Armament of the German infantry. German infantry support weapons of World War II
The WAS special project is dedicated to the 72nd anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany. Study and compare infantry uniforms from the seven armies that fought in the European theater of World War II.
Andrey, 35 years old, elevator installation engineer
Uniform: Wehrmacht, 1945
WHAT WE WORN
This is a 1940 uniform set, but it could also be seen at the end of the war. In 1945, the German army was already using uniforms from different times. The supply was disrupted, and everything they had was given out from the warehouses. The kit did not remain in use for long even after the war, in the occupation zones until the formation of the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany.
The German uniform made of woolen cloth is considered hot for the summer, but it is comfortable. In autumn and early spring it is much better than the cotton tunic of the Red Army. During these seasons the Germans were in a more advantageous position.
DETAILS
Caps of the 1943 model entered the Wehrmacht instead of caps. The headdresses of mountain rangers were taken as a sample. Unlike a cap, a cap has a visor to protect the eyes from rain and sun. The flaps are detachable to cover the ears and neck. Closer to 1945, the model was simplified: the lapels became false and decorative.
In battle they wore a steel helmet. I have it from 1942, also simplified to reduce the cost of production. For example, stamping is now without bends at the edges. And yet, the German helmet protects the ears and neck better than the Soviet one.
The color of the gaps on the buttonholes determined the type of troops. The green (then gray) gap is a sign of infantry. In the artillery, the gaps were red. Private soldiers were not entitled to chevrons.
On the pocket there is an infantry badge. This is not a reward. It was issued for 10-15 days spent at the front. In essence, this is a combat participant’s ID card.
EQUIPMENT
On my back I have an unloading frame, which is attached to belt straps. It was introduced at the end of 1941 to increase the number of items a soldier could carry. It can be combined with a backpack or used without it.
A bean-shaped pot is attached to the frame (tourists still use similar ones) and a section of a raincoat with a tent set: pegs, half-posts. The tent is assembled from four such panels. Under the tent there was a cracker bag in which they could put everything needed for a short combat operation: a rifle cleaning kit, a sweater, a towel, a soap dish.
Thanks to Soviet films about the war, most people have a strong opinion that the mass-produced small arms (photo below) of the German infantry during the Second World War is a machine gun (submachine gun) of the Schmeisser system, which is named after the name of its designer. This myth is still actively supported by domestic cinema. However, in fact, this popular machine gun was never a mass weapon of the Wehrmacht, and it was not created by Hugo Schmeisser. However, first things first.
How myths are created
Everyone should remember the footage from domestic films dedicated to the attacks of German infantry on our positions. Brave blond guys walk without bending down, while firing from machine guns “from the hip.” And the most interesting thing is that this fact does not surprise anyone except those who were in the war. According to movies, the “Schmeissers” could conduct aimed fire at the same distance as the rifles of our soldiers. In addition, when watching these films, the viewer got the impression that all the personnel of the German infantry during the Second World War were armed with machine guns. In fact, everything was different, and the submachine gun is not a mass-produced small arms weapon of the Wehrmacht, and it is impossible to shoot from the hip, and it is not called “Schmeisser” at all. In addition, carrying out an attack on a trench by a submachine gunner unit, in which there are soldiers armed with repeating rifles, is clearly suicide, since simply no one would reach the trenches.
Dispelling the myth: MP-40 automatic pistol
This Wehrmacht small weapon in WWII is officially called the submachine gun (Maschinenpistole) MP-40. In fact, this is a modification of the MP-36 assault rifle. The designer of this model, contrary to popular belief, was not the gunsmith H. Schmeisser, but the less famous and talented craftsman Heinrich Volmer. Why is the nickname “Schmeisser” so firmly attached to him? The thing is that Schmeisser owned the patent for the magazine that is used in this submachine gun. And in order not to violate his copyright, in the first batches of the MP-40, the inscription PATENT SCHMEISSER was stamped on the magazine receiver. When these machine guns ended up as trophies among the soldiers of the Allied armies, they mistakenly believed that the author of this model of small arms was, naturally, Schmeisser. This is how this nickname stuck to the MP-40.
Initially, the German command armed only command staff with machine guns. Thus, in infantry units, only battalion, company and squad commanders were supposed to have MP-40s. Later, automatic pistols were supplied to drivers of armored vehicles, tank crews and paratroopers. Nobody armed the infantry with them en masse, either in 1941 or after. According to archives, in 1941 the troops had only 250 thousand MP-40 assault rifles, and this was for 7,234,000 people. As you can see, a submachine gun is not a mass-produced weapon of World War II. In general, during the entire period - from 1939 to 1945 - only 1.2 million of these machine guns were produced, while over 21 million people were conscripted into the Wehrmacht units.
Why weren't the infantry armed with MP-40s?
Despite the fact that experts subsequently recognized that the MP-40 was the best small arms of World War II, very few of the Wehrmacht infantry units had it. This is explained simply: the sighting range of this machine gun for group targets is only 150 m, and for single targets - 70 m. This is despite the fact that Soviet soldiers were armed with Mosin and Tokarev rifles (SVT), the sighting range of which was 800 m for group targets. targets and 400 m for singles. If the Germans had fought with such weapons as they showed in Russian films, they would never have been able to reach the enemy trenches, they would have simply been shot, as if in a shooting gallery.
Shooting on the move "from the hip"
The MP-40 submachine gun vibrates strongly when firing, and if you use it, as shown in the films, the bullets always fly past the target. Therefore, for effective shooting, it must be pressed tightly to the shoulder, having first unfolded the butt. In addition, long bursts were never fired from this machine gun, since it quickly heated up. Most often they fired in a short burst of 3-4 rounds or fired single fire. Despite the fact that the tactical and technical characteristics indicate that the rate of fire is 450-500 rounds per minute, in practice this result has never been achieved.
Advantages of MP-40
This cannot be said that this small arms weapon was bad; on the contrary, it is very, very dangerous, but it must be used in close combat. That is why sabotage units were armed with it in the first place. They were also often used by scouts in our army, and the partisans respected this machine gun. The use of light, rapid-fire small arms in close combat provided tangible advantages. Even now, the MP-40 is very popular among criminals, and the price of such a machine gun is very high. And they are supplied there by “black archaeologists” who carry out excavations in places of military glory and very often find and restore weapons from the Second World War.
Mauser 98k
What can you say about this carbine? The most common small arms in Germany is the Mauser rifle. Its target range is up to 2000 m when firing. As you can see, this parameter is very close to the Mosin and SVT rifles. This carbine was developed back in 1888. During the war, this design was significantly modernized, mainly to reduce costs, as well as to rationalize production. In addition, these Wehrmacht small arms were equipped with optical sights, and sniper units were equipped with them. The Mauser rifle at that time was in service with many armies, for example, Belgium, Spain, Turkey, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia and Sweden.
Self-loading rifles
At the end of 1941, the Wehrmacht infantry units received the first automatic self-loading rifles of the Walter G-41 and Mauser G-41 systems for military testing. Their appearance was due to the fact that the Red Army had more than one and a half million similar systems in service: SVT-38, SVT-40 and ABC-36. In order not to be inferior to Soviet soldiers, German gunsmiths urgently had to develop their own versions of such rifles. As a result of the tests, the G-41 system (Walter system) was recognized as the best and adopted. The rifle is equipped with a hammer-type impact mechanism. Designed to fire only single shots. Equipped with a magazine with a capacity of ten rounds. This automatic self-loading rifle is designed for targeted shooting at a distance of up to 1200 m. However, due to the large weight of this weapon, as well as low reliability and sensitivity to contamination, it was produced in a small series. In 1943, the designers, having eliminated these shortcomings, proposed a modernized version of the G-43 (Walter system), which was produced in quantities of several hundred thousand units. Before its appearance, Wehrmacht soldiers preferred to use captured Soviet (!) SVT-40 rifles.
Now let's return to the German gunsmith Hugo Schmeisser. He developed two systems, without which the Second World War could not have happened.
