Second World War (2)

World War 2 Holocaust

The word 'Holocaust', from the Greek word 'holokauston' meaning "a burnt sacrifice offered to God", originally referred to a sacrifice Jews were required to make by the Torah, and later to large scale catastrophes or massacres. Due to the theological meaning that this word carries, many Jews find the use of this word problematic, as it could imply that Jews were a sacrifice. Instead of holocaust many Jews prefer the Hebrew word Shoah, which means "desolation".

While nowadays the term 'Holocaust' usually refers to the above-mentioned large-scale killings of Jews, it is also sometimes used to refer to other occurrences of genocide, especially the Armenian and Hellenic Holocausts, the murder of about 2.5 million Christians by the Young Turk government between 1915 and 1923.

However, the Turkish government officially denies that there was any genocide, claiming that most of the deaths resulted from armed conflict, disease and famine during the turmoil of World War I, despite the fact that most casualties occured in villages far from the battlefield and that there is historical proof this was a systematic attempt to wipe out all non-Muslims.

In some circles, the term holocaust is used to describe the systematic murder of the other groups which were exterminated in the same circumstances by the Nazis, including ethnic Roma and Sinti (also known as Gypsies), political dissidents, communists, homosexuals, mental patients, Jehovah's Witnesses, Russians, Poles, and other Slavs, raising the total number of victims of Nazis to between ten and fourteen million civilians, and up to 4 million POWs.

Today, the term is also used to describe other attempts at genocide, both before and after World War II, or more generally, for any overwhelmingly massive deliberate loss of life, such as that which would result from nuclear war, hence the phrase "Nuclear Holocaust".

Shoa, also spelled Shoah and Sho'ah, Hebrew for "Destruction", is the Hebrew term for the Holocaust. It is used by many Jews and a growing number of Christians due to theological discomfort with the literal meaning of the word Holocaust; it is considered theologically offensive to imply that the Jews of Europe were a sacrifice to God.

It is nonetheless recognized that most people who use the term Holocaust do not intend such a meaning. Similarly, many Roma (Gypsy) people use the word Porajmos, meaning "Devouring" to describe the Nazi attempt to exterminate that group.

One feature of the Nazi Holocaust that distinguishes it from other mass murders was the systematic method with which the mass killings were conducted. Detailed lists of present, and future, potential victims were made and meticulous records of the killings have been found.

In addition, considerable effort was expended over the course of the Holocaust to find increasingly efficient means of killing more people, for example, by switching from carbon monoxide poisoning in the Aktion Reinhard death camps of Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka to the use of Zyklon-B at Majdanek and Auschwitz; gas vans using carbon monoxide for mass killings were used in the Chelmno death camp.

In addition to mass killings, Nazis conducted many experiments with prisoners, children inclusive. Dr. Josef Mengele, one of the most widely known Nazis, was known as the "Angel of Death" by the inmates of Auschwitz, for his experiments.

The full extent of what was happening in German-controlled areas was not known until after the war. However, numerous rumors and eye-witness accounts from escapees and others did give some indication that Jews were being killed in large numbers. Some protests were held. For example on October 29, 1942 in the United Kingdom, leading clergymen and political figures held a public meeting to register outrage over Germany's persecution of Jews.

Concentration and Extermination Camps

Concentration camps for, "undesirables," were spread throughout Europe, with new camps being created near centers of dense "undesirable" populations, often focusing on heavily Jewish, Polish intelligentsia, communists, or Roma groups. Most of the camps were located on the area of General Government.

Concentration camps for Jews and other, "undesirables," also existed in Germany itself, and while not specifically designed for systematic extermination, many concentration camp prisoners died because of harsh conditions or were executed.

Some camps, such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, combined slave labor with systematic extermination. Upon arrival in these camps, prisoners were divided into two groups: those too weak for work were immediately murdered in gas chambers (which were sometimes disguised as showers) and their bodies burned, while others were first used for slave labor in factories or industrial enterprises located in the camp or nearby.

The Nazis also forced some prisoners to work in the removal of the corpses and to harvest elements of the bodies. Gold teeth were extracted from the corpses and women's hair (shaved from the heads of victims before they entered the gas chambers) was recycled for use in products such as rugs and socks.

Three camps--Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka II--were used exclusively for extermination. Only a small number of prisoners were kept alive to work at the task of disposing of the bodies of people murdered in the gas chambers.

The transport was often carried out under horrifying conditions using rail freight cars.

