WWII K98 Mauser German Infantry Rifle Finds New Home in Vicksburg’s Old Court House Museum

After some 80 years in a gun safe, my dad’s Mauser rifle is in a World War II display. 

by Leon Pantenburg

The mint condition K98 Mauser German Infantry rifle

had been in the family gunsafe for about 80 years. It was recently donated to the Old Court House Museum in Vicksburg, Mississippi to be part of a display of World War II. See the display

The Mauser’s new home in the World War II display

World War II relics were part of my boyhood on a small Iowa farm near Gilbert. Two Samuri swords, a German dress sword, SS dagger and a Hitler Youth knife hung in the garage, in no particular place of honor. I was not allowed to play with them, so of course, I did. I stabbed hay bales with the dagger while I was feeding cows, and once chopped horseweeds with a Samuri sword.

The firearms were locked up inside. There was a .31-caliber Japanese infantry rifle, a Japanese Nambu pistol German Luger, and the K98 Mauser rifle with bayonet. Dad’s shotgun was a 16-gauge Drilling. His M-1 carbine was the first centerfire rifle I ever shot.

My dad sent the Mauser rifle home to my grandpa some time in 1944, I think – I don’t know for sure.

An Infantry captain in Patton’s Third Army, Dad’s dress uniform had three rows of ribbons and a Combat Infantryman badge, and he served in both the European and Pacific theaters of the war. Dad’s service records show he was detached from the 97th Infantry Division and got to Europe shortly after D Day. I don’t know exactly where he got the rifle.

This is the plaque on the display.

“I disassembled the Mauser, and sent it home piece-by-piece to grandpa,” Dad told me.

When grandpa got all the parts, and the rifle was reassembled, Dad said, he took it to the grain elevator in Gilbert and showed the Mauser to the other farmers. The farmers all agreed it was a fine weapon, but inferior, of course, to the M1 Garand.

So how did a German rifle, sent home to Iowa, end up in the Old Court House Museum?

Dad had a Mississippi connection to  his military service. He enlisted in the Army in 1941, and spent his first two years in the states. He ended up at Camp Shelby, near Hattiesburg, Mississippi for a time where he taught rifle and pistol marksmanship. (I never learned much about Dad’s service first hand because he didn’t tell war stories. He did tell a story about a Sunday dinner in Louisiana though. It’s a family favorite!)

Dad was wearing this uniform the night he met my mom at a church dance.

On October 24, 1980, I ended up in Vicksburg as part of my Source-to-Sea canoe voyage of the Mississippi River. I met Old Court House Director Gordon A. Cotton that day, and we became close friends.  At Thanksgiving, 1981, Gordon came to visit my parents’ farm, and my folks loved him. A reciprocal visit to Mississippi was arranged for the next summer. Gordon gave them a personal tour of the museum and the Vicksburg National Military Park. After that visit, Gordon ceased to be a friend – he had become family.

My parents regularly connected via the telephone with Gordon (Mom was keeping track of her boy!) and this relationship lasted until Mom died in 1986 and Dad died in 1987. I inherited all the artifacts, and my brother Michael got Dad’s M1 carbine.

All the artifacts stayed in my gun safe. I always felt kinda bad that I was the only one who ever saw or appreciated them. But I didn’t know what else to do with it. I didn’t want to sell the Mauser at a gun show, and it needed to be somewhere with historical significance.

Top: Dad’s brick at the Museum of the US Army. Bottom left: My left foot is adjacent to Dad’s brick. Museum of US Army is in the background. Middle: WWII monument in Washington D.C. Right: Helmet Alvin C. York wore on the day he earned the Medal of Honor.

A few days ago, I was loitering at the Old Court House, and director Jordon Rushing mentioned that they were going to do a new, improved World War II display. I  offered to donate the Mauser, providing it would be put on immediate display. No sooner said than done!

Jordon and Old Court House researcher Chris Bolm researched the old rifle and found out things I never dreamed of.

The rifle is a Czech-manufactured version of the 33 Mauser. It was issued to the First Czechoslovakian Republic Paramilitary Force, and used by law enforcement personnel in rural areas as well as for anti-riot counter insurgency duties. CETN is stamped on the stock. That explains why the rifle is in such good shape – it was probably carried a lot, but never really used in combat.

The new display is excellent and is a tribute to the “Greatest Generation” who won World War II. I’m incredibly pleased that the display is done so well and that the Mauser will now be viewed by thousands of people from all over the world. I’m betting Dad would like it too!