Small arms - MP-41
This model was developed simultaneously with the MP-40. This machine gun was significantly different from the “Schmeisser” familiar to everyone from the movies: it had a forend trimmed with wood, which protected the fighter from burns, it was heavier and had a long barrel. However, these Wehrmacht small arms were not widely used and were not produced for long. In total, about 26 thousand units were produced. It is believed that the German army abandoned this machine gun due to a lawsuit from ERMA, which claimed illegal copying of its patented design. The MP-41 small arms were used by Waffen SS units. It was also successfully used by Gestapo units and mountain rangers.
MP-43, or StG-44
Schmeisser developed the next Wehrmacht weapon (photo below) in 1943. At first it was called MP-43, and later - StG-44, which means “assault rifle” (sturmgewehr). This automatic rifle in appearance, and in some technical characteristics, resembles (which appeared later) and is significantly different from the MP-40. Its aimed fire range was up to 800 m. The StG-44 even had the ability to mount a 30 mm grenade launcher. To fire from cover, the designer developed a special attachment that was placed on the muzzle and changed the trajectory of the bullet by 32 degrees. This weapon went into mass production only in the fall of 1944. During the war years, about 450 thousand of these rifles were produced. So few of the German soldiers managed to use such a machine gun. StG-44s were supplied to elite units of the Wehrmacht and to Waffen SS units. Subsequently, these Wehrmacht weapons were used in
Automatic rifles FG-42
These copies were intended for paratroopers. They combined the fighting qualities of a light machine gun and an automatic rifle. The development of weapons was undertaken by the Rheinmetall company already during the war, when, after assessing the results of airborne operations carried out by the Wehrmacht, it became clear that the MP-38 submachine guns did not fully meet the combat requirements of this type of troops. The first tests of this rifle were carried out in 1942, and then it was put into service. In the process of using the mentioned weapon, disadvantages associated with low strength and stability during automatic shooting also emerged. In 1944, a modernized FG-42 rifle (model 2) was released, and model 1 was discontinued. The trigger mechanism of this weapon allows automatic or single fire. The rifle is designed for the standard 7.92 mm Mauser cartridge. The magazine capacity is 10 or 20 rounds. In addition, the rifle can be used to fire special rifle grenades. In order to increase stability when shooting, a bipod is attached under the barrel. The FG-42 rifle is designed to fire at a range of 1200 m. Due to the high cost, it was produced in limited quantities: only 12 thousand units of both models.
Luger P08 and Walter P38
Now let's look at what types of pistols were in service with the German army. “Luger”, its second name “Parabellum”, had a caliber of 7.65 mm. By the beginning of the war, units of the German army had more than half a million of these pistols. This Wehrmacht small arms were produced until 1942, and then they were replaced by the more reliable Walter.
This pistol was put into service in 1940. It was intended for firing 9-mm cartridges; the magazine capacity is 8 rounds. The target range of the "Walter" is 50 meters. It was produced until 1945. The total number of P38 pistols produced was approximately 1 million units.
Weapons of World War II: MG-34, MG-42 and MG-45
In the early 30s, the German military decided to create a machine gun that could be used both as an easel and as a manual one. They were supposed to fire at enemy aircraft and arm tanks. The MG-34, designed by Rheinmetall and put into service in 1934, became such a machine gun. By the beginning of hostilities, there were about 80 thousand units of this weapon in the Wehrmacht. The machine gun allows you to fire both single shots and continuous fire. To do this, he had a trigger with two notches. When you press the top one, the shooting was carried out in single shots, and when you press the bottom one - in bursts. It was intended for 7.92x57 mm Mauser rifle cartridges, with light or heavy bullets. And in the 40s, armor-piercing, armor-piercing tracer, armor-piercing incendiary and other types of cartridges were developed and used. This suggests that the impetus for changes in weapons systems and the tactics of their use was the Second World War.
The small arms that were used in this company were replenished with a new type of machine gun - MG-42. It was developed and put into service in 1942. The designers have significantly simplified and reduced the cost of production of these weapons. Thus, in its production, spot welding and stamping were widely used, and the number of parts was reduced to 200. The trigger mechanism of the machine gun in question allowed only automatic firing - 1200-1300 rounds per minute. Such significant changes had a negative impact on the stability of the unit when firing. Therefore, to ensure accuracy, it was recommended to fire in short bursts. The ammunition for the new machine gun remained the same as for the MG-34. The aimed fire range was two kilometers. Work to improve this design continued until the end of 1943, which led to the creation of a new modification known as the MG-45.
This machine gun weighed only 6.5 kg, and the rate of fire was 2400 rounds per minute. By the way, no infantry machine gun of that time could boast of such a rate of fire. However, this modification appeared too late and was not in service with the Wehrmacht.
PzB-39 and Panzerschrek
PzB-39 was developed in 1938. These weapons of the Second World War were used with relative success at the initial stage to combat wedges, tanks and armored vehicles with bulletproof armor. Against the heavily armored B-1s, English Matildas and Churchills, Soviet T-34s and KVs), this gun was either ineffective or completely useless. As a result, it was soon replaced by anti-tank grenade launchers and rocket-propelled anti-tank rifles “Panzerschrek”, “Ofenror”, as well as the famous “Faustpatrons”. The PzB-39 used a 7.92 mm cartridge. The firing range was 100 meters, the penetration ability made it possible to “pierce” 35 mm armor.
"Panzerschrek". This German light anti-tank weapon is a modified copy of the American Bazooka rocket gun. German designers equipped it with a shield that protected the shooter from the hot gases escaping from the grenade nozzle. Anti-tank companies of motorized rifle regiments of tank divisions were supplied with these weapons as a matter of priority. Rocket guns were extremely powerful weapons. “Panzerschreks” were weapons for group use and had a maintenance crew consisting of three people. Since they were very complex, their use required special training in calculations. In total, 314 thousand units of such guns and more than two million rocket-propelled grenades for them were produced in 1943-1944.
Grenade launchers: “Faustpatron” and “Panzerfaust”
The first years of World War II showed that anti-tank rifles could not cope with the assigned tasks, so the German military demanded anti-tank weapons that could be used to equip infantrymen, operating on the “fire and throw” principle. The development of a disposable hand grenade launcher was started by HASAG in 1942 (chief designer Langweiler). And in 1943 mass production was launched. The first 500 Faustpatrons entered service with the troops in August of the same year. All models of this anti-tank grenade launcher had a similar design: they consisted of a barrel (a smooth-bore seamless tube) and an over-caliber grenade. The impact mechanism and sighting device were welded to the outer surface of the barrel.
The Panzerfaust is one of the most powerful modifications of the Faustpatron, which was developed at the end of the war. Its firing range was 150 m, and its armor penetration was 280-320 mm. The Panzerfaust was a reusable weapon. The barrel of the grenade launcher is equipped with a pistol grip, which houses the trigger mechanism; the propellant charge was placed in the barrel. In addition, the designers were able to increase the grenade's flight speed. In total, more than eight million grenade launchers of all modifications were manufactured during the war years. This type of weapon caused significant losses to Soviet tanks. Thus, in the battles on the outskirts of Berlin, they knocked out about 30 percent of armored vehicles, and during street battles in the German capital - 70%.
Conclusion
The Second World War had a significant impact on small arms, including the world, its development and tactics of use. Based on its results, we can conclude that, despite the creation of the most modern weapons, the role of small arms units is not diminishing. The accumulated experience in using weapons in those years is still relevant today. In fact, it became the basis for the development and improvement of small arms.
World War II was the greatest and bloodiest conflict in human history. Millions died, empires rose and fell, and it is difficult to find a corner of the planet that was not affected by that war in one way or another. And in many ways it was a war of technology, a war of weapons.
Our article today is a kind of “Top 11” about the best soldiers’ weapons on the battlefields of World War II. Millions of ordinary men relied on it in battle, cared for it, and carried it with them in the cities of Europe, the deserts, and in the stuffy jungles of the southern part. A weapon that often gave them a slice of advantage over their enemies. The weapon that saved their lives and killed their enemies.