Jews

Anti-Semitism was common in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s (though its history extends far back throughout many centuries during the course of Judaism). Adolf Hitler's fanatical anti-Semitism was laid out in his 1925 book Mein Kampf, which became popular in Germany once he acquired political power. On April 1, 1933 the recently elected Nazis under Julius Streicher organized a one-day boycott of all Jewish-owned businesses in Germany (the last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany were closed on July 6, 1939). This policy helped to usher-in a series of anti-Semitic acts that would eventually culminate in the Jewish Holocaust.

In many cities throughout Europe, Jews had been living in concentrated areas. During the first years of World War II, the Nazis formalized the borders of these areas and restricted movement, creating modern ghettos to which Jews were confined. The ghettos were, in effect, prisons, in which many Jews died from hunger and disease; others were executed by the Nazis and their collaborators.

Concentration camps for Jews existed in Germany itself. During the invasion of the Soviet Union over 3,000 special killing units (Einsatzgruppen) followed the Armed Forces and conducted mass killings of the Jewish population that lived on Soviet territory. Entire communities were wiped out by being rounded up, robbed of their possessions and clothing, and shot at the edges of ditches.

In December of 1941 Hitler has finally decided to exterminate the Jews of Europe. In January of 1942, during the Wannsee conference, several Nazi leaders discussed the details of the "final solution of the Jewish question" (Endlösung der Judenfrage).

Dr. Josef Buhler pushed Heydrich to take off the final solution in the General Government. They began to systematically deport the Jewish populations of the ghettos and from all occupied territories to extermination camps, such as Auschwitz and Treblinka II.

Homosexuals

Homosexuals were another of the groups targeted during the time of the Holocaust. However, the Nazi party made no attempt to exterminate all homosexuals; according to Nazi law, being homosexual itself was not grounds for arrest. Some prominent members of the Nazi leadership were known to other Nazi leaders to be homosexual, which may account for the fact that the leadership offered mixed signals on how to deal with homosexuals. Some leaders clearly wanted homosexuals exterminated; others wanted them left alone, while others wanted laws against homosexual acts enforced, but otherwise allowed homosexuals to live as other citizens did.

Estimates vary wildly as to the number of homosexuals killed. They range from as low as 10,000 to as high as 600,000. The large variance is partly dependent on how researchers tally those who were Jewish and homosexual, or even Jewish, homosexual and communist. In addition, records as to the reasons for internment remain non-existent in many areas. See Homosexuals in Nazi Germany for more information.

Gypsies

Hitler's campaign of genocide against the Roma people of Europe was seen by many as a particularly bizarre application of Nazi racial science. German anthropologists were forced to contend with the fact that Gypsies were descendants of the original Aryan invaders of India, who made their way back to Europe. Ironically, this made them no less Aryan than the German people itself, in practice if not in theory. This dilemma was resolved by Professor Hans Gunther, a leading racial scientist, who wrote:

"The Gypsies have indeed retained some elements from their Nordic home, but they are descended from the lowest classes of the population in that region. In the course of their migration, they absorbed the blood of the surrounding peoples, thus becoming an Oriental, West-Asiatic racial mixture with an addition of Indian, mid-Asiatic, and European strains."

As a result, however, and despite discriminatory measures, some groups of Roma, including the Sinti and Lalleri tribes of Germany, were spared deportation and death. Remaining Gypsy groups suffered much like the Jews (and in some instances, were degraded even more than Jews). In Eastern Europe, Gypsies were deported to the Jewish ghettoes, shot by SS Einsatzgruppen in their villages, and deported and gassed in Auschwitz and Treblinka.

Others

Slavic people were targeted by the Nazis, mostly intellectuals and prominent people, although there were some mass murders and instances of genocide (Croatian Ustashe as the most notorious example).

During Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union 1941-1944, hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Russian army POWs were arbitrarily executed in the field by the invading German armies, in particular by the notorious Waffen S.S., or were shipped to the many extermination camps for execution simply because they were of Slavic extraction. Thousands of Russian peasant villages were annihilated by German troops for more or less the same reason.

Around 2000 Jehovah's Witnesses perished in concentration camps, where they were held for political and ideological reasons, as they refused involvement in politics, would not say "Heil Hitler" and did not serve in the German army. - See Jehovah's Witnesses and the Holocaust.

On August 18, 1941, Adolf Hitler ordered an end to the systematic euthanasia of mentally ill and handicapped people due to protests within Germany.

Extent of the Holocaust

The exact number of people killed by the Nazi regime is still subject to further research. Recently declassified British and Soviet documents have indicated the total may be somewhat higher than previously believed. However, the following estimates are considered to be highly reliable.

