Was the act of servicemen exchanging their weapons for enemy weapons common during WWII?
score:9
It did happen sometimes, and not only out of personal initiative of the soldiers but as a concentrated effort by the armies.
It mostly happened in the Eastern Front, were the Germans captured great quantities of Soviet materiel (and not only personal weapons), to the point that it became practical to give them to their own troops. Additionally, "second rate" materiel was given to the Axis allies, who lacked industrial capacity and were always starving for weapons.
In fact the Germans even had a standard way to rename the weapons; weapons of Russian origin would have a (r) in the name, Polish ones would have a (p), (f) stood for French...
Sometimes the weapons would be modified to adapt them to the ammunition of the receiving army, sometimes they would be passed to the troops "as is".
Some examples:
SVT-40, used by Germans (which renamed it the G.259(r)) and Finnish, among others
Image taken from http://fhsw.wikia.com/wiki/SVT_40PPSh-41 became the MP717(r)
Image taken from http://fhsw.wikia.com/wiki/PPSh-41
And it would not end with personal weapons. In particular, the Germans seem to have been very fond of captured Russian artillery, like the 7.62 cm Pak 36(r), which was a conversion of several different Russian models.
And of course, the tanks:
Upvote:4
Souvenirs mostly and alternatively used secondary weapons perhaps. Problem was American ammunition didn't fit German guns which were at that time metric and unless you could somehow convince the German army to supply you generally American troops didn't have the capacity to carry enough America ammo to negate resupply much less significant secondary German ammo.
Having said this an exception might be the Marines and Japanese soldiers in the Pacific. At Guadalcanal the marines fought without resupply for three months and relied on Japanese supplies including guns and ammo. According to John B George's Shots Fired in Anger, the Japanese used Dutch German and British arms in that battle. Japanese used Dutch Mannlichers, British Enfields and German Mausers and Krags on Guadalcanal.
Having said all this I've seen several German Lugers which were were valued souvenirs during WWII, I even saw a German Mauser infantry rifle which at the time I saw it the former American Army Air Corps, bomber crewmen, rear gunner who had traded for it explained to me how superior it was to the US army's M1.
Upvote:6
Another problem with using enemy weapons in combat was sound - Soldiers would get used to the sound of each weapon, and if they didn't know better (think fog of war) would shoot in that direction assuming enemy troops were there as well.
Edit:
Did some looking around and found some examples of where sound was important:
- In the second answer to this question, a mention is used of using enemy weapons as part of a patrol to confuse the enemy.
- The rangers at Pointe Du Hoc suffered four dead from "friendly fire" after using enemy weapons.
More post
- 📝 Is there a special name for the beginning of the 20th century?
- 📝 Who gave King Richard I the title Coeur de Lion?
- 📝 Any history to the current flag used by ISIL?
- 📝 What was the Jiangxi Soviet's language of operation between 1931 and 1934?
- 📝 What did the founding fathers of America think about immigration?
- 📝 Did Hezbollah kidnap Russian diplomats, and Russia subsequently dismember Hezbollah family members?
- 📝 How long did it take a typical capital warship to ramp up to flank speed?
- 📝 How have European countries affected the caste system in India?
- 📝 Battle of Seattle
- 📝 Was the 1959 Tibetan Uprising really an uprising?
- 📝 Ancient Isis Origin
- 📝 When did the U.S. Postal Service completely transition from horse-drawn to motorized transport?
- 📝 Why were there no nuclear detonations in 1959?
- 📝 Was simply addressing the English monarch wrongly ever a punishable crime?
- 📝 What was the largest battle axe used in battle?
- 📝 Who thought there might be a war between the British Empire and the United States of America in the 1920s?
- 📝 On what basis do some historians accuse the British government of genocide during the great Irish famine?
- 📝 What is Darius III wearing on his head?
- 📝 Why is there a difference in ordinal numbers of UK General Elections and Parliaments? Was a UK Parliament ever formed without an election?
- 📝 Why was there an Anglo-Saxon law banning sheepskin covered shields?
- 📝 How useful are mythological king lists and geneologies for historians?
- 📝 Why was China not colonized by any country?
- 📝 When was the first documented mention of mechanically generated electricity?
- 📝 Which Catholic priests were given diplomatic missions?
- 📝 Did the Portuguese and the Spanish have slaves on European soil working for them?
- 📝 What was the English Civil War called during the Protectorate?
- 📝 What treatment did Allied Jewish POWs get when captured by the Germans?
- 📝 Brown glass and WWII
- 📝 Was Apollo's birthday December 25th according to the Romans?
- 📝 Where are the relics of Anthony the Great?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Was the act of servicemen exchanging their weapons for enemy weapons common during WWII?
- 📝 Historically, why did the US station their nuclear weapons in Germany for delivery through German pilots?
- 📝 How common was it for people to live 80+ years in the 17th century?
- 📝 How common was it for un-documented ships to bring settlers to the American colonies 1700-1750
- 📝 How common was it for Americans to visit Europe in the late 19th century?
- 📝 What was the first instance of native Americans using gunpowder weapons in battle and did they ever make their own powder?
- 📝 Was it common practice for men to kiss on the lips in 1920s USA?
- 📝 How common was the German desire for revenge for the humiliation of 1918 armistice?
- 📝 What was the Soviet reasoning for developing their Airborne Forces (VDV) into a powerful military branch?
- 📝 In Montgomery, Alabama, how common was it to be arrested for sitting in the incorrect section of the bus?
- 📝 In XIXth century lower classes families, was it common for kids to witness their parent's intercourse?
- 📝 Was there an Act of Oblivion in 1686 for those involved in the Monmouth Rebellion 1685?
- 📝 Why did Uesugi Kenshin never marry? Was it common practice for Japanese Buddhists of the time?
- 📝 How common among Abolitionists was the goal of complete civil equality for Blacks?
- 📝 Was it common for unmarried couples to live in the same hotel room in Europe of the 1930es?
- 📝 What incentives were there for Soviet and Chinese politicians to try climb to the top when there was so much history of deposing their own?
- 📝 Was it common to address politicians by their first names / nicknames in the past?
- 📝 Was burning/disposing of furniture a common act during the Iranian Revolution?
- 📝 Was there social pressure among whites for slave owners to trade their slaves north in the 1850s?
- 📝 During the breakup of the Soviet Union, on what basis was citizenship granted or withheld for each of the fifteen new republics?
- 📝 Was it militarily possible to "island hop" the Philippines if not for MacArthur?
- 📝 Was there a plan to use nuclear weapons for terrain modification in North America?
- 📝 What was the reason for Soviet troops to withdraw from Yugoslavia in World War II?
- 📝 If the Ch’in dynasty was so short-lived, why was China named for it?
- 📝 Were Russians in the cold war era USA discriminated against for their ethnicity?
- 📝 Is there evidence to suggest the "war on drugs" was a cover for class warfare?
- 📝 What was the plan for an abort of the Enola Gay's mission to drop the atomic bomb?
- 📝 Given their reputation for fighting to the last man in the Pacific, why did 700,000 Japanese troops surrender in Manchuria?
- 📝 What was the economic basis for West Berlin?
- 📝 Was there a tax in the fifties for British citizens traveling abroad?