German assault rifle, automatic. In fact, the first representative of the entire modern generation of machine guns and assault rifles. Also known as MP 43 and MP 44. It could not fire in long bursts, but had much higher accuracy and firing range compared to other machine guns of that time, equipped with conventional pistol cartridges. Additionally, the StG 44 could be equipped with telescopic sights, grenade launchers, as well as special devices for firing from cover. Mass-produced in Germany in 1944. In total, more than 400 thousand copies were produced during the war.
10. Mauser 98k
World War II was the swan song for repeating rifles. They have dominated armed conflicts since the late 19th century. And some armies used them for a long time after the war. Based on the then military doctrine, armies, first of all, fought each other over long distances and in open areas. The Mauser 98k was designed to do just that.
The Mauser 98k was the mainstay of the German Army's infantry armament and remained in production until Germany's surrender in 1945. Among all the rifles that served during the war, the Mauser is considered one of the best. At least by the Germans themselves. Even after the introduction of semi-automatic and automatic weapons, the Germans remained with the Mauser 98k, partly for tactical reasons (they based their infantry tactics on light machine guns rather than riflemen). Germany developed the world's first assault rifle, albeit at the end of the war. But it has never seen widespread use. The Mauser 98k remained the primary weapon with which most German soldiers fought and died.
9. The M1 carbine
The M1 Garand and the Thompson submachine gun were certainly great, but they each had their own serious shortcomings. They were extremely uncomfortable for support soldiers in daily use.
For ammunition carriers, mortar crews, artillerymen and other similar troops, they were not particularly convenient and did not provide adequate effectiveness in close combat. We needed a weapon that could be easily stowed and quickly used. It became The M1 Carbine. It was not the most powerful firearm in the war, but it was light, small, accurate, and in the right hands, just as deadly as more powerful weapons. The rifle had a mass of only 2.6 - 2.8 kg. American paratroopers also appreciated the M1 carbine for its ease of use, and often jumped into battle armed with the folding stock variant. The United States produced more than six million M1 carbines during the war. Some variations based on the M1 are still produced and used today by military and civilians.
8. MP40
Although the machine gun was never seen in large numbers as the primary weapon of choice for infantrymen, the German MP40 became a ubiquitous symbol of the German soldier in World War II, and indeed of the Nazis in general. It seems like every war movie has a German with this machine gun. But in reality, the MP4 was never a standard infantry weapon. Typically used by paratroopers, squad leaders, tank crews and special forces.
It was especially indispensable against the Russians, where the accuracy and power of long-barreled rifles was largely lost in street fighting. However, the MP40 submachine guns were so effective that they forced the German command to reconsider their views on semi-automatic weapons, which led to the creation of the first assault rifle. Regardless, the MP40 was undoubtedly one of the great submachine guns of the war, and became a symbol of the efficiency and power of the German soldier.
7. Hand grenades
Of course, rifles and machine guns can be considered the main infantry weapons. But how can we not mention the huge role of the use of various infantry grenades. Powerful, lightweight, and the perfect size for throwing, grenades were an invaluable tool for close-in attacks on enemy positions. In addition to the effect of direct and fragmentation damage, grenades always had a huge shock and demoralizing effect. Starting from the famous “lemon” in the Russian and American armies and ending with the German grenade “on a stick” (nicknamed “potato masher” due to its long handle). A rifle can do a lot of damage to a fighter's body, but wounds caused by fragmentation grenades are something else.
6. Lee Enfield
The famous British rifle has received many modifications and has a glorious history dating back to the end of the 19th century. Used in many historical and military conflicts. Including, of course, in the First and Second World Wars. During World War II, the rifle was actively modified and equipped with various sights for sniper shooting. I managed to “work” in Korea, Vietnam and Malaya. Until the 70s, it was often used to train snipers from different countries.
5. Luger PO8
One of the most coveted battle mementos for any Allied soldier is the Luger PO8. This may seem a little strange to describe a deadly weapon, but the Luger PO8 was truly a work of art and many gun collectors have it in their collections. Chicly designed, extremely comfortable in the hand and manufactured to the highest standards. In addition, the pistol had very high shooting accuracy and became a kind of symbol of Nazi weapons.
Designed as an automatic pistol to replace revolvers, the Luger was highly regarded not only for its unique design, but also for its long service life. It remains today the most “collectible” German weapon of that war. It periodically appears as a personal military weapon in the present time.
4. KA-BAR combat knife
The armament and equipment of soldiers of any war is unthinkable without mention of the use of so-called trench knives. An indispensable assistant for any soldier for a variety of situations. They can dig holes, open cans, be used for hunting and clearing a path in a deep forest, and, of course, used in bloody hand-to-hand combat. Only more than one and a half million were produced during the war years. It was widely used when used by US Marines in the tropical jungles of the islands in the Pacific Ocean. And today the KA-BAR knife remains one of the greatest knives ever created.
3. Thompson automatic
Developed in the USA back in 1918, the Thompson has become one of the most iconic submachine guns in history. During World War II, the Thompson M1928A1 was most widely used. Despite its weight (more than 10 kg and was heavier than most submachine guns), it was a very popular weapon for scouts, sergeants, special forces, and paratroopers. In general, everyone who valued lethal force and high rate of fire.
Despite the fact that production of this weapon was discontinued after the war, the Thompson still “shines” around the world in the hands of military and paramilitary forces. He was noticed even in the Bosnian War. For the soldiers of World War II, it served as an invaluable combat tool with which they fought through all of Europe and Asia.
2. PPSh-41
Submachine gun of the Shpagin system, model 1941. Used in the winter war with Finland. On the defensive, Soviet troops using PPSh had a much better chance of destroying the enemy at close range than with the popular Russian Mosin rifle. The troops needed, first of all, high fire performance at short distances in urban battles. A true miracle of mass production, the PPSh was extremely easy to manufacture (at the height of the war, Russian factories produced up to 3,000 machine guns per day), very reliable and extremely easy to use. It could fire both bursts and single shots.
Equipped with a 71-round drum magazine, this machine gun gave the Russians fire superiority at close range. The PPSh was so effective that the Russian command armed entire regiments and divisions with it. But perhaps the best evidence of the popularity of this weapon was its highest rating among German troops. Wehrmacht soldiers willingly used captured PPSh assault rifles throughout the war.
1. M1 Garand
At the beginning of the war, almost every American infantryman in every major unit was armed with a rifle. They were accurate and reliable, but required the soldier to manually remove spent cartridges and reload after each shot. This was acceptable for snipers, but significantly limited the speed of aiming and the overall rate of fire. Wanting to increase the ability to fire intensively, the American Army introduced one of the most famous rifles of all time, the M1 Garand. Patton called it “the greatest weapon ever invented,” and the rifle deserved that high praise.
It was easy to use and maintain, had a fast reload time, and gave the US Army an edge in rate of fire. The M1 served faithfully in the active US Army until 1963. But even today, this rifle is used as a ceremonial weapon and in addition, it is highly valued as a hunting weapon among the civilian population.
The article is a slightly modified and expanded translation of materials from the site warhistoryonline.com. It is clear that the presented “top-end” weapons may cause comments among military history buffs of different countries. So, dear readers of WAR.EXE, put forward your fair versions and opinions.
https://youtu.be/6tvOqaAgbjs
Marines- these are a kind of “sea dragoons” who fight with equal success on ships, or “dismounted” - when landing on land. The specifics of training from the very beginning made the Marines an elite branch of the military.
Background
The history of the Marine Corps began when the first infantryman with a set of ground equipment was included in the ship's crew, that is, in antiquity. Units of Greek or Phoenician hoplites on biremes are a prototype of the marine corps. This type of military force was used most consistently in the Roman Empire, where special boarding and landing teams of legionnaires-liburnarii (from “liburn” - a type of vessel) were formed.
