My troops and I were continuously on the attack, although it is definitely no surprise, as we WERE experienced gunners. Some of us were even master gunners, like me. Soldiers under me were armed with Thompson .45’s before the war, and then we received the handy-dandy Bren light machine guns from the British. In my opinion, the Bren was the most useful weapon us, as it was so fast, at an amazing 500 rounds per minute, while staying accurate. All of my troops were impressed by the design and usefulness. Most of all, it could last for a much longer time before breaking down. We brought down full foot battalions with the Bren’s (with strategy, of course). We also had a frightening firsthand experience of the power of the Germans. Everyone knew that Hitler had broken every single point of the Treaty of Versailles, but we did not expect to see a sea of green uniforms, armed with MP40 submachine guns (“Schmeissers”), and new inventions like the MP44, one of the world’s pioneer assault rifles (and a dangerous one at that, having less recoil, with a speed of 500-600 rounds per minute). The worst, however, was the 88mm FLAK, the anti-tank AND anti-air powerhouse of a weapon. Operated by six men, it may have had a speed of eight rounds per minute, but it could shoot 10 600 metres in front of itself, or up to 14 680 metres high. My team and I watched with our gaping mouths as tanks were quickly blown up, and aircrafts were shot down in no time at all. Had we not found cover, we would have ended up just like the heaps of metal that once used to fight the Germans. Veterans, what kinds of weapons did you use? Do you remember any weapons you faced?
Of course I remember; though I was not part of the infantry, I was a tank commander in the armoured division. Throughout the Liberations of Italy and Holland, I have primarily commanded two tanks, depending on the abundance of ammunition for each tank: the Churchill and the Grizzly. The Churchill was a heavy British-built tank and was excellently matched with many German tanks, thanks to its 40 mm QF 2 pdr gun. Comparatively, the Grizzly was a Canadian-built version of the medium American M4 Sherman and was also well matched with the German tanks, with its massive 75mm M3 14 pdr. gun. In terms of armour, the Churchill had immensely thick 152mm armour while the Grizzly had mere 63mm armour. However, the Churchill had a mere range of 90 km and speed of 24 kph compared to the Grizzly’s range of 193 km and speed of 40 kph. Thus, I preferred commanding the trusty Grizzly when times called for speed and firepower but the heavy Churchill when the anti-tank guns came. Unfortunately, the German tanks we faced were far superior. The Panzer IV tank had a 75 mm KwK 40 L/48 gun, 75mm thick armour, a range of 200 km, and a speed of 42 kph. It was such an excellent tank that it matched or bettered almost all the specifications of both tanks that I commanded. The Panzer IV was certainly one of our worst fears as tank commanders.
ReplyDeleteHaha, nice question! After 5-6 years fighting in the air, It would be kind of weird to not know what kind of bullets and bombs I was dropping on those Germans. I used mainly 2 fighters in my time of service, the Hurricane and the Spitfire. The Hurricane used four 20mm Caliber Hispano Mk II cannons. These guns were autocannon that were both used in air and land battles. This gun replaced the 7.62mm machine guns that were used before the war started. The Hispano Mk II fires an amazing 700 rounds a minute and travels 880m a second! The Hurricane also had 2 equipped bombs, each weighing 250-500 pounds!! As for the Spitfire, they were equipped with the same cannons, the Hispano Mk II. Another add-on to the Spitfire was four 7.7mm Browning Machine guns at 350 rpg! This machine gun could fire 400-600 rounds a minute and fire from 2800 feet! Also, if I were to fight on land if my plane shot down, I would carry a small pistol such as the Browning HP or Colt M1911A1.
ReplyDelete(Major Rey Hypolito T.)
ReplyDeleteWe used V and C class destroyers. They were twin barrels and their range was up to 10 km. Those were not bad… not bad at all. They could spit out 120 rounds per barrel per minute! PER MINUTE! And on top of that they were easy to load. We mostly used SAP rounds. This killing machine was mounted on a rotating base. But then we replaced this mounting with less complicated and more reliable Mk.V mountings. But that was only for the anti- aircrafts.
The Arado Ar 234 "Blitz" (or "Lightning") was part of the German success. The system was the world's first purpose-built jet bomber to ever enter service, and this was all done by 1944 with over 200 models produced by war's end. It was of a basic design, though cutting-edge in many regards. Early developmental models were too skinny to accommodate any type of retractable landing gear system and thusly were fitted with a dolly that could be jettisoned during takeoff. This allowed a retractable skid to be deployed for landings. Multiple models were produced during the development of the Ar 234 including a four-engined derivative that would eventually be produced to some extent.