• 5.6–6.1 million Jews


• 3.5–6 million Slavic civilians


• 2.5–4 million POWs


• 1–1.5 million political dissidents


• 200 000–800 000 Roma & Sinti


• 200 000–300 000 handicapped


• 10 000–250 000 homosexuals


• 2 000 Jehovah's Witnesses

The Triangles

To identify prisoners in the camps according to their "offense", they were required to wear colored triangles on their clothing. Although the colors used differed from camp to camp, the colors most commonly were:

• Yellow: Jews -- two overlaid to form a Star of David, with the word "Jude" (Jew) inscribed


• Red: political dissidents, including communists


• Green: common criminals


• Purple: Jehovah's Witnesses


• Blue: immigrants


• Brown: Roma and Sinti (Gypsies)


• Black: Lesbians and "anti-socials"


• Pink: Gay men

Historical Interpretations

As with any historical event, scholars continue to argue over what, exactly, happened, and why. Among the major questions historians have sought to answer are:

• how many people were killed in the Holocaust?


• who was directly involved in the killing?


• who authorized the killing?


• who knew about the killing?


• why did people directly participate in, authorize, or tacitly accept the killing?

Functionalism versus Intentionalism

A major issue in contemporary Holocaust studies is the question of functionalism versus intentionalism. Intentionalists argue that the Holocaust was planned by Hitler from the very beginning. Functionalists hold that the Holocaust was started in 1942 as a result of the failure of the Nazi deportation policy and the impending military losses in Russia. They claim that extermination fantasies outlined in Hitler's Mein Kampf and other Nazi literature were mere propaganda and did not constitute concrete plans.

Another controversy was started by the historian Daniel Goldhagen, who argues that ordinary Germans were knowing and willing participants in the Holocaust, which he claims had its roots in a deep eliminative German anti-Semitism. Others claim that while anti-Semitism undeniably existed in Germany, the extermination was unknown to many and had to be enforced by the dictatorial Nazi apparatus.

Revisionists and Deniers

Some groups, commonly referred to as "Holocaust deniers", deny that the Holocaust happened. Many of the Holocaust deniers are neo-Nazis or just antisemites.

Holocaust revisionism claims that far fewer than 5-6 million Jews were killed, and that the killing was not a result of deliberate Nazi policy. Although Holocaust revisionists claim to present documentary evidence to support their claims, critics argue that the evidence is flawed, the research is specious, and the conclusions are pre-determined. Many claim that such revisionism is a form of Anti-Semitism and tantamount to denial.

Holocaust Theology

In light of the magnitude of what was seen in the Holocaust, many people have re-examined the classical theological views on God's goodness and actions in the world. How can people still have any faith after the Holocaust? For the theological responses to questions raised by the Holocaust, see Holocaust theology.

Political Ramifications

The Holocaust has had a number of political and social ramifications which reach to the present. The need to find a homeland for many Jewish refugees led to a great many Jews emigrating to Palestine, most of which was soon to become the modern State of Israel. This immigration had a direct effect on the Arabs of the region, which is discussed in the articles on the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in many articles linked to these.

World War 2 Atomic Bomb

On August 6 and 9, 1945, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by the first atomic bombs used in warfare.

The first atomic bomb ever to be used in a military operation was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan On August 6, 1945 at 8:16:02 a.m. Hiroshima time. The bomb, affectionately named "Little Boy," exploded 1,900 feet above the courtyard of Shima Hospital, with a force equivalent to 12,500 tons of TNT. By the end of 1945, 140,00 people had died as a direct result of the bombing. Within the following five years, another 60,000 would die of bomb-related causes.

The bomb killed men, women, and children indiscriminately. It killed both military personnel and civilians. Although the city produced military items and housed soldiers, it was not selected as a "purely military target" as President Truman had promised. There were six civilians in Hiroshima to every soldier.

The second bomb, called "Fat Man," exploded over Nagasaki, Japan, at 11:02 a.m. on August 9, 1945. It exploded at 1,650 feet with a force of 22,000 tons of TNT. 70,000 people lost their lives in Nagasaki by the end of 1945 due to the bombing. A total of 140,00 died within the next five years.

Hiroshima
During World War II, Hiroshima was a city of considerable military importance. It contained the 2nd Army Headquarters, which commanded the defense of all of southern Japan. The city was a communications center, a storage point, and an assembly area for troops. To quote a Japanese report, "Probably more than a thousand times since the beginning of the war did the Hiroshima citizens see off with cries of 'Banzai' the troops leaving from the harbor."

The center of the city contained a number of reinforced concrete buildings as well as lighter structures. Outside the center, the area was congested by a dense collection of small wooden workshops set among Japanese houses; a few larger industrial plants lay near the outskirts of the city.

