S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S
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for the company's signature handgun, the Walther
PP and its compact brother the PPK, both originally
chambered in .32ACP (7.65 Browning).
The growing success of Walther with its PP, PPK
and its military pistol, the P38 (9mm Parabellum), was
soon overshadowed by the rise of the Third Reich and
the dark chapter in German history that ensued. On
September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland and
the world was once again plunged into war. In early
April of 1945, the first Allied troops to arrive at the
Walther factory in Zella-Mehlis were a vanguard of
General Patton's 3rd U.S. Army. By July the Thuringia
region fell under Soviet control and soon thereafter the
Walther factories were demolished by explosives. It
seemed that the final chapter of the company's history
had been written.
Fritz Walther and his family were able to resettle
in the western sector in the town of Heidenheim
but escaped with little other than a few personal
possessions. At the end of the war, Germany lay in
rubble, hardly a place to restart a business of any kind,
let alone a manufacturing facility. Fritz Walther, though,
once again had a trick up his sleeve.
Among the items he had been able to take from his
home was a metal moneybox, his family's "nest egg,"
along with some blueprints of his company's adding
machines. With these, Walther was able in 1947 to start
orkers at Walther's plant in Ulm, Germany, prepare slides for
production. The P38 (above) is another famous Walther pistol.
W