In the Middle Ages, the typical marine corps, in terms of functional load, were the famous Vikings of the 8th-11th centuries, or the Russian ushkuiniki of the 14th-15th centuries. However, unlike the Roman Empire, specialized marines did not exist in the states of the Middle Ages. The specific nature of battles at sea suggested boarding as the main means of achieving victory. That is, teams of sailors could include any contingents of infantry, riflemen or knights, who temporarily turned into “marines” without any special equipment or training.
R.M.
In modern times, the marine corps was the first to appear in England: on October 28, 1664, King Charles II Stuart signed a decree creating a “naval service regiment.” The first Marines were stationed on ships from battleship to frigate inclusive to conduct boarding operations, gunfire when ships approached each other in battle, and land landings. A crew of 120-140 people was stationed on the battleships, which approximately corresponds to the size of a company. Subsequently, by the beginning of the 19th century. the infantry was reinforced with naval artillery. Uniforms and training, in general, corresponded to ordinary army combat units. In essence, the Marines remained "infantry embarked on ships."
With the development of the British colonial system, the marines, despite their relative small numbers, turned out to be a very popular branch of the military, taking part in all the colonial wars of their time.
The wealth of experience accumulated by the British "redcoats" played a paradoxically negative role during the First World War. The concept of the "scattered" use of special infantry teams from individual ships of the fleet was very effective in waging small wars. As soon as the need arose to wage a total war, with its maneuvers by a mass of troops, the concept itself, the training of the Royal Marines and all the experience of its application turned out to be inappropriate for the moment.
A clear and, unfortunately, bloody illustration was the Dardanelles operation of the allied forces against the Ottoman Empire on February 19, 1915 - January 9, 1916. Despite the overwhelming superiority of the fleet, the landing on the Galipoli Peninsula ended in disaster. The inability to conduct an active landing operation and the lack of theoretical and practical study of its critical phase, the landing of the first wave and consolidation on the bridgehead, led to the total defeat of the allied and, first of all, the most numerous British troops on this section of the front.
On the first day of the landing, April 25, 1916, the British corps lost about 18,000 people. What followed was a rapid loss of strategic initiative, defeat and a painful evacuation.
The landing failure was studied. The 1918 tactical operation in Zeebrugge (Belgium) against German troops was a partial success, although the strategic goals were not achieved.
After the end of the First World War, the need to create a full-fledged, separate and specially trained mobile force at sea was fully realized. By 1923 the Admiralty had undertaken a project to organize the British Royal Marines.
The Second World War also began poorly for the British Marines. They could not influence the general defeat of the armies of France and England on the continent in 1940. Subsequently, assault troops and special operations units - commandos - were formed from the Marines. They were the only units that fought against the Nazis in Europe on land until the Allied landings in Italy in 1943 and the opening of the Second Front in 1944.
USMC
The most numerous and powerful representative of this type of troops in the world is the US Marine Corps, which originates from a special resolution of Congress in 1775. The Marine Corps of the North American United States received its baptism of fire during the Tripolitan (First Barbary) War (1801-1805) between the United States on the one hand and Algeria, Tunisia, Libya (Tripolitania) and Morocco on the other. At the initial stage of history, the US Marine Corps was not fundamentally different from its British prototype, being a naval infantry, due to the absence of any other requirements.
The United States entered the First World War only at its end, so the Marine Corps did not have a chance to gain rich combat experience. However, the successful actions of the Marines during the Battle of the Marne in 1918 and the careful study of military operations at sea provided America with very rich theoretical material.
The study of naval warfare over many years led to the creation of a special manual: “Manual for Landing Operations”, 1935 and its subsequent reissues. It was the landing that was recognized as one of the mandatory components of victory in the ocean theater of military operations. Accordingly, tactical instructions, application patterns and equipment requirements were developed. Moreover, this was important in light of the coming war with Japan, where maneuver, capture and retention of key bases in the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean was supposed to become a routine of war.
By the beginning of World War II, the United States arrived with a very small Marine Corps. Its strength was approximately 5% of the total number of military personnel. 65,885 people in absolute terms. However, the combat load on the Marines turned out to be the most intense.
Perhaps not a single major operation in the Pacific Ocean was completed without the participation of the Marine Corps. The Marines found themselves in the first wave of landings, went to the forefront of the offensive, building on the initial success, and held the defense if necessary. The greatest success accompanied the Corps when used for its intended purpose: assault units of the landing forces. The Battle of Guadalcanal, the landings at Tarawa, Bougainville, Tinian, Guam, Saipan, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa made the US Marine Corps one of the most effective forces of its kind on the planet.
By the end of World War II, the Corps consisted of 6 divisions with a strength of 485,830 people. They had their own special forces, artillery, aviation, engineer units and armored forces. Landing assets, including special ships and amphibious armored personnel carriers, allowed the Marine Corps to become an independent, highly mobile branch of the military, capable of solving any combat mission without regard to the forces of the army.
Russian Marine Corps
The birthday of the Russian Marine Corps was November 16 (27 according to the new style) 1705, when Emperor Peter I by decree formed the 1st Marine Regiment. By the beginning of the 19th century, it was joined by the 2nd Naval Regiment, and in 1810 by the Guards Naval Crew.
The First World War required the creation of a special marine division. Efforts were made towards this in the Black Sea and Baltic fleets, culminating in the formation of such a formation on the Black Sea by 1917.
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, only one brigade of marines served in the USSR Navy. However, by October 1941 their number had reached 25. This was achieved by transferring sailors to ground units. Gradually, the number of brigades increased to 35. The Marine Corps participated in defensive operations in Leningrad, Odessa, Sevastopol, Kerch, and Stalingrad. All major offensive operations on the Black Sea coast also took place with the participation of Marines.
During the war, the USSR Marine Corps was used as assault units, as well as special operations forces that took place far from the naval theater of operations. For example, during the Budapest offensive operation of October 1944 - February 1945, a platoon of the 83rd Marine Brigade penetrated the Wehrmacht command bunker through the city sewer. The platoon commander of this platoon... was a girl, Lieutenant Evdokia Nikolaevna Zavaliy.
Japanese Marines
For a long time, the Imperial Japanese Navy was not equipped with specialized marine units. Their functions were to be performed by army units as necessary. Detachments of sailors placed on ships, or detached from the crews. Only towards the end of the 1920s did Japan become concerned about the formation of the first battalion-level groups. The formation took place at the location of the main forces of the fleet: Yokosuka, Sasebo, Kure, Maizuru.
The Japanese Marines' combat career began in China during the Sino-Japanese Wars beginning in 1932. In the Chinese theater of war, the marines played an important role as mobile forces operating along river channels. The geographical factor gave them particular importance: the huge and deep rivers of the Yangtze and Yellow River were an insurmountable obstacle for ordinary land units.
Subsequently, the Kwantung Army acquired its own marine detachments, designed to defend the strategic ports of Dalian and Port Arthur.
In addition to brigades and regiments of marines under naval command, Japan had amphibious assault brigades under the command of the army.
By the time Japan entered World War II, the number of Marine Corps formations was 21, and the number of personnel ranged from 650 to 1,200 people, which corresponds to a battalion or regiment. In addition, 3 Marine detachments in Yokosuka served as the basis for the creation of the Marine Air Force. Marine paratroopers became a necessary component of Japan's victories in the early stages of the war.
During the battles with the Americans, the Japanese marines showed themselves to be an extremely dangerous and persistent enemy, ready to fight to the last man and last bullet. Unfortunately, the Imperial Marines, along with other naval and army units, became involved in a number of war crimes against the civilian population of occupied territories and prisoners of war.
War almost always takes you by surprise and immediately requires a lot of weapons. And the civilian rear begins their military work, performing a task that is impossible for peacetime: under tight deadlines, a shortage of materials and equipment, and with a general decline in the qualifications of the workforce - “forging weapons of victory.” The Great Patriotic War was no exception in this sense. And in the difficult, catastrophic first year of the war, its main striking force - the infantry - still received its rifles and machine guns.