The houses were of wooden construction with tile roofs. Many of the industrial buildings also were of wood frame construction. The city as a whole was highly susceptible to fire damage.

Some of the reinforced concrete buildings were of a far stronger construction than is required by normal standards in America, because of the earthquake danger in Japan. This exceptionally strong construction undoubtedly accounted for the fact that the framework of some of the buildings which were fairly close to the center of damage in the city did not collapse.

Another is that the blast was more downward than sideways; this has much to do with the "survival" of the Prefectural Promotional Hall (pictured), which was only a few metres from the aiming point.

The population of Hiroshima had reached a peak of over 380,000 earlier in the war but prior to the atomic bombing the population had steadily decreased because of a systematic evacuation ordered by the Japanese government. At the time of the attack the population was approximately 255,000. This figure is based on the registered population, used by the Japanese in computing ration quantities, and the estimates of additional workers and troops who were brought into the city may not be highly accurate.

Hiroshima was the primary target of the first U.S. nuclear attack mission. The mission went smoothly in every respect. The weather was good, and the crew and equipment functioned perfectly. In every detail, the attack was carried out exactly as planned, and the bomb performed exactly as expected.

The bomb exploded over Hiroshima at 8:15 on the morning of August 6, 1945. About an hour previously, the Japanese early warning radar net had detected the approach of some American aircraft headed for the southern part of Japan. The alert had been given and radio broadcasting stopped in many cities, among them Hiroshima.

The planes approached the coast at a very high altitude. At nearly 8:00 A.M., the radar operator in Hiroshima determined that the number of planes coming in was very small - probably not more than three - and the air raid alert was lifted. The normal radio broadcast warning was given to the people that it might be advisable to go to shelter if B-29's were actually sighted, but no raid was expected beyond some sort of reconnaissance.

At 8:16 A.M., the B-29 Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb called "Little Boy" over the central part of the city and the bomb exploded with a blast equivalent to 12,000 tons of TNT, killing 80,000 outright.

At the same time, Tokyo control operator of the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation noticed that the Hiroshima station had gone off the air. He tried to use another telephone line to reestablish his program, but it too had failed. About twenty minutes later the Tokyo railroad telegraph center realized that the main line telegraph had stopped working just north of Hiroshima. From some small railway stops within ten miles of the city there came unofficial and confused reports of a terrible explosion in Hiroshima. All these reports were transmitted to the Headquarters of the Japanese General Staff.

Military headquarters repeatedly tried to call the Army Control Station in Hiroshima. The complete silence from that city puzzled the men at Headquarters; they knew that no large enemy raid could have occurred, and they knew that no sizeable store of explosives was in Hiroshima at that time. A young officer of the Japanese General Staff was instructed to fly immediately to Hiroshima, to land, survey the damage, and return to Tokyo with reliable information for the staff. It was generally felt at Headquarters that nothing serious had taken place, that it was all a terrible rumor starting from a few sparks of truth.

The staff officer went to the airport and took off for the southwest. After flying for about three hours, while still nearly 100 miles from Hiroshima, he and his pilot saw a great cloud of smoke from the bomb. In the bright afternoon, the remains of Hiroshima were burning.

Their plane soon reached the city, around which they circled in disbelief. A great scar on the land, still burning, and covered by a heavy cloud of smoke, was all that was left of a great city. They landed south of the city, and the staff officer immediately began to organize relief measures, after reporting to Tokyo.

Tokyo's first knowledge of what had really caused the disaster came from the White House public announcement in Washington, sixteen hours after the nuclear attack on Hiroshima. By the end of 1945, it is estimated that 60,000 more people died due to nuclear fallout sickness. However, this total does not include longer term casualties from radiation exposure.

Starting almost immediately after the conclusion of World War II, and continuing to the present day, the dropping of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been questioned. Their use has been called barbarian since, besides destroying a military base and a military industrial center, tens of thousands of civilians were killed.

Some have claimed that the Japanese were already essentially defeated, and that use of the bombs was unnecessary. Some have also suggested that a demonstration of an atomic bomb in an uninhabited region should have been attempted.

In reply, defenders of the decision to use the bombs say that it is almost certain that the Japanese would not have surrendered without their use, and that hundreds of thousands - perhaps millions - would have perished in the planned U.S. invasion of Japan.

To support their argument, they point out that the Japanese agreed to surrender only after the second bomb was dropped, when it was evident that the first was not an isolated event, and future prospects were for a continuing rain of such bombs. Actually, the U.S. did not have another atomic bomb ready after the bombing of Nagasaki due the difficulty of producing fissile material. Regarding the suggestion of a demonstration, they maintain that, given the mind-set of the Japanese at the time, it is unlikely that any conceivable benign demonstration would have induced surrender.

