Interesting facts on the weapons of WWII

Polish AT-rifle WZ.35

Anti-tank rifle, model 35 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The weapon was initially a top secret of the Polish Army, and was also known by various codenames. Until mobilization in 1939, the combat-ready rifles were held in closed crates enigmatically marked, "Do not open; surveillance equipment."

After the fall of Poland, the German army captured large numbers of the kb ppanc wz.35 and used it as "Panzerbüchse 35 (polnisch)" (abbreviated "PzB 35(p)"). The Italian army also benefitted from the booty and used it under its own designation as "fucile controcarro 35(P)." Both names translate roughly as "Anti-tank Rifle 35 (Polish)."


Maroszek WZ 35, polish secret weapon - WW2inColor Talk

 

Dunlap continued on to become a top designer for the Douglas Aircraft in 1936. Here he worked on the first all metal skin stressed twin-engine bomber. This bomber was designated the B-18 "BOLO Bomber. Other models he was involved with were the B-23 "DRAGON" and the DC-5 high-winged transport.

David E. Dunlap

He was the sole designer of the main landing gear for the XB-19, 80 ton giant, experimental bomber. It was largest plane ever built as of 1941. The famous B-17's, B-24's and B-29's bombers used XB-19 technology in their designs.

It was physically the largest American aircraft yet built, and was to remain so until the completion of the Convair B-36 in 1946.


Goleta Air and Space Museum: Douglas XB-19

 

thats really interesting, my brother-in-law bought one last year, i'll have to check it to see if it is one of the exports ot an original.

 

KA-BAR

The KA-BAR is a 12-inch fighting and utility knife (7 inches making up the blade) first used by the US Marines in World War II.

As to its name,

Soon after its introduction in the mid-1920's, the KA-BAR trademark became widely known and respected. There have been many versions of how the KA-BAR name came to be, but all evidence points to a letter received from a fur trapper. This particular fur trapper's testimonial turned out to be the most significant ever received by the company.

He wrote, in very rough English, that his gun had jammed and that he had therefore relied on his knife to kill a wounded bear that was attacking him. In thanking the company for their quality product the trapper described using his knife to kill the bear. All that was legible of his scrawled writing was "k a bar". The company was so honored by this testimonial that they adopted this phrase and used it as their trademark, KA-BAR.

KA-BAR - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

On Me-163 Komet

The Messerschmitt Company had sub-contracted the production of the first 70 pair of wings to a factory in Zeulenroda. They had previously produced transport gliders. It was found during a quality control check in Regensburg that the main kingpin for the wing mounting connection had two millimeters of play. That could have caused catastrophic wing failure during high-speed flight. In the meantime, and, at the expense of considerable man-hours, all of the wings had had to be ripped open so that the production flaw could be corrected.

Top secret bird by Wolfgang Späte

 

It was impossible to plan for more than 190 Me-163´s because the vast quantities of hydrogen super oxide that were needed could not be produced. And at that time, it was still uncertain whether the hot engine( I think this means the engine for more than testing ) would ever be delivered from the Walter factory. The air frame had been completed precisely on schedule, but three-quarters of a year after the agreed delivery date, no one had seen anything of the first fully capable rocket engine.( winter-early spring 1943 )

Top Secret bird by Späte

 

Fallschirmjäger gravity knife ( pictures from a seller on a Finnish auction site )

 

Cannone da 90/53

Comando Supremo: Cannone Da 90/53

Of all the anti-aircraft guns in service with Italy from 1941-1943, none was better than the Cannone da 90/53. It was an excellent weapon that could stand comparison with any of its contemporaries and it was a good, sound and modern design. The Cannone da 90/53 was built and designed by Ansaldo and the first examples were produced in 1939, with production being authorized in three main versions.

By July 1943 only 539 weapons of all variants had been delivered. In July 1943, the production line fell into German hands and was continued for German use alone. German forces in North Africa had already had the 90/53 in service for some time as they recognized it was a good gun comparable with their own 88.

The Germans valued the 90/53 so highly that following the Italian surrender in July 1943, they impressed as many of the 90/53s as they could find and sent many of them back to Germany for defense of the Reich as the 9-cm Flak 41(i), although the official designation was the 9-cm Flak 309/l(i). By December 1944, 315 such guns are mentioned in German records, though many were emplaced in Northern Italy.

