This eagle was captured and returned to the US after the war by Capt. William McCormick. McCormick was a member of the 772nd Battalion and rolled over the Rhine into Mainz Germany in 1945 for the express purpose of rebuilding the rail lines and communications. During his exposure to the German Railway system he managed to obtain a railroad eagle and he additionally managed to obtain the letters mounted under it. He took care removing the items as the studs are present not only on the bird but on the letters themselves. It was packed carefully in a unique box and sent home to his wife in Georgia.
The eagle measures at 600mm (24.5″) and is undamaged retaining it’s studs. The letters retain their studs and measure approx. 3.5 inches in height. In addition, period correspondence, newspaper articles, and the unit history for the 722nd are included in the collection as well as notes to his wife on the holiday.
Note:
- The GPH eagle and the lettering are examples from the maker GPH. Additional maker details can he found here.
- There are only 2 known existing examples of the “D’ and the “R” lettering. One is in a museum and the other in a private collection. It was more popular to remove the eagle and most lettering was ignored.
Pictures:
Displayed:
The McCormick eagle has now been displayed with period train signage to make an impressive and unique display resembling the side of a train.
Period Pics/Train pics:
The following show some images of eagles attached to trains with the D and R included. There are several photographs from the XXXXX museum which contains a carriage from Hitler’s train including a 35″ eagle with swastika cut-out and the D and R (the swastika has been censored in some)
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