On a recent visit to Winnipeg I was able to meet with the archivists at the Winnipeg Police Museum. Jack Templeman and Bruce Honey showed me around, and from a back room produced a decommissioned Colt .32, shown at left.
This is the nasty little weapon that was used by a convicted bank robber to threaten guards and escape jail just before the First World War.
My father, who was the real-life inspiration for my character Tom Macrae in "Soldier of the Horse", was accused by the Winnipeg police of filing the serial number off the gun. The second photo of the weapon is a close-up that shows that in fact someone did attempt to obliterate the serial number. When I related this vignette to Jack Templeman (who is a retired Winnipeg policeman) he quipped, "He didn't do a very good job of it!", as the serial number can still be made out with specialized equipment.
For the record, Dad never admitted to the allegations, and I don't for one minute believe they were true!
2 comments:
"nasty little weapon"?
They were simply a small automatic, well made, with light use and self protection in mind. Pretty anemic also.
Still, pretty deadly at short range.
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