Weapons "out of place"

[erikbozwo2]

I like the Beretta.

[Feldwebel Shaw]

i suppose the same could be said of the allies...
apparently the sten was so unreliable many troops chucked them away as soon as they found an mp40 [both 9mm parabellum]
having said that,....so long as you can get ammunition any weapon is as lethal as any other.
Didnt germany copy the sten anyway????
At the end of the day...,.heat of combat....lost your issued weapon......grab anything.....then if it works...keep it....as long as you can get ammunition to feed it.
The BESA gun fitted to many allied vehicles was in 7.92 cal...must have been a nightmare to keep it operational from an ammunition point of veiw ...untill you relieve the enemy of ammunition.
7.62 soviet pistol ammunition was probably as readily available...maybe more so...than 9mm parabellum to many german units on the east....so...re-deployed...weapons and ammunition would be used....saves manufacturing capacity....good form of recycling...returning ammo in bits....same with .303 when facing allied troops.......in normandy it will have been EVERYWHERE....

[Peter Bauer]

Just "losing your weapon" is not that easy, it's not like PC games where you can just throw your issued weapon away..

These weapons were issued to the men through the army most likely, I find it rather hard to believe that the guys just took them and carried them with them just because they could.

[Schuller]

Just "losing your weapon" is not that easy, it's not like PC games where you can just throw your issued weapon away.

Call of Duty Style
________________________

BTW this pic is definitely Normandy

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... nigung.jpg

[Feldwebel Shaw]

Also.Captured weapons were often issued to second line troops

[West-Front]

svt2fp4.jpg (82.45 KiB) Viewed 8047 times

[Reich Crispies]

Just "losing your weapon" is not that easy, it's not like PC games where you can just throw your issued weapon away..

These weapons were issued to the men through the army most likely, I find it rather hard to believe that the guys just took them and carried them with them just because they could.

You and I would think this to be the case, but often it wasnt adhered to.
I remember talking to two great vets. Been friends since 39. One was a bren gunner, the other his number two.
They told me the main point of discussion on the boat back from Dunkirk was how leathal them "Bloddy Spandau's" were.
They reckoned if they ever returned to France.....

D-Day plus two they flung the bren over a hedge and swapped it for discarded MG42. They had (as they put it) "two glorious weeks" using the 42 against its former enemies before it was confiscated. The Number two had exchanged his sten for an MP40, but they wernt bothered about that, and he kept it right up to being de-mobbed. Said it broke his heart to hand it over!

[Schuller]

svt2fp4.jpg

wow, another SVT

Hotchkiss machine gun, Atlantic Wall too

[Schuller]

What kind of machinegun is this?
Photos taken in Konstanza, Romania, 1941

[Brigardefuhrer]

Looking through my book,it could be a Dreyse MG13.

[Schuller]

Many thanks, indeed in the first pic it has a side-mounted magazine, and antiaircraft sight

[Botty]

Sod the machine gun, look at the Arriflex.

[Schuller]

Yep, nice camera
Funny to see both tripods at the same time

[Sarge]

The Fallschirmjägers like the Beretta 38a & 38/42s and used a lot of them in Italy.
They also used some PPShs while in russia and brought some back with them. The Germans had produced a 9mm conversion for the PPSh so ammo was not a problem outside russia.
Since they had these weapons in use they would have taken them to france, when large numbers were transferred after Casino in anticipation of the invasion.

After seeing the photo of the Fj with the Bren I think I'll have to use mine at some Battles. It is blank adapted and I have plenty of 303 blanks.

[gurowski]

The Fallschirmjägers like the Beretta 38a & 38/42s and used a lot of them in Italy.
They also used some PPShs while in russia and brought some back with them. The Germans had produced a 9mm conversion for the PPSh so ammo was not a problem outside russia.
Since they had these weapons in use they would have taken them to france, when large numbers were transferred after Casino in anticipation of the invasion.

After seeing the photo of the Fj with the Bren I think I'll have to use mine at some Battles. It is blank adapted and I have plenty of 303 blanks.

After capturing large stocks of the PPSH41's in Russia, they became an issue weapon to the troops. When ammo supplies ran low, they were converted to 9mm. Perhaps thats why piccys of them turn up often