Posted: 4/5/2009 7:00:30 AM EDT
| Neighbor of mine landed at Normandy on something like D+14 and carried a Browning .30 cal to Germany. (I assume this was a 1919. Correct?) And I know he carried the MG and another guy carried the tripod and ammo. My question is how was the tripod and ammo carried? Some kind of pack frame? |
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According to my copy of FM 23-45, Browning Machine Gun, Caliber .30, HB, M1919A4, Ground-War Department, 1940:
They just lugged the thing around by hand basically. There's a way to load it up on a mule (the four-legged kind). No1 (the Gunner) actually carried the tripod. As the gunner he was responsible for the placement of the gun, and therefore was the one with the tripod. He was supposed to pop open the tripod and emplace it. The No 2 (the AGunner) carried the gun and mounted it in the tripod, then took position to the left of the gun once the T&E was connected. The gunner got behind the gun to operate it. The No 3 guy lugged the spare parts chest, spare barrel, and some ammo. Remember back then the Army had weapons squads, platoons and companies, so it's not like today where belt feds were everywhere. Also this manual was written right before the war (they still have the WWI tin hats) and things probably changed once real life intervened. Either way though, really the only way to move it was to just carry it. |
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Quoted:
I can't imagine carrying the pack frame with 1919 and tripod very far. Anybody know the weight of that combination? Or carrying an ammo can by the handle like a suitcase for any distance. 1919A4: 30.5 lbs M2 Tripod: 14 lbs (i think this includes T&E and pintle) |