Weapons
I noticed that most of the men carried either the M1 Garand or the M1 carbine. Was this a matter of choice or were they issued to them that way?
shareThroughout most of 1942 the Marines continued to be issued and carry the M1903 Springfield Rifle in caliber .30-06. The 06 means that the cartridge was developed in 1906. Late in 1942 the Marines began to issue the M1 Garand. The M1 Carbine also started being issued about the same time. I assess that the M1 Carbine was, like in U.S. Army units, issued to weapons squads who were carrying machine guns or mortars in order to reduce their total load.
Marines quickly found out that the M1 Carbine was lighter than the Garand and that it's ammo was also lighter. A lighter rifle and lighter ammo means that you can carry a lot more of it. It is also nice to carry a lighter weapon when you are weakened by malaria and crawling through a muddy jungle. So, many line Marines would grab an M1 Carbine given the opportunity.
The Garand has a lot more punch and is effective to 1000 yards, compared to the M1 Carbine's 300 yards and less powerful cartridge. However, most firefights occur with the two fire parties separated by less than 100 yards, so the extra effective range is often unneeded. The Carbine's smaller and slower bullet was also plenty powerful enough to stop an enemy soldier when put in the right spot. An analysis of this led twenty years later to the development of Eugene Stoner's AR-15 into the M-16 and then into the M-4.
Thanks. I figured weight had a lot to do with it. I have no experience with either weapon, having fired only the M14 and M16.
shareIf you've fired the M14 and the M16, then I think you've got an excellent reference. The M14 was originally designed as the M1A1, an automatic version of the M1 with a 20-round box magazine that could be inserted through the bottom. When they found that the .30-06 round (7.62 mm x 65 mm cartridge) produced so much recoil that the weapon was unmanageable in full-auto mode, they tried reducing the cartridge length to 54 mm with a corresponding decrease in propellant load. So, the M14 is comparable in weight (about a pound heavier fully loaded) to the M1.
The M16 was envisioned by Eugene Stoner and the U.S. Army as a lightweight replacement. They reduced the bullet diameter and the cartridge length (5.56 mm x 45 mm), again with a corresponding reduction in propellant load. The bullet was is so small (47 grains in ball, I think) that muzzle velocity is larger than with the M14 and ball (approximately 110 grain bullet, I think). So, the impact is still large, but the range is poor because the ballistic efficiency of the tiny bullet is poor. But, the weapon is much lighter (6 lbs with a 30-round magazine compared to 9.5 lbs with a 20-round magazine) than the M14 that it is a greater threat in a firefight.
So, the two rifles compare on the battlefield like the M1 Garand and the M1 Carbine in WW2. The line Doggie in Europe and even many officers (Major Winters) preferred the M1 so that they could reach out and touch the enemy. While people fighting in town or in jungle prefer the M1 Carbine for the maneuverability of the muzzle and the abiliy to carry more ammo. Today, a squad going house-to-house in Afghanistan or Iraq will opt for the M4 (current M16 family descendent) while a SEAL or Scout Sniper is going to opt for an M14 as a backup to the M40 (Remington 700) or M24.
Its all about the right weapon for the job.
...Even many officers (Major Winters) preferred the M1 so that they could reach out and touch the enemy.
No, Winters preferred to carry an M1 rifle so that he wouldn't stand out as an officer to be targeted by snipers. His war memoir is full of stories about green lieutenants getting hit by snipers because they weren't careful to disguise their rank. Winters would also hide his rank insignia, binoculars, map case, etc.--anything that would make him stand out as an officer. share
Thank you, wab;
Poor assumption on my part. I have heard (read) a lot about officers keeping a low profile to avoid such targeting. I had not read Major Winters memoirs, only the book by Stephen Ambrose.
And in spite of Winters keeping a low profile he always seemed to be at the forefront of everything E Company did during his tenure in command.
Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?
Winters talks a great deal about command leadership and the need to lead from the front in his memoirs. At the same time he give a lot of detail about his tactics to avoid being targeted as an officer and the stupid things that green lieutenants did that got themselves hit.
Interesting parallel: The Pacific has "Ack Ack" Haldane and BoB has Dick Winters, both apparently true exemplars as company commanders. Both series show instances of officers failing under combat conditions, but Winters is much more frank about their failings in his memoirs. In actuality, his battalion had a large percentage of bad replacement officers assigned to it after Normandy.
Back to the M1 Garand, I believe that Winters touches on the drawbacks of the M1A1 carbine as another reason he carried a Garand. They also weren't issues BAR's in the parachute infantry so more Garands meant more long-range rifle-caliber fire.
Interestingly, in The Pacific you see Thompsons being correctly employed at ranges of less than 50 meters, but in BoB there's tons of footage of seasoned NCO's spraying fire with Thompsons at dug-in targets 200-300m distant, which was just pointless.
The "Chopper" has a certain 'sex appeal' to it...which is no doubt why it was used on screen like that.
Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?
The BAR seems to be missing from this series, though, strangely. (as well as BoB)
I don't recall seeing the rifle at all in any scenes. I thought I read somewhere that it was a common and very useful weapon in the Pacific theater, but I could be wrong.
Can anyone shed more light on this?
"Where we're going, we won't need eyes to see."
Well I had heard that the paratroops didn't like the BAR because it was too heavy(mobility is everything) but in The Pacific, what can I say? I can only guess that the Sledge character was attached to a mortar squad, so they could only carry light weapons-hence no BARs with them.
Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?
That makes sense. I just figured you would at least see an extra or background character carrying one around. Maybe it's an expensive weapon to reproduce as a prop or replica.
"Where we're going, we won't need eyes to see."
You do see a few on Peleliu. You can also see a few Remington shotguns, which were also popular early in the war.
shareDude, you're like a Professor of Guns!
I just learned how to use the "Spoiler" button...
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