Weapon system
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the small arms system of the Red Army generally corresponded to the conditions of that time and consisted of the following types of weapons: personal (pistol and revolver), individual weapons of rifle and cavalry units (magazine rifle and carbine, self-loading and automatic rifles), sniper weapons ( magazine and self-loading sniper rifles), individual weapons of submachine gunners (submachine gun), collective weapons of rifle and cavalry squads and platoons (light machine gun), machine gun units (machine guns), anti-aircraft small arms (quad machine gun mounts and heavy machine guns), small arms tanks (tank machine gun). In addition, they were armed with hand grenades and rifle grenade launchers. Based on the above list, we can conclude that the existing types of weapons met the needs of various branches of the military. But in reality it turned out differently and, despite the variety of types of samples, it was clear even to a non-specialist that some of them solved absolutely similar problems: 2 samples of personal weapons, 4 samples of individual weapons, 2 sniper rifles, 2 heavy machine guns. The samples recently put into production and poorly tested in operation had to be duplicated with old ones, proven by combat practice.
On the eve of the war, the army was in a state of reorganization and rearmament, as can be seen from the plan of military orders for 1941: 1,800,000 rifles (of which 1,100,000 self-loading), 160,000 Nagan revolvers and 140,000 pistols, 200,000 submachine guns Shpagina, 3,000 Maxim machine guns, 39,000 DP and DT machine guns, 4,000 DShK machine guns. As for the rearmament of the infantry with automatic weapons, which was given much attention at that time, it can be judged by the following figures: as of June 1941, in the Kiev Special Military District, rifle formations had light machine guns from 100 to 128% of the staff, submachine guns up to 35%, anti-aircraft machine guns 56% of the staff. As you can see, there were very few anti-aircraft weapons and submachine guns. But there were virtually no infantry anti-tank close combat weapons.
The beginning of the war, as is known, was associated with extremely large losses in personnel and weapons. The loss of weapons in the Red Army for June-December 1941 was: rifles and carbines 5,547,000, pistols and revolvers 454,100, submachine guns 98,700, light machine guns 135,700, heavy machine guns 53,700, ,7- mm 600 machine guns. These were the largest losses of weapons during the entire war, and a significant part of them remained on the battlefield in usable condition. But during the rapid retreat, when in some areas they fought stubbornly, and in others the retreat turned into flight and surrender, the troops simply did not have time to assemble and repair weapons. The collection service for weapons, including captured weapons, had to be established during the war. And in the first period of the war, the absence of such a gathering had a very negative impact, especially during a powerful counter-offensive near Moscow.
The rifles and carbines (1,567,141), submachine guns (89,665) and machine guns (106,200) produced in the first six months did not cover the losses.
The People's Commissariat for Armaments (NKV) under the leadership of the youngest People's Commissar D.F. Ustinova then carried out great and difficult work to expand military production both at existing weapons factories and among civilian enterprises transferred “to a military footing.” Thus, the main manufacturer of PPSh was the former bobbin factory in the city of Vyatskie Polyany. In addition to this plant, PPSh were also produced at Moscow plants, including ZIS, as well as in Tbilisi and even in Tehran (since 1942, several tens of thousands of PPSh were supplied from Iran to the Red Army); trunks for them were supplied from Izhevsk. The main production of DP light machine guns remained at the plant named after. K.O. Kirkizh in Kovrov, but already in 1942 it was duplicated in the city of Stalinsk (now Novokuznetsk) and in Leningrad, production of DShK in Kuibyshev. In the same year, production of Maxims, in addition to the Tula arms and machine-building plants, was organized in Zlatoust and Izhevsk (on the basis of the Motorcycle Plant). SVT production was evacuated from Tula to the city of Mednogorsk.
As you know, weapons production is one of the most metal-intensive, therefore it is customary for weapons factories to develop their own metallurgy and forging and press production. This specificity played a special role in wartime, since the mobilization readiness of arms factories ensured not only their own increase in production, but also the rapid repurposing of civilian industrial enterprises. In addition, the rapid production of weapons in wartime was facilitated by the successful pre-war development of the metallurgical industry and machine tool industry in general, as well as the extensive training of engineering and technical personnel. Separately, it is worth mentioning the technologies of mass production, borrowed from other industries. They made it possible not only to save materials in the weapons industry, but also to reduce some of the requirements for workers’ qualifications during cold stamping of parts from steel sheets, barrel burnishing, and spot welding. And yet the quality of processing had to be sacrificed. The finishing treatment of the external surfaces of parts not involved in the operation of automation and the varnishing of wooden parts were canceled (this was the path, we note, followed by the arms industry of all the warring states). The operating time of the weapon was also reduced, and its supply of spare parts and accessories was significantly reduced. So, for a DP light machine gun, for example, instead of 22 discs, 12 were attached.
In total, during the war years, Soviet industry produced about 13 million rifles, 6.1 million submachine guns, 1.7 million pistols and revolvers, 1.5 million machine guns of all types, 471.8 thousand anti-tank rifles. For comparison, in Germany over the same period, 8.5 million rifles and carbines, 1 million submachine guns, and 1 million machine guns were produced.
War always accelerates the development and introduction of new models. Front-line experience and data on enemy tactics and weapons were analyzed in detail and became the basis for new tasks for developers. This “feedback” greatly stimulates the development of weapons. During the war, 6 new and 3 modernized models of small arms, 7 models of grenades were adopted. Testing of new models took place not only at the scientific testing ground for small arms and mortar weapons in Shchurovo and at the training ground for the “Vystrel” course, but also directly at the fronts. Prominent scientists and engineers were attracted to work in the bodies of the State Defense Committee and the NKV. Thus, the most authoritative specialist V.G. Fedorov in 1942-1946 worked first as a consultant and then as deputy chairman of the technical council of the NKV.
Twice during the war the Red Army was actually rearmed - at the end of 1941 and the beginning of 1942, when the losses of the first half of the war were made up, and in 1943 - 1944, when new types of weapons were supplied to the army in increasing quantities.
The need for ammunition also grew sharply, especially since a significant part of their reserves was lost in the very first months (the Western Front, for example, by July 10, 1941, lost it was lost, not used up according to some sources, 67,410,500 rifle cartridges ).
In 1942, the output of cartridges amounted to 136% of the output of 1940, and in 1945 224%. Such production rates are largely explained by the fact that the scarce brass in the manufacture of cartridges was replaced by steel and bimetals. Steel was also replaced by lead in bullet cores. The bullets began to be called “surrogated”. The introduction of automatic rotary machines by L.N. also played an important role. Koshkina.
In general, the enterprises of the People's Commissariat of Ammunition produced 22.7 billion pieces of cartridges of all types, about 138 million anti-personnel and 21 million anti-tank grenades. The consumption of cartridges can be judged from the following GAU data: in 200 days of the Battle of Stalingrad, 500 million cartridges of all types were spent, the same amount in 50 days of the Battle of Kursk, in the Berlin operation 390 million.
Allied supplies under Lend-Lease in terms of small arms were very small - 151,700 “barrels”. It can be said that the Red Army used significantly more captured small arms than those supplied under Lend-Lease. True, American and British small arms were also supplied complete with tanks, armored vehicles, and aircraft, and in this capacity they were used more widely than infantry weapons themselves. The most significant assistance of Lend-Lease in this industry, perhaps, was the supply of gunpowder, scarce metals and industrial equipment.
About new infantry tactics
The 1942 Infantry Combat Manual (BUP-42), which embodied the experience of the war, stated: “Fire, maneuver and hand-to-hand combat are the main methods of infantry action.” The infantry achieved fire superiority over the enemy primarily by increasing the density of rifle and machine gun fire and mortar fire. If in August 1941 the German infantry division was three times superior to the Soviet rifle division in the total number of submachine guns and machine guns, and twice as many in mortars (and also had 1.55 times more personnel), then by the beginning of 1943 this number approximately equal. At the beginning of 1945, an ordinary Soviet rifle division was approximately twice as superior to a German infantry division both in submachine guns and machine guns, and in mortars, with approximately equal numbers of personnel (the change in the ratio of various types of small arms in the main division rifle company can be seen from the table presented).
