German Flare Guns, Flares, and Accessories

[pzjgr]

I don't see much in here on German flare guns, flares, and accessories, so I thought I'd post something up that hopefully many can add to.

So first up, flare guns. Germany had a large variety of flare guns, and each service had their distinct models. I have the two most common Army type flare guns.

First up the Heeres Modell developed by Walther, built by several companies. This one is a 1937 ERMA produced gun. Like early 98k's there are a plethora of inspections on this one...

These came with a holster, shoulder strap and cleaning rod. This particular holster, though dated 1941, is an ersatz pressed paper type, although the hinge between the holster body and flap is leather, as is the bellows between front and back on the left side, and the securing strap. Maker marked in ink, bdq 41, with an E/170 WaA….

Shoulder strap that connects to the back via D-rings is leather with steel snap hooks. The cleaning rod is steel with an aluminum head, and has a leather tab with steel snap hook attached. It attaches to the holster by means of a cup the head fits into, and a small securing strap attached to the holster.

These pistols were made of anodized aluminum, were finely finished, and the holster, strap, and cleaning rod made it a fairly expensive pieces of equipment to produce.

In 1942 they introduced the much simplified Leucht Pistole 42, or LP 42 model. Made of zinc stampings and crudely finished, it did not have a holster, only a lanyard ring to dummy cord it to your belt or equipment. Usually seen tucked into the belt of the user.

Both were standard 26.5mm caliber, and fired a huge variety of flares...

 

[pzjgr]

More pistol pics...

 

[pzjgr]

LP 42...

Only two makers on these, wa, and euh….

 

[iron bender]

Pzjgr, that first rig is really nice! I've found the bulk of wartime manufactured flare gun holsters are presstoff

 

[pzjgr]

Now...flares...

There was a huge variety of flares, from simple single star or smoke, to multi star and smoke combos in multiple colors, gas alarm flares, whistle flares, and offensive "flares"

These are what I have...if these load in order they are, from first to last...Oops, 1 and 2 are switched...

1. Single white star

2. This one isn't actually for a flare gun, but for a trip flare booby trap to let guys know someone is trying to infiltrate their perimeter, this went into a special booby trap type device. Live

3. Single green star, live

4. Blue smoke/star combo

5. Single yellow smoke/star combo

6. Red smoke/star combo

7. This one is special, as it is a Kriegsmarine flare, made of brass to resist salt water (as opposed to the usual aluminum case), and has a KM acceptance on the head.

8. This is a multiple star cluster, in yellow, red and green

9. White multiple star cluster

10. Yellow smoke only

11. This one is a live whistle flare, when fired it let off a very loud whistling sound, used to either initiate an attack, or sound a gas alarm...

12. Finally a multi star cluster, red

Earlier flares had distinct patterns put into the rim of the head, some smooth, some notched halfway some notched all the way around, etc, plus colored patterns applied to the head, this was so that the user could tell what sort of flare it is while in the leather over the shoulder flare carriers, either during the day, or in the dark...

The Germans used flares extensively on the battlefield, and battle plans (METT-T stuff) had lists of various flare signals, for attack, for retreat, things like left flank press, or right flank press, all sorts of comms could be expressed by flares, day or night...imagine trying to remember all that!

 

[pzjgr]

11 and 12, and other pics...

Live flares are hard to find, hell, even cases are hard to find now...I don't like empty cases so I "re-load" all my flares. They look better, and weigh more like a loaded flare...

 

[pzjgr]

Will have more coming in a while...

 

[Slash]

LP 42... Only two makers on these, wa, and euh….

Big fan of the LP42. Not sure that the only two maker assertion is correct however. The markings you describe are certainly the most common although these makers used alternate codes as well. HASAG Hugo Schneider AG, Leipzig was the largest producer with most examples bearing their wa code. There are also Schneider made pieces marked with their de code and a very few stamped with the HASAG logo. C. & W. Meinel-Scholer also produced large numbers of the LP42 most marked with their euh code. In very late 1944 they were assigned the code SWW and a few examples have been observed with this marking. The SWW serial numbers are sequential with euh. There are also the qyn coded examples from an unknown maker. They are generally found without serial numbering and with a WaA acceptance not assigned to the previous makers. There are also minute construction differences indicating a separate firm for production. Any of the codes other than euh and wa are quite scarce if not rare to encounter. My thoughts only ......