Others contend that Japan had been trying to surrender for at least two months, but the US refused by insisting on an unconditional surrender—which they did not get even after the bombing, the bone of contention being retention of the Emperor.

Tens of thousands of people marked the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city on August 6, 1985.

Nagasaki
The city of Nagasaki had been one of the largest sea ports in southern Japan and was of great war-time importance because of its many and varied industries, including the production of ordnance, ships, military equipment, and other war materials. The narrow long strip attacked was of particular importance because of its industries.

In contrast to many modern aspects of Nagasaki, the residences almost without exception were of flimsy, typical Japanese construction, consisting of wood or wood-frame buildings, with wood walls with or without plaster, and tile roofs. Many of the smaller industries and business establishments were also housed in wooden buildings or flimsily built masonry buildings.



Nagasaki had been permitted to grow for many years without conforming to any definite city zoning plan and therefore residences were constructed adjacent to factory buildings and to each other almost as close as it was possible to build them throughout the entire industrial valley.

Nagasaki had never been subjected to large scale bombing prior to the explosion of a nuclear weapon there. On August 1st, 1945, however, a number of high explosive bombs were dropped on the city. A few of these bombs hit in the shipyards and dock areas in the southwest portion of the city. Several of the bombs hit the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works and six bombs landed at the Nagasaki Medical School and Hospital, with three direct hits on buildings there.

While the damage from these few bombs were relatively small, it created considerable concern in Nagasaki and a number of people, principally school children, were evacuated to rural areas for safety, thus reducing the population in the city at the time of the nuclear attack.

At 11:02 am on August 9, 1945, the American B-29 Superfortress "Bockscar," in search of the shipyards, instead spotted the Mitsubishi Arms Works through a break in the clouds. On this target, it dropped the nuclear bomb Fat Man, the second nuclear weapon to be detonated over Japan. Even though the "Fat Man" missed by over a mile and a half, it still leveled nearly half the city. 75,000 of Nagasaki's 240,000 residents were killed, followed by the death of at least as many from resulting sickness and injury.

However another report issues a different residental number, speaking of Nagasaki's population which dropped in one split-second from 422,000 to 383,000, thus 39,000 were killed, over 25,000 were injured.

If taken into account those who died from radioactive materials causing cancer, the total number of casualties is to be believed at least 100,000 killed residents. Estimates from physicists who have studied each atomic explosion state that the bomb that was used had utilized only 1/10th of 1 percent of their respective explosive capabilities.

The city was rebuilt after the war, albeit dramatically changed, as any city would be after such colossal damage. New temples were built, and new churches as well, since the Christian presence never died out and even increased dramatically in numbers after the war.

Some of the rubble was left as a memorial, like the one-legged torii gate and a stone arch near ground zero. New structures were also raised as memorials, such as the Atomic Bomb Museum. Nagasaki remains first and foremost a port city, supporting a rich shipping industry and setting a strong example of perseverance and peace.

Second World War Weapons

Karabiner 98k

The Karabiner 98k was a German rifle introduced into general service in 1898. It was manufactured by the Mauser armory in huge quantities until it became obsolete after WWII. The 98K is a bolt action rifle that holds five rounds of 7.9mm on a stripper clip. It was the primary German infantry rifle in both world wars, and was noted for its excellent accuracy and effective range of 800 meters.

For this reason it continued to be used with a telescopic sight as a sniper rifle, after it was obsolete as a standard weapon. The 98k had the same disadvantages as all other turn of the century military rifles, that being bulky and heavy and slow rate of fire. It was also designed to be used with a bayonet and to fire special grenades. A version with a folding stock was introduced in 1941 to be used by airborne marksmen.

Towards the end of the war the 98K was being phased out in favor of the much more advanced SG44.

Karabiner 98k

The Karabiner 98k was a German rifle introduced into general service in 1898. It was manufactured by the Mauser armory in huge quantities until it became obsolete after WWII. The 98K is a bolt action rifle that holds five rounds of 7.9mm on a stripper clip. It was the primary German infantry rifle in both world wars, and was noted for its excellent accuracy and effective range of 800 meters.

For this reason it continued to be used with a telescopic sight as a sniper rifle, after it was obsolete as a standard weapon. The 98k had the same disadvantages as all other turn of the century military rifles, that being bulky and heavy and slow rate of fire. It was also designed to be used with a bayonet and to fire special grenades. A version with a folding stock was introduced in 1941 to be used by airborne marksmen.

