Suppressed Sten Mk4
Recently at the Las Vegas Antique Arms Show I had the chance to examine an extremely rare Sten variant - the silenced MkIVA. One of only a handful known to exist.
Check out the video:
Improvised Bazooka Mine
I recently came across an interesting segment in a January 1945 US Army Combat Bulletin newsreel. It showed men of B Company of the 238th Combat Engineers setting up improvised anti-tank mines in Belgium. The mines were fashioned from Bazooka rockets!
Check out the video below:
Vickers Gun In The Rhineland
In this final video of the Rhineland Campaign Weapons series we take a look at the little known role of the British and Commonwealth forces’ Vickers Guns. With the help of the Vickers MG Collection & Research Association we recreated a platoon line consisting of 4 Vickers Guns to recreate the Pepperpot tactics used during Operation Veritable – the western Allies’ invasion of Germany.
In this video we examine how Vickers Medium Machine Guns were used en masse to soften up enemy positions before Operation Veritable began and during the subsequent advance into the Rhineland. The Vickers was used alongside artillery, mortars and even anti-aircraft guns in what was known as a ‘pepperpot’ fire plan – where the focus was on weight of fire. The Vickers supported the advance through out the campaign and in this video we aimed to capture some of the feel of what those pepperpot bombardments might have been like – albeit on much, much smaller scale.
Home Guard Anti-Aircraft Gun
This footage from the 1944 British Ministry of Information film ‘One Man - Two Jobs’ shows Home Guard team manning a 20mm Anti-Aircraft gun. The film shows the various role that the Home Guard played in home defence. The sequence also shows members of the Home Guard manning Z-Battery AA rocket launchers and a huge 3.7in AA gun.
In this still we can see one of the assistant gunners bringing up a drum of 20mm ammunition. Note the large pedestal mount and anti-aircraft sights. At the rear of the gun is a large counter weight.
In this still we can see the gunner about to squeeze the trigger lever at the side of the gun as he looks through the sights.
This clip show’s the Home Guard manning a smaller 20mm cannon. The gun in question is likely a Hispano-Suiza Type 404 (H.S. 404), designated the Hispano 20mm, Mk1 gun in British service. Britain had acquired the license to produce the gun before the outbreak of war and the gun was extensively used to arm aircraft.
Source:
‘One Man - Two Jobs’, Ministry of Information, (source)
H/T - Neil Gibson for help IDing the cannon!
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The M1 Carbine Holster
The other day my co-host on the Fighting On Film podcast, Robbie McGuire, shared an interesting video of some US troops rehearsing embarkation and debarkation of a landing craft. Not only is the video interesting as the practice landing craft is made of concrete but also because it features an accoutrement that I’d never seen before.
The footage shows what appears to be a US artillery battery practicing for amphibious operations, possibly Operation Overlord. The battery is equipped with M101 105mm Howitzers, while their GMC trucks are mounted with M2 .50 calibre Brownings. Most of the men are armed with M1 carbines. The carbines aren’t slung but holstered.
Below are some more still from the footage that show how the men have their carbines holstered:
The holsters are worn on the right side and appear to clip into their M1936 pistol belts. While similar in concept to the M1 Carbine canvas jump holsters which could hold a paratrooper’s M1A1 with a folding stock these are designed for full-size, fully-stocked M1 Carbines.
The holsters appear to allow the carbine to move with the wearer’s body quite well, with the stock fitting under the armpit. Most of the enlisted men of the battery appear to be wearing them and are carrying out tasks such as manhandling the howitzers and running on and off the ‘landing craft’ with little hinderance.
Some, however, do have their holster’s slung as seen in these images below:
It appears that at least one full gun team have their carbines and holsters more conventionally slung with muzzles up. Perhaps the various gun teams were testing and experimenting with the new holsters. The official manual, FM 23-7 - US Carbine, Caliber 30, M1, for the carbine makes no mention of a holster for the weapon - even if it was designed initially as a sidearm for rear echelon troops. However, in summer 1942, the Field Artillery Replacement Training Center did mention it in a unit-authored appendix which noted:
“For dismounted marches or field exercises, the carbine may be slung over either shoulder, slung on the back with sling over left shoulder with muzzle down, or carried in the holster.”
Illustration of the holster in the Appendix to FARTC Pamphlet on Carbine
I’ve never seen footage of the M1 Carbine holsters before and have been able to find little written about them in either primary or secondary sources - some refer to it as experimental. They’re an interesting accoutrement for support troops who had manual roles to play that made carrying a weapon difficult.
Source:
World War 2 D-Day Training Braunton Burrows (source)
M1 Carbine Manual of Arms (source)
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Home Guard & Martini-Enfield Carbines
This short clip from the very end of the 1940 Ministry of Information film ‘Citizen’s Army’ about the Home Guard includes something very interesting. The whole film discusses the steadily professionalising Home Guard in an effort to inform, improve the public perception of the Home Guard and encourage more men to join.
It includes many scenes of Home Guard training with M1917 rifles, and training courses that featured EY grenade launching rifles, a Browning M1917 machine gun, an M1918 BAR and an M1928 Thompson (I bet that wasn't always present at the Home Guard courses!)
Home Guard with an M1928 Thompson & an M1918 BAR
Unsurprisingly throughout we see little hint of how dire the situation was within Home Guard and regular British Army's in terms of weapon equipment issue in 1940-41. Then in this last clip we get a hint - the section marching past the camera are armed with Martini-Enfield artillery carbines! A section of Home Guard file past the camera as if on patrol, they’re carrying the single shot carbines at the trail with no other equipment (such as helmets, webbing or gas masks) visible.
Home Guard with Martini-Enfield Artillery Carbines
We can quite clearly make out the profile and breech levers of the Martini-Enfields. No clearing rods are present which would suggest that the carbines are possibly Martini-Enfield Artillery Carbine MkII* or MkIIIs. It’s near impossible to tell from a silhouette. So there we have it, this brief appearance of some single shot carbines gives us a vital hint at some of Britain's small arms woes during the early period of the war.
Sources:
Citizen’s Army (1940), Imperial War Museum, (source)
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Extra Christmas Rations
This short film is part of the British Ministry of Food’s ‘Food Flashes’ series. Food Flashes were short, 30 second, public service films shown in cinemas between newsreels and main features. The idea was they’d keep the public informed about ration changes, uses of food, prevention of food wastage and general information about food that the Ministry of Food wanted to share with the general public.
This mid-war Food Flash covers the extra rations that civilians would be able to purchase with their Christmas ration allowance. It includes extra sugar, meat and sweets. The Food Flashes were quickly but clearly produced little films that were often presented in a matter of fact or humorous way. You can find many more of them on the Imperial War Museum’s website here.
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Happy holidays, stay safe, here’s to 2021!