The first months of the war showed that most mid- and junior-level commanders had little idea of how to organize and control fire in battle. Already at the end of 1941, the People's Commissar of Defense ordered the leadership of the Vystrel courses to train 1,000 commanders of rifle battalions who would know the tactics of modern combat, be able to lead a battalion in battle and own all the battalion's standard weapons. This release took place in February 1942.
The war required a revision of the infantry training system and its tactics. It was necessary to abandon the division of the battle formation into “fettering” and “shock” groups: now the striking force of the attack was ensured by the participation of the entire unit and its weapons, and the stability of the defense was given by the fire of all fire weapons. In addition, maneuver and fire control were simplified for the commander. The basis of the battle formation in the attack again became the chain; To suppress the enemy, fire was used on the move with rough aiming at objects or lines. When attacking with tanks and self-propelled guns (self-propelled artillery), infantry often rode on their armor.
Since 1942, when storming fortifications and in urban battles, assault groups and detachments were widely used, in which riflemen, submachine gunners, machine gunners, armor-piercers, sappers, chemists (with flamethrowers and smoke agents), mortar crews and anti-tank guns worked together.
Since the battle became more mobile, greater mobility was expected from the infantry. It is no coincidence that since the beginning of 1942, demands have been put forward to lighten various types of small arms.
During the course of the war, both the Soviet and German armies gradually moved to a trench defense system, to the creation of strong strongholds and the adaptation of settlements to all-round defense. Moreover, the main task in such a defense system was to ensure “multi-layered” fire and rapid maneuvering of fire weapons.
Separately, it should be said about such an important indicator as fire density. Before the war, the Red Army considered the necessary density of rifle and machine-gun fire in defense to be 5 bullets per minute per 1 linear meter of front. In July 1941, when the defense had to be carried out on a wide front, the average fire density did not exceed 2.5 bullets per 1 meter. In December 1942 it increased to 3.9 bullets, and in December 1944 to 7.6 bullets. By maneuvering fire weapons, it was possible to achieve greater densities. Thus, in the defensive operation near Kursk in the summer of 1943, the fire density in some areas reached 8 x 10 bullets per 1 meter. The density of fire and its effectiveness were facilitated by the widespread use of flank, oblique, and cross fire. In addition, in tense moments of the battle, in order to increase the density of fire, the Red Army revived volley fire from riflemen, mainly with magazine rifles. This maneuver also disciplined the fighters and made it easier for the commander to control fire.
If on the eve of the war they tried to increase the range of single and automatic fire, then already in the first few months, when close combat was recognized as the main task of the infantry, the opposite trend appeared - a reduction in the range of fire with an increase in its density at close ranges.
The increasing role of artillery and mortar fire in defeating the enemy, the wider use of tanks, self-propelled guns and attack aircraft reduced the requirements for the firing range of machine guns. The shift of machine-gun fire “backward” made it possible to change the range limits of individual weapons, with the exception of snipers. Thus, BUP-42 established the most favorable firing ranges for a heavy machine gun at 800 x 1,000 m (or better “sudden fire from a distance of 600 m and closer”), for a light machine gun at 800 m, for excellent shooters at 600 m, for all shooters at 400 m.
Shooters and machine gunners
The war gave rise to many new soldier specialties, and even the traditional “specialty” of a marksman was now divided into two: “shooters” with rifles or carbines and “machine gunners” with submachine guns. This division was caused by the different capabilities of the weapons and, as a consequence, by the different tactical uses of the units that were equipped with them.
The rifle with a bayonet remained the main and most popular infantry weapon in all the warring armies (magazine 98 and 98k Mauser in Germany, Type 38 and Type 99 Arisaka in Japan, Mannlicher Carcano models 1938 and 91/38 in Italy, No. 4 Mk I "Lee Enfield" in the UK, self-loading M1 "Garand" and magazine M1903 "Springfield" in the USA). Despite all the advantages of the self-loading rifle, the role of the main weapon in the Red Army remained with the magazine model. 1891/30. This fact is often explained by the fact that the self-loading rifle (SVT) was “bulky, inconvenient and unreliable.” They also say that the failures of the beginning of the war are associated with this rifle. Perhaps these versions are not without foundation, but the weapon, which clearly did not satisfy the troops, would hardly have remained in production until January 1945. True, the volume of this production turned out to be much lower than planned before the war, when self-loading rifles were given the main role. Be that as it may, from the beginning of 1942 they began to increase the production of repeating rifle mod. 1891/30 and by the summer, for example, at the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant they brought it up to 12 thousand rifles per day. In the same year, the production of repeating rifles and carbines was 13.3 times higher than the production of SVT. The decisive factors in “debunking” the SVT were the complexity of its production and the difficulty of operation, because the majority of infantry personnel had a poor understanding of the technology and did not have time for training. Whereas the good old “three-line” was not only easy to use, but also 2.5 times cheaper to produce. Note that the Germans, who generally widely used captured weapons (especially automatic ones), highly valued captured SVTs, and the design of their G.43 automatic rifle had obvious traces of the influence of SVTs.
In general, the transition to the mass production of repeating rifles and submachine guns, in fact, saved the situation then, made it possible to arm the army and create stockpiles of weapons.
The production of the “three-ruler” also had to be simplified: the receiver was made without top edges, the trigger button was reduced, the brass parts of the device were replaced with steel, the swivels were replaced with slots in the stock, the stocks were made of birch instead of walnut, they were not polished or varnished.
And in May 1942, the Tokarev AVT automatic rifle with a fire safety switch was put into production (in the army, some craftsmen themselves converted the SVT into automatic). It would seem strange: after all, only on the eve of the war they abandoned the production of such a variant. Even then, the operating experience of the ABC-36 showed that even with the most successful weapon system, automatic fire from a rifle chambered in a powerful cartridge with a relatively light barrel and a small weapon weight is ineffective. But the release of the AVT-40 at that moment was associated with a shortage of light machine guns and therefore did not last long.
As for magazine weapons, by the end of the war, preference was increasingly given to the carbine, a more compact weapon (340 mm shorter and 0.4 kg lighter than a rifle), convenient for combat in trenches, in tank landings, and urban combat. The sighting range of the carbine was lower than that of a rifle, but noticeably superior to a submachine gun. True, the carbine arr. 1938 did not have a bayonet for hand-to-hand combat. And although it was obvious that future small arms must necessarily be automatic, at that time it was necessary to proceed from real possibilities and adapt existing weapons to the requirements of shooters as best as possible.
So, repeating rifle mod. 1891/30 served a long military service, until January 1944 before the adoption of the repeating carbine mod. 1944 with an integral folding bayonet N.S. Semina. In the same year, the good old “three-line” was discontinued.
The most accurate
Snipers played an invaluable role during World War II. Their fire had a noticeable impact on the actions of the units. The truth here is simple: the success or failure of companies and platoons often decides the outcome of the entire battle.
World War II sniper rifles were a new generation of sniper weapons. They were still carried out on the basis of “linear” ones, but were manufactured specially, on separate lines and with special precision, and were equipped with optical sights produced according to military standards.
By the beginning of the war, it was planned to equip Soviet snipers with a sniper version of the SVT with a PU optical sight. However, the sniper version of the rifle mod. 1891/30, and with the beginning of the war the PU sight was adapted to it. And although the “three-line” as a base for a sniper rifle was less successful than, say, the German “Mauser”, the Soviet sniper rifle proved itself well during the war. Production of the SVT sniper was stopped in October 1942, not to mention the greater complexity in production; this rifle was inferior to the magazine rifle and in terms of accuracy of fire.
Weapons of submachine gunners
During the war, we called submachine guns “machine guns,” and to this day this inaccuracy in the name often causes confusion. The submachine gun took on the role of the main automatic weapon of the Second World War, in general, by accident: being considered an auxiliary weapon before the war, during the war it turned out to be the simplest and most accessible means of increasing the density of fire.
