Did some GI wander into Norway and leave his pistol and rifle behind?
Very nice collection.
They were often dropped by the Allies in crates to the
Norwegian Resistance Movement. In the beginning of the war there were mostly English guns, like the
Sten dropped. But as the war progressed and the Americans were involved in Europe, they dropped 1911s, 30 Carabines and even Thompsons.
Key people in the resistance movenemt were warned of drops a few hours before an airstrike, where one or two planes were carrying material that was para-dropped in crates. There are a lot of them and lots of German material still laying around in our woods. Yesterday for instance, i found and old SS helmet. Earlier I have found a G3 bayonet, probably lost by the
Home Guard. The weapons in still unfound para-drop crates, might actually be in good condition as inside the wooden crates there were sealed metal boxes carring the firearms. So they haven't been exposed to anything but the gun grease they were lubricated with from factory. By the way they only found about half of what was dropped.
They say that if you bring a metal detector for some forest hiking in the Norwegian woods, you're going to be busy...
I'm usually joking with my dad, saying he needs an
FG42 Paratroop Rifle, and a
Sturmgewehr 44 for his collection. That 30-round mag on the US Carabine is not original though, but he does have the original bayonet...