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Posted: 6/7/2004 1:12:18 PM EDT
| ...who was issued the Garand, Thompson, .30 carbine, BAR, .45 sidearm, etc. |
| The officers were usually issued the thompson or carbine. Small guys were issued the carbine. NCO's got the carbine as well, I think. One guy per squad had the BAR, and the average joe had the Garand. I am not 100 percent on this, but this is what I am pretty sure about. |
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Each unit had what is called a Table of Organization and Equipment, (TO&E), same as today. In general, one was issued the weapon one's position in the TO&E called for, IOW the one for which one was trained and qualified. Be silly to give an M1 to a trained BAR operator UNLESS there were no BARs available. That was the official load-out, and some units were stricter than others about personal preferences. Also, the higher your rank, the more likely that the PTB would turn a "blind eye" on your choice of weapons, unless it was really outrageous. |
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According to my Grandfater, captured weapons were never approved from "up high" for obvious reasons. According to him, some troops carried captured pistols to show off to other guys and the FNG's, but rifles would be shipped back home. Capture paper for his CZ-27. Bought from a German for a pack of smokes.  Rough machine work, finish is pristine - it sat in a shoebox for 60 years. It looks minty fresh - zero marks on it. Has the Nazi proof marks.  Av. |
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Pistols were different. A pistol was a "last ditch" weapon, AND a prime souvenir. As long as you didn't shoot it unnecessarily, carrying them was OK. Many, if not most American paratroopers carried pistols as a jump back-up, and a good many of them weren't 1911's. Many were revolvers, and any captured German pistols. The carrying and use of enemy rifles and SMGs was a definite "no-no" due to the probability that you would get mistaken for the enemy due to the distinctive sound of the weapon. In spite of the movies with the hero running around with a German SMG, he would have had it taken away from him quickly. |
Generally a US/GBR thing though. Plenty of WW2 pix of frontline German troops carrying M1 carbines, SVT-40 sniper rifles & PPSh41 burpguns. And Soviet tankers loved to get ahold of MP40s because the folding stock made it easy to stash in the tank. |
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Um, wouldn't it be a good idea if you blacked out your Grandfather's service number..... EDITED TO ADD: Oh wait, I thought the service number was his SSN, but I just noticed that the number of digits is different. But still, I don't know what could be done with that. |
He's been dead for years. I doubt he'll mind. Av. |
| Like a little kid "WELL ! My dad was a machinegunner" (heavy water cooled browning)" he brought home a "Dryses" I know I spelled that way wrong , same guy the came up with the Needle gun. It's .32acp he had a shoulder holster made for it and wore it eveywhere even after the war cause he said there were a lot of desperate people . A few months ago he asked me if I could loan him something cause he can't work the slide any more (he still kept it in his night stand), so I gave him a .38 snubby. RL |
As I understand it, the Thompson was quite a handful. Not necessarily a better choice than the garand for a small statured person. |
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