Pelikan 101N After 72 Years In The Grave

 

On 17 December 2011, we had a privilege to carry out a restoration of a Pelikan fountain pen.
The pen was excavated from the grave of Cpt. Wladyslaw Raginis, a commander of the "Wizna" Defence Section during the WWII.​

He died a heroic death in the battle of Wizna in September 1939 and the pen was discovered together with his earthly remains and other personal items at the time of the exhumation in late 2011.​

The restoration/conservation session was held at MemoPens workshop in Wroclaw and the work was carried out by four representatives of the Polish Fountain Pen Board (Forum o Piorach: www.forumopiorach.net​): Rka, Lash, Dexter. The President of "Wizna 1939" Association, Mr. Dariusz Szymanowski was also present to oversee the conservation work.​

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Initially, the pen was only roughly cleaned from the dry mud it was covered in when it was first discovered.
There were a few speculations that the nib has been broken off and stolen along with a piece of the section/ink-view window which both appeared to be missing...​