Historical Firearms

In Action: Molotov CocktailsThe photograph above shows two men from the 4th Indian Division training in the desert in late 1940, with what appear to be Molotov cocktails. The 4th Indian Division was deployed to North Africa from the beginning of the...

In Action: Molotov Cocktails

The photograph above shows two men from the 4th Indian Division training in the desert in late 1940, with what appear to be Molotov cocktails. The 4th Indian Division was deployed to North Africa from the beginning of the war until December 1940. They then took part in the East African Campaign before rejoining the Eighth Army in North Africa and taking part in the Italy Campaign.

In 1940, the British Army was decidedly lacking in effective anti-tank weapons. With the .55 calibre Boys AT rifle proving ineffective and the later No.68 AT rifle grenade proving inadequate and unpopular. Molotov Cocktails were a field expedient option to give troops something to attack tanks with although they proved relatively ineffective but did hinder tank crews’ visibility.

The men here appear to be holding a bottle in each hand, no wicks are visible. By 1941, the No.74 Sticky bomb had been introduced and a year later the No.75 AT Hawkins was developed. The introduction of the PIAT in 1943, provided troops with stand off option for engaging enemy armour at range.

Image Source

If you enjoy the content please consider supporting Historical Firearms through Patreon!

6 years ago 68 notes

Tagged: #History #In Action #Molotov Cocktails #Indian Army #Anti Tank Weapons #Boys Anti Tank rifle #No.68 AT rifle grenade #North Africa Campaign #4th Indian Division #weapons #Military History #World War Two #WW2 #WWII #British Army

In Action: Bren Gun

Two men from the 1st battalion, Border Regiment clean their weapons, a Boys Anti-Tank Rifle and a Bren Light Machine Gun. The photograph was taken at Rumegies, France on the 29th February 1940.

The Bren was a licensed version of the vz.26 light machine gun made by the Czechoslovakian company Zbrojovka Brno. British production began in 1938 with some design changes made to the original Czech light machine gun. Fed from a 30-round box magazine the Bren, which weighed in at roughly 22lbs/10kgs depending on model, remained in British service (rechambered from .303 to 7.62x51mm) until the early 1990s when it was finally phased out.

The Bren proved to be an able and versatile light machine gun and was used by both British and Commonwealth forces throughout the Second World War. The photograph above was taken during the so-called Phoney War which saw a period of inactivity by both sides after war was declared. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) deployed to Northern France in September 1939 but no action was seen until the German invasion of France in May 1940 - eight months after war had been declared.

The 1st battalion, the Border Regiment was part of the part of the BEF’s 125th Infantry Brigade which saw action during the subsequent Battle of France and evacuation from Dunkirk.

Sources:

Image Sources: 1 2

If you enjoy the content please consider supporting Historical Firearms through Patreon!

8 years ago 102 notes

Tagged: #History #Military History #Firearms History #In Action #Bren Gun #Boys Anti Tank Rifle #Phoney War #BEF #British Expeditionary Force #Light Machine Gun #WW2 #WWII #World War Two #Second World War #British Army #Border Regiment

Weekly Recap

Last week saw the introduction of a new feature ‘Cutaway of the Day’ which shows the inner workings of famous and interesting firearms and explains a little about how they worked and some of their history. The 'Quote of the Day’ feature also continued and there were several posts about uniforms from the 19th century and the beginning of WWI. Also this week I posted some screen shots and the original training film made by Disney about the Boys Anti-Tank rifle.

The site’s layout has also had a revamp and a new contents page has also been added so take a look at those!

As always thank you for the likes, reblogs and for following the page! And as always if you have any suggestions or messages feel free to get in touch here.

Cutaway of the Day:

Springfield M1903

Mauser Model 98

Colt M1903 Hammerless

Winchester Model 1873

Mauser HSc

Mauser C96

Firearms:

‘Guns that Won the West’ (Winchester 1873 & Colt Single Action Army)

'Stop That Tank!’ the Boys Anti-Tank Rifle

Film in Full

Miscellaneous History:

Private of the 90th Foot Circa 1879

198th Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo

Infantry Uniform’s circa 1914

Historical Trivia:

Romania, Second Time’s the Charm (WWI)

German Declarations of War (WWI)

Quote of the Day:

President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1953 ‘Chance for Peace’ speech

General Douglas MacArthur on the pen being mightier than the sword

Niccolo Machiavelli on War and Princeship

Winston Churchill on his personal experience of combat

David Lloyd George and Machine Guns (WWI)

Westmoreland on War & Politics

________________________________________________________

If you have any requests for firearms you like to see on the page then please feel free to let me know!

11 years ago 16 notes

Stop That Tank! The Boys Anti-Tank Rifle (film)

The brilliant forgottenweapons.com recently uploaded the instructional film made by Disney for the Canadian Army in 1940. The film begins with a classic Disney short before introducing the rifle properly. See my earlier post here for further details.

Read more on Forgottenweapons.com

11 years ago 21 notes

Tagged: #Boys Anti Tank Rifle #Disney #Anti-tank rifle #WWII #History #Military History #Firearms #.55 calibre #film #cinema history #bolt action rifle #video

Stop That Tank! The Boys Anti-Tank Rifle

In early 1942 Disney produced an instructional film for the Canadian Army on how to properly deploy and use the Boys Anti-Tank Rifle. Disney did valuable work creating instructional and propaganda films throughout the war for the US and allied governments. The film begins with a classic Disney-style animated short in which Hitler and his tanks attack a sleeping village only to be repulsed by a squad of camouflaged soldiers and their Boys Rifles.

Introduced in 1937, the Boys was widely issued to British and Commonwealth forces during the first 2 years of the war. However Axis armour quickly increased in thickness and made the rifle increasingly ineffective. It fired a .55 calibre round, slightly larger than the classic .50 BMG round, from a top loaded 5-round magazine. The film discusses how to load, aim and fire the rifle and where best to target a tank’s weaknesses.

Men of the 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers practise firing their Boys anti-tank rifles on the beach near Etaples, 6 February 1940. (source)

The films shows an animated cutaway explanation of the rifle’s workings and also includes a section on how to clean and care for the weapon. It was effective out to 300 yards, the .55 round would penetrate most light and medium tank’s armour and disintegrate and carry shrapnel from the armour plate into the crew space. Production ended in 1942 but the British and Commonwealth armies continued to issue the Boys as it found a new role as an anti-materiel weapon and against light armour. The slightly more effective PIAT replaced the Boys in 1942.

All screencaps taken from video source

If you enjoy the content please consider supporting Historical Firearms through Patreon!

11 years ago 1,036 notes

Tagged: #Boys Anti Tank Rifle #Boys #.55 Boys #.55 calibre #Disney #animation #Firearm #History #Military History #Anti-tank gun #firearms #British Army #PIAT #instructional film #propaganda film #cinema history #WWII #Second World War