 

One Me 210A-0 was modified with a lengthened rear fuselage, being redesignated the Me 210V-17 on march 1942. A comparison between this aircraft and the earlier me 210 version left little doubt that the modification had a positive effect on the aircraft´s handling qualities. In July of 1942, another Me 210A-0 aircraft was fitted with wing leading edge slots. This modification was found to drastically improve the aircraft´s charateristics in a slide slip and these slats were ordered to be retrofitted to all Me 210´s.

From Me 210/410 in action by George Punka

 

Some older info I think is pretty interesting...

From a book on the German help to Finland 1944 by Hannu Valtonen.

" A good example how much resources are wasted in war is the 750 kgs weighing torpedo LT F5 that´s dropped from an aeroplane. You need 51,3 kgs of Chrome, 114 kgs of aluminium, 78,6 kgs of led, 374 kgs of Copper."

" Also the development of the air fleet is quite expensive. The prices are Reichsmarks from 1941 for German planes. The Hurricane is from 1940 and Spitfire 1943.The American planes are from 1942. The prices are changed into Reichcsmarks for the year. The engines are included in the price and the last number tells how many times more the plane is worth than BF 109 E.

BF 109E / 85 970 RM / -
Me 110 C / 210 140 / 2,4
Do 17 Z / 235 000 / 2,7
He 111 H / 265 000 / 3,1
Ju 88 A / 306 950 / 3,5
Ju 87 B / 131 175 / 1,5
AR 196 A / 124 000 / 1,4
Ju 52 / 163 000 / 1,9

Hurricane / 160 000 / 1,4
Spitfire / 180 000 / 2,1

P-47 / 422 000 / 4,9
P-38 / 482 000 / 5,6
P-51 / 235 000 / 2,7
B-17 / 1 035 000 / 12
B-24 / 1 217 000 / 14,2
B-29 / 3 575 000 / 41,6

 

Hispano-Suiza 20 mm

The gun was also licensed for use in the United States as the M1, with both the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) and U.S. Navy planning to switch to the 20 mm as soon as sufficient production was ready. A massive building program was set up, along with production of ammunition, in 1941. When delivered, the guns proved to be extremely unreliable and suffered a considerable number of misfires due to the round being "lightly struck" by the firing pin. The British were interested in using this weapon to ease production in England, but after receiving the M1 they were disappointed.

In April 1942 a copy of the British Mk.II was sent to the U.S. for comparison, the British version used a slightly shorter chamber and did not have the same problems as the U.S. version of the cannon. The U.S. declined to modify the chamber of their version, but nevertheless made other modifications to create the no-more-reliable M2. By late 1942 the USAAC had 40 million rounds of ammunition stored, but the guns remained unsuitable. The U.S. Navy had been trying to go all-cannon throughout the war, but the conversion never occurred. As late as December 1945 the Army's Chief of Ordnance was still attempting to complete additional changes to the design to allow it to enter service.

Hispano-Suiza HS.404 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

on Stuka Ju 87

" On June 1936, came an instruction from the Reich ministry, issued by von Richthofen. All work on the Ju 87 was to cease, while trials with the He 118 would be allowed to continue. Luckily for Junkers , the very next day Udet was appointed Director of the Reich Air Ministry technical department, and he immediately rescinded von Richthofen´s order. It was indeed a narrow escape for the Stuka."

From "Hitler´s Stuka Squadrons " by John Ward

 

http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/ha137.html

The plane that lost to Ju 87

Blohm and Voss Ha 137

Devised by Richard Vogt whilst working in Japan for Kawasaki, the Ha 137 was developed around a wing based on a single strong tubular spar which also would serve as the primary fuel tank. Though tests proved the the aircraft to be tough and manuverable and showed considerable promise, the Ha 137 was dropped in 1936 by the RLM for political reasons.

Blohm & Voss Ha 137 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The Germans believed that the effect of the bombs used against the troops in Greece had been reduced because the bombs had penetrated the ground before exploding. If the bombs could be made to explode a little above the hard stony ground on Crete, then the effect against ground troops would be more dramatic. The solution was to weld 60cm metal rods to the front of the bombs, with an 8cm metal disc on the end of the rod. This contraption became known as "Dinortstabe", (Dinort's rods after the originator of the idea, Oskar Dinort) and would cause the bombs to detonate some 30cm above the ground.

