Manufactured in 1945, with fixed sights, standard markings, a full parkerized finish, and checkered grips with Colt medallions. According to the included factory letter, this pistol was shipped on 31 January 1945 to the Transportation Officer at Springfield Armory, addressed to the Commanding Officer, as part of a 498 piece shipment. The pistol is also identified by serial number in Horace Greeley's survey as a General Officer's pistol issued in 1955, and is further identified in Volume 4 of the Springfield Research Service Serial Numbers (included) as having been issued to "Warren, F M BG", identified by the consignor as Frederick Marshall Warren. Born in Newport, Kentucky, in 1903, Warren spent the lion's share of his military career in the National Guard, enlisting in the Ohio Army National Guard in 1921, starting as an infantryman before transferring to cavalry. In 1929 he was granted a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant with the Kentucky Army National Guard, and would advance through the ranks to Major by 1940; during this time he also served as a police judge (an elected position seemingly peculiar to Kentucky, similar to a Justice of the Peace), graduated law school with a bachelor's degree, and became the city attorney for Southgate, Kentucky. In January of 1941 he was called up for active service, retraining as an Anti-Air Artillery officer and serving as the intelligence and operations officer for the 106th Separate Coast Artillery Battalion. With the outbreak of WW II he retrained again for Armor, serving as executive or commanding officer with three different in-training armored units before heading to Europe. As acting commanding officer of the Combat Command Reserve of the 7th Armored Division, Warren would participate in the Battle of the Bulge, facing off against elements of the 5th Panzer Army in what is known as the Battle of St. Vith; while the Germans would take the town eventually, the Americans withdrew in good order in accordance with Supreme Headquarters' defensive plan, and the time the Germans had to spend dealing with the American defenders held up overall progress of the Ardennes Counteroffensive, contributing to its overall failure. Following victory in Europe, he returned to the States, teaching tank gunnery at Fort Knox and returning to civilian life in 1946 as a full-bird Colonel. Becoming active in the Army Reserve, he served as commander of the 397th Armored Infantry Regiment of the 100th Airborne Division (Reserve), became Chief of Staff for the 100th, and later Division Commander. In March of 1949 he earned his first star, and his second in December of 1954, commanding the 100th for 11 years. Later, he would take on the office of Chief of the Army Reserve and ROTC Affairs in 1959; he was at the time the highest ranking officer explicitly responsible for Army Reserve operations, and would fill the role until 1963. During his tenure as Chief, he would be responsible for the mass activation of the Reserve as a result of the Berlin Crisis of 1961, the last big face-off between the Soviets and the Western Allies in Occupied Berlin, which itself culminated in the formal division of Berlin and the erection of the Berlin Wall. In civilian life, he continued his legal studies, earning his master's degree and following his retirement from the Army in 1963 an appointment as a Kentucky circuit judge in the 17th District, a position he would hold until his civilian retirement in 1974. Though retired, he continued to act as a substitute judge when needed. Among his accrued military honors were the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star (+V device and 2 oak leaves), Army of Occupation (Germany) Medal, the French and Belgian Croix de Guerre, and the Combat Infantryman Badge. Among the included items with this lot are a pair of general officer pattern belts (one black leather, one brown), a properly equipped set of ribbon and medal bars, red "fourrage" cord, a set of gold and silver bullion two-star boards, an Army officer cap with I.D. tag for Major General Warren, one standard Army uniform jacket (green), two mess dress jackets (one black tailcoat with trousers, one white waistcoat with vest, false vest, and detachable collar), an officer's cloak and a brown cloth greatcoat with Major General insignia. A grouping of historical information about Warren and several professional photographs of the General in various phases of his civilian and military career are included (one photo shows Gen. Warren with President Harry S. Truman), several with him in uniforms identical to the ones included with the group. Of particular note is a photo of the General in uniform, standing in front of his two-star flagged jeep and wearing a pistol; this photo, combined with the pistol, the cap, the red cord, bullion shoulder boards, brown belt and the ribbon, and medal bars were the items used in the photo arrangement for the cover of The Standard Catalog of Military Firearms, Third Edition.

Very fine, with 90% of the arsenal refurbished parkerized finish, showing mild edge wear and handling marks overall. The grips are very good, with some flat spots and stains. Mechanically excellent. The white dress uniform items show some stains, otherwise the accoutrements are in very good order overall. An impressive array of items from a prominent U.S. Army General Officer, built around a top quality military pistol, which would make a superb addition to an advanced collection or a fine "stand alone" display set on its own.