Bill,
Can we turn this into a cigarette lighter thread? I'd like to see other WWII examples.
That is a very nice Zippo and it's obvious that it meant an awful lot to the soldier who carried it. Do you have a name to go with it?
I understand that there are militaria collectors who collect nothing but cigarette lighters from WWII. I think yours is one of those top end special pieces, just because of the history behind it.
Here are a couple my dad saved as souvenirs from the war. Every time he frisked a captured German soldier, he would liberate that soldier's cigarette lighter, so as to have a backup he could use to light his own smokes.
The one on the right has a pull out striker that uses no flint to create a spark when slid down the striker panel on the side of the lighter. Metal against metal and dad said it worked remarkably well with gasoline. One of his favorites because it didn't use flints!
The lighter on the left was taken from a very indignant German officer after the fighting and capture of Aachen, Germany in 1944. It is a very fancy, engraved lighter and has a fuel container that is pulled from the bottom like a pistol clip.
As you can imagine, I was a very disappointed kid, wishing dad had captured Knight's Crosses and daggers instead of things like lighters, straight razors, gloves, flashlights and things he could use to make his life a little better in the mud. Over the years, I have grown very fond of these souvenirs and his wisdom at what was worth picking up.
Gary
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