Towards the end of the war the 98K was being phased out in favor of the much more advanced SG44.

Sturmgewehr 44

The Sturmgewher 44 was the world's first true assault rifle and was introduced by the German army late in WWII. It was the direct inspiration for the Russian AK47, the most prolific gun in the world. If the war had continued another year, the SG44 would have replaced every other rifle, ligh machine gun, and submachine gun in the Wehrmacht, including the antique Karabiner 98k and anemic MP38.

The SG44 was revolutionary in that it combined the best elements of both rifles and submachine guns. It fired an intermediate cartridge that was powerful enough to hit targets accurately at long ranges, yet not so overwhelming that automatic fire became impossible.

The SG44 was originally called the Maschinenpistol 43, but when Hitler cancelled the MP43 project for dubious reasons, its designers were so confident in its benefits, they changed the name and secretly continued research.

The assault rifle proved an invaluable weapon, especially on the Eastern front, where it was first deployed. A properly trained soldier with an SG44 had a greatly improved tactical repertoire, in that he could effectively engage targets at long range across open terrain, or in close range urban fighting, as well as provide cover fire in all situations as a machine gun role.

The wisdom of the assault rifle concept has been born out in that, with the exception of a few specialized positions such as the sniper, virtually every soldier in every army today carries a descendent of the SG44.

Thompson M1

Also known as the Tommy Gun, the Thompson was a popular submachine gun that became [in]famous during prohibition, when gangsters would use it because of the high volume of automatic fire it made available from such a compact firearm and it could be attained legally.

Designed during World War I by General John T. Thompson, the Tommy Gun was available in the .45 Caliber ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) cartridge, and was used by the US Army through WW2. The means of operation is direct blow-back, although early models made use of the Blish lock, turning the mechanism into a delayed blow-back system. After WW2 it saw limited service in Korea, and was carried unofficially by a smattering of soldiers in Vietnam. Domestically, it was used by law enforcement, most prominently by the FBI, until 1976 when it was declared obsolete, and all Thompsons in government possession were destroyed, except for a few token museum peices and training models. Owing to both its gangster and WWII connections, Thompsons are highly sought after collector's items. An original 1928 gun in working condition can easily fetch $15,000. Semi-auto replicas are currently produced by the Auto-Ordnance Company, which is operated as a division of Kahr firearms.

M1 Garand

The Garand (M1) was the first semi-automatic rifle to be put in active military service. It weighed 9 pounds 8 ounces unloaded, and was 43.5 inches long. Simple in construction and easy to maintain, the rifle fired a standard clip of eight rounds, originally .276" caliber but later modified to .30" caliber. (The prototype rifles in .276 had a capacity of 10 rounds.)

It was developed by weapons designer, John Garand in the 1930s and the .30" caliber weapon became the standard long arm of the US Army, entering service in 1936. It served through World War II and the Korean War where it proved to be an excellent weapon to the point where the Axis Powers used as many as they could capture. Some were still being used in the Vietnam War in 1963, although it was officially superseded by the M14 rifle in 1957.

It did have its defects. The magazine held 8 cartridges, which were loaded by inserting an "en bloc" clip containing them into the rifle. It was not possible to load single rounds, so a partially discharged magazine could not be easily refilled. When the rifle fired the last round, it automatically ejected the clip, producing a loud high-pitched "ping" sound, although this generally could not be heard over the din of battle, despite the commonly-heard myth to the contrary.

Despite these problems, the rifle was well-received in several quarters. Gen. George S. Patton called it "the greatest implement of battle ever devised." The rifle remains popular with civilian weapons collectors and enthusiasts in the United States.

MP38/40

The MP38 was the standard German submachine gun of WWII. As the number in its name suggests, it was first issued in 1938. Two years later, it was replaced by the MP40, which was identical except used less expensive stamped metal for certain parts, which was more cost effective for a mass produced weapon. It was a very successful firearm and even Allied forces preferred them over their own submachine guns and scavenged MP40s whenever possible. The design was copied by other countries both during and after the war.

M1 Carbine

The M1 Carbine is a carbine version of the Garand semi-automatic rifle that was a standard firearm in the USA military during World War II and the Korean War.

The basic idea of the gun was in response to the blitzkrieg tactical doctrine of the Axis. Facing an enemy that used this tactical approach meant that support troops could come under direct attack by front line forces. In anticipation for this possibility, this carbine was commissioned to supply an adequate defensive weapon to those troops.

However, the weapon was also adopted by regular troops since it had a good rate of fire and a superior range to a submachine gun, but it was less unwieldly than a regular M1 Garand rifle which made it suitable for close quarters combat. The folding version was also favored by paratroopers, due to its low weight and compactness, yet was more powerful than the previously issued Tommy Guns.

