagine the "festive celebration" in the bunker that horrible Christmas. It is, despite it's appearance, made of brass and still holds part of a small candle. (It's a wonder he didn't shine this one up as well..) At least it doesn't take alot of room up on the shelf. It measures a whopping 2 inches high and 2.5 inches long.

[MAP]

Pretty awesome William. Would love to get something like these eventually!

[Glenn66]

I am reading the Leaping Horseman book, 'Croation Legion' at the moment as it happens. A hitherto unknown formation in terms of its contribution as far as I was concerned.

[M14sRock]

These are all awesome.

[paddy]

Hi William I sent you an email regarding the Walther ppk holster as I was unable to send you a pm on here for some reason

[MAP]

Hi William I sent you an email regarding the Walther ppk holster as I was unable to send you a pm on here for some reason

Unfortunately Paddy, sad to say but our friend William is no longer with us. He is now "in Memorium".

[rbminis]

Unfortunately Paddy, sad to say but our friend William is no longer with us. He is now "in Memorium".

I sent him a PM Michael.
Ralph.