June 6 marks the 74th anniversary of the Normandy invasion in 1944. At that time, it was the largest invasion in human history. It was a pivotal moment in time. Thousands of young Americans landed on Omaha, and Utah beaches. British landed on Gold and Sword beaches, and Canadians landed on Juno. Thousands more parachuted or were delivered by glider behind the beachheads to take objectives inland. The fate of the world was on their shoulders. This article is intended to detail some of the weapons used by those men as well as the men they faced.
A few things they got wrong. The M1 Garand only made up about 40%(with only 3 million produced 1936-1945 and over 25% of them lost in combat world wide) of the infantry rifles in the ETO. The M1903 and M1917 made up the bulk of the rifles used in the Med.(MTO) Some front line divisions were still issuing M1903 rifles to 90% of there front line in 1945.(88th 45th 36th ID never used the M1 in quantity) There was a standing general order forbidding photos of M1917's and M1903's in the hands of front line troops from appearing in stateside papers. A running joke among reenactors is that any weapon produced anywhere in the world before 1945 and in German hands is historically accurate. Its a truth too. If they could get ammo for it, it got used. Lugers are horrid. They really suck in the bush. I have owned five and each one was a dust magnet prema- dona that had to be kept almost hermetically sealed in the field to keep it working. They are also fragile. Easy to break and near impossible to fix. They are just too finely made to be a combat hand gun. The P-38 and Browning P35 are far better with the now rare polish RADOM the real winner. I put it right up with the TT-33 as a combat handgun. --Ray
ReplyDeleteSome front line divisions were still issuing M1903 rifles to 90% of there front line in 1945
DeleteThanks and didn't know that.
Just noticed this:
DeleteRARE Polish Army Bayonet wz.29 by F.B. RADOM for a Polish Mauser Rifle
http://www.antiquesword101.com/#!/SOLD-RARE-Polish-Army-Bayonet-wz-29-by-F-B-RADOM-for-a-Polish-Mauser-Rifle/p/87562408