During the two wars in which it was used, 6.25 million M1 Carbines of various models were manufactured, thus making it the most produced small arm in American military history.

Colt M1911

The M1911 is a .45" caliber, single action, semi-automatic handgun, originally designed by John Browning, which was the standard-issue handgun in the combat arm of the United States Armed Forces from 1911 to 1985.

The weapon had its origins in problems encountered by American units fighting Moro insurgents during the Philippine-American War in which the then-standard .38" caliber revolver was found to be unsuitable for the rigors of jungle warfare. The Army formed an Ordnance Board, headed by John T. Thompson, to select a more suitable weapon. The board decided a .45" caliber weapon would be most appropriate, and took bids from six firearms manufacturing companies in 1906.

Of the six designs submitted, two were selected for field testing in 1907, one of them being Colt's model, which Browning had basically modified to government specifications from an earlier autoloading .38" caliber design of his. A series of field tests was designed to decide between the two finalists (the other being a design by Arthur Savage) and the Colt passed with flying colors, firing 6,000 rounds non-stop (a record at the time).

The weapon was formally adopted by the Army on March 29, 1911, thus gaining its nomenclature. It was adopted by the Navy and Marine Corps in 1913. Originally manufactured only by Colt, demand for the firearm for use in World War I saw the expansion of manufacture to the government-owned Springfield Armory.

Battlefield experience in the First World War led to a redesign of the weapon, completed in 1926, and named the M1911A1. Changes to the original design were exceedingly minor (shorter trigger, recess near the trigger frame, etc.); for this reason, those unfamiliar with the sidearm are often unable to tell the difference between the two models at a glance, and also for this reason those familiar with the weapon consider its design one of the most effective in the history of firearms. The soundness of design is also borne out in its longevity of service (over 70 years).

World War II and the years leading up to it created a great demand for the weapon, which in turn led to the Army's extending manufacturing contracts to several manufacturers, including Remington Rand, Ithaca, Union Switch and Signal Company, and Singer (the sewing-machine manufacturer), as well as the Springfield Armory and Rock Island Arsenal.

After the Second World War, the sidearm continued to be a mainstay in the U.S. armed forces, seeing action in the Korean War and the Vietnam War (where it was the weapon of choice for U.S. "tunnel rats"). It was replaced, largely due to considerations of NATO commitments, with a 9mm sidearm, the M9, on January 14, 1985. The M1911A1 is still used by special operations units of the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, and by Hostage Rescue Team units of the FBI, among other agencies. The M1911A1 design is also favored by police SWAT teams throughout the United States.

Today the M1911A1 type is widely used by the general public in the United States for both practical and recreational purposes. The pistol is commonly used for concealed carry, personal defense, target shooting, and competition. Numerous aftermarket accessories allow the user to customize the pistol to his or her liking. There is a growing number of manufacturers of 1911A1-type pistols and the model continues to be quite popular for its reliability, simplicity, and All-American appeal. Various tactical, target, and compact models are available. Price ranges from a low end of $250 for an imported "clunker" to more than $3,000 for the best competition or tactical models, which are precisely assembled and tuned by hand. Despite being challenged by more exotic and lightweight (and largely imported) pistol designs in .45 caliber, such as the Glock 21 and Sig Arms P220, the original 1911 design will soon be 100 years old with no signs of decreasing popularity.

The weapon typically uses a variety of 230-grain full metal jacket ammunition also originally designed by Browning, with a normal capacity of 7 or 8 rounds, or even more with larger aftermarket magazines.

Parabellum Luger P-08

Some of the common infantry weapons of World War 2 included:

A Luger is an arm-locked pistol. It is semi-automatic, magazine-fed, and operates on the short-recoil principle. The pistol, designed by Georg Luger, was based of a design of Hugo Borchardt, which never saw the great success of its little brother.

The Luger P-08 was the standard sidearm for the German army during both world wars, but it was in the process of being replaced by the Walther P38 at war's end. Although obsolete today, the Luger is still sought after by collectors both for its sleek design, and to a greater extent by its infamous connection to Nazi Germany. Thousands of Lugers were brought back as souveneirs by American GIs after WWII, and are still in circulation. Additionally in response to demand, modern look alike pistols are built by several companies.

Operation: The Luger uses a jointed arm that locks in the extended position. Upon recoiling with the barrel, a cam strikes the joint, causing the arm to hinge and the cartridge case to extract, beginning the firing sequence again.