By the beginning of the war, the Red Army had a Degtyarev submachine gun (PPD) of several modifications - mainly it was a PPD mod. 1940 with a 71-round drum magazine and a split stock.
When did G.S. Shpagin proposed a submachine gun made by stamping, many accepted it with skepticism: how can you stamp an automatic weapon, what kind of accuracy can stamping give? Among the doubters was V.A. Degtyarev, but very soon, having appreciated the merits of the idea, he most actively contributed to the adoption of the Shpagin model. PPD, with satisfactory combat qualities, required extensive mechanical processing of parts, and this made it difficult to widely introduce it into the troops. Already at the end of 1940, B.G. submachine guns were tested in comparison with serial PPD-40. Shpitalny and G.S. Shpagina. In terms of combat and production-technological properties, Shpagin’s model turned out to be the best, and on December 21, 1940 it was put into service under the designation “submachine gun mod. 1941 Shpagina (PPSh-41).” In addition to the widespread use of cold stamping and spot welding, the PPSh was distinguished by a very small number of threaded connections and press fits. The weapon turned out to be outwardly crude, but the reduction in labor intensity, metal costs and time made it possible to quickly replenish the loss and increase the saturation of troops with automatic weapons. If in the second half of 1941 submachine guns made up about 46% of all automatic weapons produced, then in the first half of 1942 it was already 80%. By the beginning of 1944, the active units of the Red Army had 26 times more submachine guns than at the beginning of 1942.
When the production conditions were maintained, the PPSh provided both reliable operation and sufficient accuracy. The latter depended to a large extent on its massiveness and muzzle brake-compensator. But the same massiveness, coupled with the bulkiness of the drum magazine, also caused complaints from the troops; with wearable ammunition, the PPSh weighed about 9 kg, and it was not easy to crawl with it and change it.
The modernization of the PPSh at the beginning of 1942 was designed to simplify production. The sector sight, notched up to 500 m, was replaced with a reversible sight up to 200 m; then the fire of submachine guns was ineffective, and the infantry developed the greatest density of fire at ranges up to 200 m. In addition to the drum one, a box magazine (“horn” was adopted in February 1942 ) for 35 rounds, but its widespread use began later. Submachine gunners valued compact, easily replaceable and less rattling “horns” when moving, more than “discs”, and often carried spare “horns” in the pockets of their overcoats, padded jackets, and behind the tops of their boots.
As in the systems of most submachine guns, in the PPSh system the shot was fired from the rear sear. The bolt, released from combat cocking, moved forward, sent the cartridge into the chamber and broke its primer with a hard striker. Hence, there is a great danger of spontaneous firing when dropped or hit, especially if the fuse is weak or the sear is worn out. The PPSh was disassembled, breaking in half, and when spontaneous openings of the bolt box cover occurred, the recoil spring simply flew out. This was a big drawback.
Almost simultaneously with the modernization of the PPSh, at the beginning of 1942, a competition was announced for a lightweight submachine gun, designed to complement the PPSh in service. The new model was supposed to weigh no more than 6 x 6.5 kg with ammunition, be convenient for all branches of the military, and also be more technologically advanced. The competition turned out to be one of the most widespread: developers - both famous designers Degtyarev, Shpagin, Korovin, and little-known Menshikov-Shkvornikov, Zaitsev, Goroneskul, Pushkin, Volkov-Chukhmatov - presented up to 30 samples. Many projects came from the active army, which in itself showed the relevance of the issue. After the first tests in February and March 1942, the attention of specialists was attracted by the sample of Lieutenant Bezruchko-Vysotsky. But it also needed significant improvement. As a result, the development of this sample was proposed to military engineer III rank A.I. Sudaev, who served at NIPSVO. Upon completion of the work, Bezruchko-Vysotsky’s participation was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and the merits of Major Sudaev were awarded the Stalin Prize of the 2nd degree.
Samples from G.S. reached the finals. Shpagina (PPSh-2) and A.I. Sudaeva. According to the test results in July 1942, the teaching staff was recognized as the best; at the end of the same year, the Moscow Plant named after. Kalmykova staged his production. Sudaev himself was sent to besieged Leningrad, where he, based on the evacuated Sestroretsk plant named after. Voskov, plant named after. Kulakov and the Primus artel established the production of teaching staff in 3 months. This event was a unique case in the history of weapons: the shortest production time indicates the thoughtfulness and manufacturability of the design. The PPS tests took place right there on the Leningrad Front and received the best assessment from the soldiers.
On May 20, 1943, the 7.62 mm submachine gun mod. 1943 Sudaeva (PPS-43). Cold stamping, a minimum of closed holes, the use of a recoil spring rod as a reflector, a simple shock absorber and other solutions greatly simplified production, although in 1942-1945 the factories of Moscow, Leningrad and Tbilisi gave the Red Army 765,773 PPP. The rate of fire reduced to 650 x 750 rounds per minute (versus 1,000 x 1,100 for the PPSh) and the favorable location of the pistol grip and magazine neck made the PPS “more manageable.” The submachine gun was durable, reliable, and quickly ready to fire. The fuse was more reliable than that of the PPSh. For disassembly, the PPS was also broken in half, but the return spring was attached differently here and did not pop out arbitrarily. Not inferior to the PPSh in terms of combat qualities, the PPS was much more convenient for the crews of combat vehicles, reconnaissance officers, paratroopers, and partisans. It became the best submachine gun of World War II.
The enemy understood this too. The Finns already in 1944, under the designation M44, began producing a copy of the PPS chambered for the 9-mm cartridge. The Germans also tried to produce simplified copies (after the war, they did this in Spain, and since 1953, the gendarmerie and border guards of the Federal Republic of Germany were armed with the DUX-53 submachine gun, which was not much different from the PPS).
The massive use of submachine guns made the 7.62 mm TT pistol cartridge the second most popular after the rifle cartridge and required a transition to surrogate bullets. And for night combat they began producing cartridges with a tracer bullet.
Extremely simplified designs were not uncommon during the war - during the siege of Tula, for example, S.A. Korovin created a very simple submachine gun for the Tula Workers' Regiment. The variety of designs of partisan samples (both original and assembled from different models) cannot be counted. A number of popular legends are associated with German submachine guns. Home almost universal arming of the Wehrmacht with them. In fact, throughout the war the number of submachine guns in the Wehrmacht was much less than 98k Mauser carbines (Belgian and Czech Mausers and old rifles were also used). The Treaty of Versailles of 1919 prohibited Germany from having submachine guns, but German gunsmiths continued to develop and produce this type of weapon. They supplied it to other countries and to “police” units, which did not bother the authors of the Treaty of Versailles, who feared the growth of revolutionary uprisings in the center of Europe. In 1936 (shortly after the formation of the Wehrmacht began), the German Armaments Directorate proposed to supply the crews of combat vehicles and motorized infantry with submachine guns. This was also evident in the new appearance of the MP.38 submachine gun, which was put into service in 1938. It was distinguished by its small size, folding butt, open barrel without a fore-end (the second hand held the weapon by the magazine or by the plastic bottom of the bolt box), a hook for firing from combat vehicle installations and on top of the sides. To speed up the preparation for the shot, the bolt handle was placed on the left; the pistol grip of the weapon was held with the right hand, and the bolt was cocked with the left (because of this, by the way, they preferred to carry the submachine gun on the side rather than on the chest). Both here and among our former allies, the MP.38 model and its successors are often called “Schmeissers,” although the creators of the MP.38 were G. Vollmer and the director of the Erma company, B. Geipel, and not H. Schmeisser. Apparently, by the end of the 1930s, thanks to previous designs, the name "Schmeisser" was perceived as the name of a type of weapon. MP.38 was quite simple; one copy required 10.7 kg of metal and 18 machine hours. For comparison: PPSh required 13.9 kg and 7.3 hours, and PPS 6.2 kg and 2.7 hours.
