From: Steve Grammont (islander@midmaine.com)
Date: Tue Oct 08 2002 - 20:35:11 PDT
Hi David,
>And I do not purport myself to be an expert in the field of OVM, although
>I don't recall ever seeing a hand-held weapon listed on the OVM list for
>a US vehicle. My impression is that rifles and pistols were issued to
>individuals, not vehicles.
I can only speak from my knowledge of WWII TO&E. Tracked armored
vehicles were generally equipped with dedicated small arms (Thompsons, M3
Grease Guns and M1 Carbines for US vehicles for example, depending on
year, theater, and vehicle) that were everybit as much of the vehicle's
kit as a track jack, recovery cable, extra track lengths, etc. would be.
Softskinned vehicles were not outfitted with their own weapons from what
I have seen. However, in both cases crews were assigned their own
personal weapons in addition to whatever their vehicle might have had
assigned to it, which was generally a pistol for AFV crews and a
rifle/carbine for softskinned crews.
This is not hard and fast, absolutely all the time info but it was the norm.
A typical German tank/AG crew of five men, for example, would typically
have the following:
1xMG34 ball mounted for use by radio man
1xMG34 coax for use by turret crew (actual guy using it depended on vehicle)
1xMG34 or MG42 roof mounted for AA defense, but dismountable for security
purposes
1xMP40 SMGs for security pruposes (there might have been 2 in some vehicles)
This means that if we were lucky enough to see something like a MkIV we
would see 3xMGs and 1xSMG as standard equipment that no MkIV should have
been without. Well, unless knocked out and looted by trophy hungry GIs :-)
A German halftrack crew would typically have a MG34 or MG42 mounted in
the forward position, two rifles assigned to the two man crew. The
rifles could be done without, but the MG missing from thee forward mount
would be quite incorrect. Same with a Bren carrier, since it always had
at least one if not three Brens mounted on it. These were not assigned
to the crew but to the vehicle itself. Same thing for a Deuce with a gun
mount. These MGs are every bit as much a part of the vehicle as a main
tank gun is for a tank. The fact that they are detachable IMHO doesn't
make a difference from a purist standpoint (i.e. safety and PR concerns
not factoreed in).
Steve
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