OLD COLT: WE PROVIDE THE PUBLIC WITH AN ONLINE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE FOR OLD COLT GUNS.
This Colt 45 Government Model was sold to the Bond Hardware Company of Guelpa, Ontario Canada. It was then shipped to A. McFarlane and Copmany on December 4th, 1914 in a 2 gun shipment.
This particular Colt Government Model .45 saw service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War One and is inscribed with the original owner's name (CAPT. HAMBER 2nd C.E.F.) on the right side of the slide.
Canadian officers were required to provide their own kit (including sidearms) and it was not uncommon that the Colt Government Model was privately purchased for use in the Great War. The owners would often have their pistols inscribed as proof of their ownership.
Harold Balleny Hamber's initial military duties mirrored those in his civilian life and he was appointed paymaster at the rank of Captain. It seems that Captain Hamber desired a more engaging role in the war however and he eventually joined the Royal Flying Corps where he earned his pilot's rating and was appointed Flying Officer on May 23, 1917.
Flying was a dangerous business in those early days of aviation and it is said that approximately 20% of the military flying students were killed in training accidents. Unfortunately, this is exactly how Captain Hamber met his end, crash landing his Avro biplane on June 22, 1917 outside London.
