My dad was in Germany on VE day. They had recently occupied a small German village and had rounded up all civilian weapons. They were prepared to destory them when they got the word that the war had ended. An officer gave them permission to take anything they wanted.
Dad picked out this. A brand new pre war FN produced SXS with hang tags still on it. He built a wooden box and it cost him $1.50 to mail it back home. He could have just as easily have mailed back home a Luger, M-1, 1911 or anything else he could have gotten his hands on. I'm sure many others did.
