THE STORY: A former Savage pistol family writes ...
This was my Father's pistol, which I inherited on his death in 1960. I live in the UK where, as you may well be aware, the gun restrictions are very tight. As a result, I was forced to dispose of the gun, when we moved from Sussex into Kent in 1975. About 3 years ago I first learned of my Father's WW1 history and realized the possible historical significance of the pistol.
I am currently researching my Father's WW1 history. He was the Medical Officer of the Accrington Pals and was wounded in their front line trenches on July 1st 1916, the first day ofthe battle of The Somme. He had posessed a Webley .455 revolver and I have always assumed that he found this too cumbersome and probably bought the Savage while recovering from his wounds, prior to his returning to the field, at the beginning of 1917 (this time in Mesopotamia).
When I had to dispose of The Savage, I gave it to a friend of mine who was a noted gun expert in North Wales. I learned later to realise that he had donated it to a local regimental museum and that the museum sold it in about 1985, because my Father had not been in that regiment. If it was to go to a museum, it should relate to the Royal Army Medical Corps, the Accrington Pals or the 4th South Wales Borderers (to whom he was attached in Mesopotamia).