At the beginning of the war, the MP.38 was used along with the old MP.18/I, MP.28/II, MP.35/I, and the Austrian MP.34 (o), experience pushed the Wehrmacht to a more active and widespread use of submachine guns and, Accordingly, it required modernization. The MP.40 differed from the MP.38 primarily in its simplification and reduction in cost. It eliminated milled parts and replaced aluminum in the design with steel. And the new bolt handle, which made it possible to lock it in both the rear and forward positions, reduced the likelihood of an accidental shot when the weapon was dropped. Changes were also made to the MP.38 already released; these submachine guns received the designation MP.38/40. Widespread use of stamping, reliability, compactness, and close to optimal rate of fire were the advantages of the MP.40. German soldiers nicknamed it the “bullet pump,” and the American soldiers called it the “belching rattle,” but they treated this weapon with respect. True, the experience of fighting on the Eastern Front required increasing shooting accuracy, which H. Schmeisser tried to do by adding a permanent wooden stock to the MP.40 and a translator for conducting single fire, but few such MP.41s were produced. In total, from 1940 to 1945, more than 1 million MP.40 were produced (for comparison: 10,327,800 rifles and carbines were produced, assault rifles 450,000). It is not surprising that already in the middle of the war, German soldiers were “re-armed” with Soviet PPSh. And by the end of the war, German models brought to primitiveness appeared; they tried, for example, to “simplify” the British “Stan” even more.
Even on the eve of World War II, the British military leadership “did not see the need for gangster weapons,” so called submachine guns. But after the disaster of 1940, when obsolete weapons were urgently removed from warehouses, and there were very few automatic weapons, the attitude towards them changed. The USA urgently purchased Thompson submachine guns, but these weapons were expensive and ended up mainly in commando and SAS units. In general, the Allies needed a simpler, lighter model, designed for mass production with the involvement of small subcontractors. It was developed at the beginning of 1941 by R.V. Shepard and H.J. Turpin at the Royal Small Arms in Enfield. The weapon was named “Stan” (STEN) after the first letters of the designers’ last names and the first syllable of the name of the city. The Stan MkI was produced by Birmingham Small Arms and several other factories. Subsequent modifications mainly featured further simplifications. The most popular “Stan” Mk II was produced in the UK, Canada and New Zealand (in Australia they preferred their “Owen” design) in quantities of more than 2 million units. In total, more than 3 million different “Stans” were released (they were also copied in Denmark, and later in Israel). They were really simple and cheap, but they were not particularly accurate or convenient, and deservedly received the nickname “hole punchers.”
Simultaneously with the Stan, J. Lancaster developed a submachine gun similar to the German MP.18/I, but it was both heavier and more expensive than the Stan, produced in smaller quantities and only for the Royal Navy.
At the beginning of the war, the Americans also had to solve the issue of a submachine gun on the fly. The same Thompson was purchased in small quantities for the army and marines, but its cost was too high. In 1941, its simplified modification M1 with automatic action based on blowback recoil appeared, then the even more simplified M1A1. And yet the Thompsons, like another model, the M50 Raising, did not solve the problem. And only by 1944 did the Americans put into mass production the M3 submachine gun, developed by J. Hyde and F. Sampson. In addition to the widespread use of stamping, it was distinguished by the sealing of the bolt box - the extraction window was closed with a hinged lid, and the bolt was cocked with a swinging lever, a massive bolt that provided sufficient stability when firing, a retractable butt that could be used instead of a cleaning rod, as well as the possibility of quick conversion from the 45 ACP cartridge chambered for the 9mm Parabellum cartridge. The disadvantage of the M3 was its unreliable fuse. In the M3A1 modification that appeared later, the bolt was cocked simply with a finger inserted into the recess of the bolt. Other armies also had their own submachine guns. The Italians, for example, had a good Beretta 1938A model originally designed by T. Marengoni, but it required careful machining, and modifications 38/42 and 38/44 made it somewhat simpler.
Machine guns of enemies and allies
The issue of a light heavy machine gun in the Red Army had not been resolved by the beginning of the war. Complaints from the troops and new tests of the DS-39 machine gun revealed a number of shortcomings: low survivability of parts, ruptures of cartridges in the chamber, dismantling of the cartridge in the receiver. With the start of the war, there was no more time for fine-tuning, and production of the DS-39 was stopped in favor of the Maxims. The DS-39 machine gun has been called “unsuccessful” more than once, but the ideas and solutions contained in it were unlikely to be so. To simplify production and operation at TOZ (Tula Arms Plant), engineers I.E. Lubenets and Yu.A. Kazarin under the leadership of chief engineer A.A. Tronenkov in June 1941 once again improved the Maxim. Its characteristic features are now a wide neck for filling the barrel casing with snow and ice, and a simplified sight.
The German army entered the war with a single MG.34 machine gun, and the experience of combat use completely confirmed the correctness of the concept of a single machine gun used as a light machine gun, easel machine gun, anti-aircraft gun, or tank gun. But already with the start of serial production of the MG.34, German engineers began work on a more technologically advanced model, then, based on the experience mainly of the Eastern Front, they added the requirements of low sensitivity to clogging and lubrication conditions. The new design was developed with the participation of a number of companies, but the work was led by Dr. Gryunov at the Grossfuss company, hitherto unknown in the arms industry, but with experience in stamping and welding of metal parts. In 1942, the MG.42 machine gun was adopted by the German army; five large companies and several small subcontractors were involved in its production. The widespread use of stamping and large tolerances on the dimensions of parts ensured its rapid production. The suspended position of the automation parts, the roller locking system, and the push-pull belt feed ensured the reliable operation of this machine gun, and the high rate of fire, belt feed, and a barrel that could be changed in 4-6 seconds ensured a high intensity of fire. Due to its speed (up to 1,200 x 1,300 rounds/min) and the characteristic sound of firing, the MG.42 received the nickname “Hitler’s saw.” The MG.42 is considered the best machine gun of World War II.
At the beginning of the war, the British army made its main machine gun the “Bran”, created on the basis of the Czech ZB30 “Zbroevka Brno”. In addition to the conversion carried out by Czech designers V. and E. Holek and A. Marek from the 7.92-mm Mauser cartridge to the British cartridge of .303 caliber "British Service", the machine gun received a shock absorber, which improved the accuracy of fire, and a magazine for 30 rounds. The machine gun began to be produced in Enfield hence the name “Bren” (BREN BRno-ENfild). The weapon turned out to be successful; the British even consider it the best light machine gun of World War II. Yet the Bran was poorly suited for mass production and required a lot of metal and machining. As a result, to improve manufacturability, it had to be modernized and additional production installed in Canada and Australia. "Bran" was also supplied to other countries, including the USSR and China. Czech light machine guns, which served as the basis for the Bran, were used by the German army. Some features of this machine gun were borrowed by the Japanese in the Type 97 and Type 99 light machine guns. As a result, Czech designs found themselves on almost all fronts, although in terms of production scale they were inferior to both German and Soviet ones. The Czech ZB-53 heavy machine gun of the V. Holek and M. Rolczyk system also found widespread use; the same British, for example, adopted its tank version under the name “Beza”, without even changing the 7.92 mm caliber.
The US Army entered the war with machine guns of the Browning systems - manual BAR, mounted M1917 and M1919 and large-caliber M2NV. The first was distinguished by sufficient reliability and lightness, but the 20-place magazine and non-replaceable barrel limited the combat rate of fire. Perhaps the American use of combat shotguns in World War II was an attempt to compensate for the lack of a successful light machine gun in service. An attempt to convert the mounted M1919 A4 into a light machine gun, that is, to repeat the path already taken by German and Soviet designers, produced a very unsuccessful M1919 A7. The M1919 A4 heavy machine gun on a light tripod was a good-quality weapon, but outdated (the Americans even unsuccessfully tried to make copies of the German MG.34 and MG.42 under their own cartridge). But the 12.7 mm M2 NV Browning turned out to be quite good.
To be continued
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