its pretty much common knowledge that certain german weapons and equipment were sort after either as a souvenier or simply as it was better kit,but did axis troops seek to utilise allied small arms or equipment in the european theater,i know they did on the russian front. maybe someone could shed some light on the weapons and equipment the wehrmacht rated. andy
The Wehrmacht regularly used captured allied vehicles. This is a good read if you are interested: Achtung Panzer! - Captured/Foreign Equipment !. The Wehrmacht also made good use of captured allied artillery (specifically those captured in Barbarossa and France). I'm not so sure about infantry weapons, although the Browning Hi-Power pistol gained distinction as the only weapon to serve officially with both allied and axis sides in large numbers. Browning Hi-Power - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Here's a good selection - mostly german paratroopers using stens and browning .30 cals but a selection of others too. Axis History Forum • View topic - Photos - Germans with captured firearms
thanks for replying guys,i remember when i was a soldier we craved any type of foreign kit,sleeping bags,smocks etc,a weapons demo in which we got to fire a variety of different foreign weapons was a great day. it makes sense for any army to utillise captured weapons,i just wondered what they actually thought was good and sort to get. andy
The Germans were very quick to pick up 30 Cal. carbines . I have a book with a picture of a German soldier carrying a carbine and walking in front of a knocked out U.S. tank.At the battle of the bulge. All so Hermann Wilhelm Göring head of the Luftwaffe was carrying A Smith & Wesson M&P or Victory model 38 when they found him. papabyrd
As has been mentioned above, the .30 Carbine was a highly prized 'souvenir' among German troops. Another weapon which was seized upon was the Sten SMG ( the Germans even tried to produce a replica...). Especially sought-after was the MkV with wooden furniture ; many accounts of the fighting at Arnhem describe how keen Waffen-SS troops were to pick up a captured MkV. Another advantage of the Sten was that German ammo could be used....
What about the sound of the captured weapon, especially at night. An artillery piece is one thing, but other Germans may not know that is just Fritz pounding away with that Amis carbine he picked up. They might fire in that direction and kill ol' Fritz D E A D dead. I could see using an MG42/43 since they were better and people in your lines could determine that it is the captured weapon posted at that location, but could lead to confusion in a fluid battle. German weapons were made by at times slave labor. I would hate to pull the pin or ceramic ball on a string for a potato masher and have it go off instantly because some enslaved Pole figured out how to pay back their master for their deads. Then again the U.S. G.I. never thought of that at the time. Even Russian stuff in later wars was never built as reliable as ours and our people knew it then and stayed away from it. The AK was sought after but again that distinctive sound was dangerous to the user.
The Germans used other countries weapons when ammo was readily available. Usually captured when they were on the offensive and/or occupying countries. The M1 carbine was well liked by the German soldier but by the time it became commonly used in the war by the US, the Germans were on the defensive and not capturing quanities of US weapons and ammo, so generally the carbine for front line use was short lived and eventually discarded by the average German soldier due to lack of resupply of ammo. The Germans were on the offensive in the Bulge photos and ammo was temporary available but probably the soldier discarded the carbine later. They even had a hard time finding enough American uniforms at hand to equip the Gemans they sent in to confuse the Americans in the Bulge battle. Stens used the same ammo so not a problem. Ray