 

[Hambone]

Very cool stuff Pzjgr, and thanks A LP.34 duv 41 rig Farb found for me. I've been looking for a duv 41 for some time, to go with my BLM rifles.

 

[gunnertwo]

Very nice presentation showing some examples in excellent condition. I got the FP "bug" a few years back. There is a flare pistol forum that can be informative, here's the link:

http://flaregunforum.com/index.php

This site from France is excellent but you have to do some interpretation on terms:

http://leuchtpistole.free.fr

Lastly, Mark (a frequent poster on several related forums) has an outstanding arms collection and shares it via his website. Here's the link to the section covering the FP.

http://p38guns.com/FPvariations.htm

G2

 

[pzjgr]

Very nice presentation showing some examples in excellent condition. I got the FP "bug" a few years back. There is a flare pistol forum that can be informative, here's the link:

http://flaregunforum.com/index.php

This site from France is excellent but you have to do some interpretation on terms:

http://leuchtpistole.free.fr

Lastly, Mark (a frequent poster on several related forums) has an outstanding arms collection and shares it via his website. Here's the link to the section covering the FP.

http://p38guns.com/FPvariations.htm

G2

Thanks, those are great links!

There are some good reference books out there, I have two...which I should have looked at before going with my old research of only wa and euh made LP-42's!

Here are the two I have, both seem to be excellent!

 

[pzjgr]

Here are two of the 6 flare bakelite containers I have...one red star, one green star, the green star has faded from the label pretty good though. These containers used to be around, and dirt cheap, but like most all other things German, have disappeared, and are expensive when they do pop up...

Both are 1941 production, and the containers are well marked...

 

[pzjgr]

Finally, I have one of the Wurfkorper 361 flare gun launched grenade.

This allowed a limited offensive weapon use of the regular flare gun. There was a specialized grenade launching flare gun, the Kampfpistole Z,which I am not lucky enough to own...perhaps someone onboard does and could post some pics...

The 361 was an adapter for a standard egg grenade, you unscrewed the grenade body from the adapter, inserted the shaft into the breech of the flare gun, and re-screwed the grenade onto it.

Then it was fired normally, the shaft and grenade flew towards the target, and the cartridge stub was ejected...

I am sure it would do in a pinch!

This just scratches the surface, hopefully more will add to this thread, and make it a good reference....This is just one off the web...

 

[gunnertwo]

Great books, wish I took more German in college. There's a book coming out on FP's in Europe, I'm hoping for an english translation. The Z pistol stocks have some very good fakes so be wary. I'll probably settle for one as the originals have sold for many thousands.

I'll try to post some of my collection, might be a while as we are in the middle of moving.

G2

 

[Rittmeister]

Nice flareguns and accessories! I agree with the threadstarter, there are too few post on flareguns here. Contributes with mine:

 

[Hambone]

Pzjgr, very cool Wk.361. These are hard to find I take it? Wow, Rittmeister, nice stuff! Just what I needed, another collecting field to get lost in

 

[iron bender]

You can see a Kampfpistole in action against a Soviet tank in Manner gegen Panzer, appx. 13 minute mark. If you haven't watched this, and your into WW2 German anti tank infantry, it's awesome. One of my favorites.

 

[Hambone]

You can see a Kampfpistole in action against a Soviet tank in Manner gegen Panzer, appx. 13 minute mark. If you haven't watched this, and your into WW2 German anti tank infantry, it's awesome. One of my favorites.

 

[pzjgr]

Pzjgr, very cool Wk.361. These are hard to find I take it? Wow, Rittmeister, nice stuff! Just what I needed, another collecting field to get lost in

Thanks Ham, it's an ok one, it appears to have been ground or water recovered, so there is a fair amount of pitting typical to that sort of thing...It certainly fills a niche until some time I might find a better one...when I could afford it!

I love your duv Heeres Modell, thanks for posting it!

 

[pzjgr]

Nice flareguns and accessories! I agree with the threadstarter, that there are too few post on flareguns here. Contributes with mine:

Seriously tremendous collection! I love the 18 flare leather shoulder carrier, and the crate!