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LOT 1340
Historic World War II Liberation of Guam Documented U.S.
Springfield Armory M1 Garand Semi-Automatic Rifle, Attributed
to Insular Combat Patrol Force Member Agapito S. Perez - Serial
no. 1142793, 30-06 Springfield cal., 24 inch round bbl., parkerized
finish, walnut stock. Receiver manufactured in January 1943. Features
fixed winged blade front with retained screw cover and type 2 lock-
bar adjustable peep rear sights, unmarked Springfield Armory pattern
narrow-base gas cylinder with chamfered lock and single slot screw,
“3-S-A-1-43” marked barrel with bright chamber, uncut “D35382 6 SA”
operating rod, riveted short fork follower rod, “11” follower, “D28287-12SA/
B3” bolt, and “D28290-18-SA” trigger housing with “C 46008-5 SA” hammer,
“C46015-4-W.R.A.” safety, and unmarked milled trigger guard. Fitted with a
smooth oiled walnut stock, with faint outlines of a boxed “S.A.” cartouche
and “ordnance wheel” visible on the left of the wrist, “A.S.P./JAP PAL” lightly
hand scratched into the left of the butt, and trapdoor steel buttplate,
along with a milled and arched profile lower band (absent retaining pin).
Includes a brown leather M1907 sling with parkerized steel hooks, faintly
marked “MILSCO/1944” on both straps. Also included with the rifle is a
bound copy of “The Guam Garands” by noted M1 Garand author Scott
Duff, a copy of “Liberation: Marines in the Recapture of Guam” by Cyril
J. O’Brien, and signed “GUAM GARAND/S/N 1142793/Scott A. Duff/02-
NOV-96” on the cover, along with copies of consignor research detailing
attempts to identify the initials in the buttstock.
The rifle is documented in Duff’s “The Guam Garands” by serial number as
one of 30 M1 rifles that were traded by the Guam Police Department to a
mainland licensed firearms dealer, in exchange for new firearms for their
inventory, in 1996. These M1 rifles were a part of Guam Police inventory
since the end of World War II, and had been on the island since its
recapture by the U.S. in the summer of 1944. The battle to retake Guam,
fought by elements of the 3rd Marine Division and 77th Infantry Division,
lasted from July 21 to August 10, 1944, but did not officially end with the
cease of organized resistance. A large portion of the Imperial Japanese
occupying force survived the battle and hid out in the dense jungles
and mountainous terrain of the island’s interior, staging ambushes. To
combat the lingering holdouts still on Guam, Admiral (Adm.) Chester
Nimitz directed that a local security force be formed in August 1944 to
hunt down the remaining enemy. This security force, known as the Insular
Combat Patrol Force, was comprised largely of 3rd Division marines
along with a small number of local Chamorro scouts armed with marine
weaponry and gear. From the formation of the force to the end of the
war in August 1945, more than 8,500 Japanese remnants were captured
or killed on Guam, with the last 3rd Marine Division record of combat
against holdouts on the island taking place in
December 1945. Adm. Nimitz disbanded the Insular Combat
Patrol Force in 1946, even though the last Japanese resistor would not
surrender until January 24, 1972. Duff notes that the 30 M1 rifles retained
by the Guam Police were likely transferred from the Insular Combat
Patrol Force for continued anti-Japanese operations, that they were likely
initially supplied from 3rd Marine Division inventory with prior use during
the battle to retake the island, and that several of the rifles contained field
replacement components from either Ordnance Field Service repair or
unintentional part swaps by soldiers from cleaning and disassembly, such
as this example. This rifle is detailed on data sheet number four of Duff’s
publication, which confirms its current configuration with the added
detail of a barrel throat erosion measurement of “4.0”, along with noting
bullet tip denting and the carving in the stock.
The consignor provided research to identify the “A.S.P” initials in the stock
explains that the stock carvings likely did not originate from a marine
as the practice of personalizing arms in the Marine Corps was strongly
frowned upon versus the Army. It also includes a letter reply from the
U.S. Navy’s History and Museums Division indicating that a marine by
those initials could not be identified. This narrowed down the search to
the local Chamorro men that were recruited to the Insular Combat Patrol
Force from the police force, who were issued arms and equipment from
the marines. The initials were possibly matched to one of the original
15 Chamorro members to join the the Insular Combat Patrol Force in its
creation, a man by the name of Agapito S. Perez. The provided research
includes a probable photo of Perez, rifle in hand, with some of the other
native members of the combat patrol force, along with correspondence
shared with Perez’s family. It is noted in his obituary that he was a
longtime resident of Guam, a retired Master Sergeant with the U.S. Army
Reserves, and “Veteran of USMC in Guam Combat Patrol during WWII
and recipient of the Bronze Star”. The 30 M1 rifles of the Guam Insular
Combat Patrol Force are an exceptionally rare prize in the U.S. World War II
collecting community, in that their wartime history and use can be traced
and documented unlike the vast majority of M1 rifles of that era. With
the provided consignor research into the initials on the buttstock, this
example is arguably even more desirable as only a small number of M1
rifles can be attributed to the soldiers that carried them, with one such
example being the rifle of Pvt. Martin J. Teahan displayed at the National
Museum of the U.S. Army in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
CONDITION: Fine as likely issued to the 3rd Marine Division during the
battle to retake Guam, subsequently used by the Insular Combat Patrol
Force, and kept on the island in police inventory until 1996, with 80%
plus original parkerized finish retained on the receiver along with mild
spotting and wear on the metal, a few areas of shallow pitting, thinning
on the gas cylinder and cylinder lock, and scattered mild wear expected
from a rifle used in countless jungle patrols against the Japanese. The
stock is very good as personalized, worn down with use, and re-oiled,
with a softened cartouche, a number of scuffs, dents, chips, cracks around
the action, punch marks in the right of the butt from bullet seating by the
user prior to loading, a loose ferrule, and slightly loose fit to the receiver,
all from extensive use. Mechanically excellent. It would be very difficult
to find a M1 rifle similar to this example, along with the other 29 Guam
Garands, with true battle-worn character than can be documented to not
only a specific World War II battle, but potentially narrowed down to the
men who used them!
Provenance: The Scott Duff collection; Property of a Gentleman.
Estimate: 2,000 - 3,000
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