Stuka

 

The Vichy French in North Africa saw the Americans as more neutral since they had not participated in the war till 1942 therefore they hadn't seen combat in Syria etc againts the French. THe Americans had alos co opted a Vichy commander to displace De gaulle since he was seen as unreliable so they had much better relations with the French high command.

This was a partial success in that many frech units didn't fight and later served with distinction in Italy but the De gaul faction had the pro American vichy General assasinated. So both the British and the US were stuck with De Gaul.

Another big problem was that the British Sank using air strikes much of the French Navy when they looked like they might be handed over to Germany.

 

Ambrosini SAI.207

Comando Supremo: Ambrosini SAI.207

Between 10/38 and 4/39, Sergio Stefanutti designed the SAI.7 as a high-performance touring plane for the civil market. The SAI.7 possessed exceptionally clean lines, was of wooden construction with plywood skin

The high speed/power ratio of the SAI.7 caught the imagination of the Italian air force which saw considerable possibilities in the concept of a lightweight interceptor that could be built in large numbers without drawing on the country's strategic stockpile of aluminum alloys.

Flight trials began in 1942, and in the course of these, the first SAI.207 recorded a dive speed of 596 mph at 9,845 ft, corresponding to Mach .86.

The Italian air ministry ordered Ambrosini to begin work on a pre-production batch and placed an order for 2,000 production aircraft. In the event only 13 of the pre-production aircraft were completed, three of them being allocated to the 3rd Stormo Caccia Terrestre during 7/43 for operational trials. Italy secured an armistice with the Allies just two months later.

 

Dawn of the Smart Bomb

Henschel Hs-293 Glidebomb

The novelty and complexity of the Hs-293 were reflected in frequent hardware failures and manufacturing faults, resulting in what German sources claim was a dud rate of 28% per launch for KG 40 and 25% for KG 100, against a successful hit rate of 31% for KG 40 and 55% for KG 100. The Hs-293 was carried by the Fw-200 Condor, He-177 Greif, He-111H and Do-217K, with most installations including an exhaust duct to heat the rocket motor before release.

In perspective, the Hs-293 proved to be useful weapon, but dilution of development effort into too many variants hampered the refinement of the basic models.

 

The Bomber B program :

The Jumo 222 was a high power aircraft engine design from Junkers. The design failed to mature even after years of intensive development, dooming the entire Bomber B program along with it.

Junkers Jumo 222 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Jumo 222 was a massive and very costly failure. 289 222's were built in total, none to see active service. It also served to seriously hamper Luftwaffe designs from 1940 to 1942, when everyone waited for the 222 to finally start working. Meanwhile all calls for four-engine adaptations in place of two-engine 222 powered designs were rejected because it was felt it would place too much strain on the German engine industry. In the end there was nothing to show for it, and late in the war the Luftwaffe was flying barely-updated versions of their original pre-war designs.

 

Italy designed eight new tanks in the interwar period, of which four became first-line equipment. For Britain the figures are twenty-six and nine, United States twenty-eight and five,Germany thirteen and four, and France seventeen designs, of which eight became first-line equipment.

Iron Arm by John Joseph Timothy sweet

 

GERMAN GLASS SMOKE GRENADES

Lone Sentry: German Glass Smoke Grenades (WWII Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 36, October 21, 1943)

Blendkorper 1 H

This munition consists of a tear-drop shaped flask, 6 inches long with a maximum diameter of 2-1/2 inches, sealed at the upper end by drawing out the flask. The sealed tip is protected by a cardboard sleeve, sealed with a plaster of Paris type material. The flask weighs 13.2 ounces with 10.6 ounces of amber-colored titanium tetrachloride, (FM).

The munition is used by throwing against a hard surface which breaks the flask. The titanium tetrachloride then vaporizes, forming a smoke cloud which varies greatly with the relative humidity, being dense at a high humidity and thin at a low humidity.

The grenades are individually packed in a hexagonal, three-ply, corrugated paper container 6-1/2 inches long, by 3 inches square, wrapped in a transparent cellulose material. The top of the box has a handle which when pulled, removes the cover and flask.