L-35 pistol holster

[dagwood]

Hi, I have a Finnish pistol holster with some writing on the inner flap which I'm hoping someone can interpret? It's part of a Lahti type 1 rig I possess so wartime. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[CSW]

Nice holster! The early post-war writing stands for "Staff Sergeant J. Virtanen, Utti (airbase) 3rd Air Command".

The 3rd Air Command of the Finnish Air Force (3. Lennosto) got its name in 1952 and had been previously known as Flying Regiment 3. The regiment had originally been founded after the end of the Winter War in 1940 and operated several aircraft types during the Continuation War, including American Brewster 239 and German Bf 109 G fighters.

Perhaps this helped a bit!

[Verikauha]

And it seems like self-made holster for Luger / Lahti type pistol.
Not official factory holster.

Sling is from m/27 or m/51 officers belt, "rähinäremmi" = bluster sling. Right to boss others around.

Since it's confirmed for used by in the air force. I think it was made sling-carry type because it was easier to have with pilot equipment with extra slings all over body.
Also Sling-carry was popular in airforce or air-field service. As they didn't need belts all year-around like infantry would.

[dagwood]

Thanks much for the information! I'll will keep the holster with the pistol to preserve its history. I thought I'd share pictures of the pistol itself which is a variation #1 non SA field marked but undoubtably military issue. The magazines are however SA stamped. Only if it could talk as it was certainly used during the Continuation war and maybe even possibly the Winter war. I believe these pistols are much underappreciated in the collector circles.

[MAP]

Very nice pistol and rig!

[Rescue190]

Great holster and pistol. Very nice addition to collection.
John