Bazooka

The bazooka weapon was one of the first anti-tank weapons based on the HEAT shell to enter service, used by the United States Armed Forces in World War II. It was nicknamed a "bazooka" from a vague resemblance to the musical instrument. It was highly effective, so much so that the Germans copied it outright to produce their own version known as the Panzerschreck. The bazooka could be found in all theatres of war during World War II, and was used until the Korean War when it was then replaced by newer weapons such as the LAW in time for the Vietnam War.

Prior to the war the US Army had developed a shaped-charge hand grenade for anti-tank use that was effective at defeating up to 100mm of armor, by far the best such weapon in the world at the time. However it remained very difficult to use, requiring it to be placed directly on the tank, and for this reason it was largely ignored.

Things changed when Colonel Skinner suggested placing the grenade on the front of his experimental rocket launcher, which was a weapon looking for a role. This proved to be a good match, and by late 1942 the Rocket Launcher, M1A1 was introduced. This consisted of a long (4ft) tube with a simple wooden stock and sights, into which the 60mm rocket grenades were inserted at the rear. A small battery provided a charge to ignite the rocket when the trigger was pulled. The main drawback to the weapon was the large backblast and smoke trail which gave away the position of the shooter.

In 1944 the M1A1 model was supplemented by the improved M9 and then the M9A1 which could be broken into two halves for easier carrying. A larger 3.5lb warhead was under development, but didn't reach service until after the war had ended. By the time of the Korean War an even larger M20 with a 2lb 3.5" warhead was starting to enter service, which could penetrate well over 200mm of armor and had an extended range of about 150m.

MG34

The Maschinengewehr 34, or MG34, was a German machine gun first issued in 1934, considered by many to be the first modern general-purpose machine gun. It was used as the primary infantry machine gun during the 1930s, and remained as the primary tank and aircraft defensive weapon. It was intended that it would be replaced in infantry service by the related MG42, but there were never enough of the new design to go around, and MG34s soldiered on in all roles until the end of World War II.

The MG34 was designed primarily by Heinrich Vollmer from Mauser Werke, based on the recently introduced Rheinmetall designed Solothurn 1930 (MG30) that was starting to enter service in Switzerland. The principle changes were to move the feed mechanism to a more convienient location on the left of the breech, and the addition of a shroud around the barrel. Changes to the operating mechanism improved the rate of fire to between 800 and 900 RPM.

The MG34 could use both magazine-fed and belt-fed 7.92mm ammunition. Belts were supplied in 50-round single strips or 250-round boxes. The drums held either 50 rounds in the standard version, or 75 in the "double drum" version. Early guns had to be modified to use the drums by replacing a part on the gun, but this modification was later supplied from the factory.

In the light machine gun role it was used with a bipod and weighed only 12.1 kg, considerably less than other machine guns of the era. In the medium machine gun role it could be mounted on one of two tripods, a smaller one weighing 6.75 kg, the larger 23.6 kg. The larger included a number of features making it useful for a number of roles. The legs could be extended to allow it to be used in the anti-aircraft role (and many were), and when lowered it could be placed to allow the gun to be fired "remotely" while it swept an arc in front of the mounting with fire, or aimed through a periscope attached to the tripod.

The new gun was accepted for service almost immediately and was generally liked by the troops. It was used to great effect by German soldiers assisting the fascists in the Spanish Civil War. At the time it was considerably more advanced than guns being used by other forces (with the exception of the MG30), both in terms of rate of fire, and in being easily man portable by a single gunner. However the MG34 was also very expensive, both in terms of construction and the raw materials needed (49 kg of steel) and it was unable to be built in the sorts of numbers required for the ever expanding German army. It also proved to be rather tempermental, jamming easily when dirty.

By the late 1930s an effort had started to simplify the MG34, leading to the MG42. The MG42's square barrel cover made it unsuitable for use in tank cupolas however, and the MG34 remained in production until the end of the war for this role.

The MG34 was also used as the basis of a new aircraft gun, the MG81. For this role the breech was slighly modified to allow feeds from either side, and in one version two guns were bolted together on a single trigger to form a weapon known as the MG81Z (for zwillig, twin in German). Production of the MG34 was never enough to satisfy any of its users, and while the MG81 was a huge improvement over the earlier MG30-based MG15 and MG17, those guns could be still found in use until the end of the war.

MG42

The Maschinengewehr 1942, or MG42, is a German machine gun, first manufactured in 1942 as the successor to the MG34. During WWII, the MG42 had the fastest rate of fire of any weapon, at 1200 rounds per minute (up to 1800 in some versions). At this rate it becomes impossible for the human ear to discern the sound of individual bullets being fired, and thus when in use the gun makes a sound described both as "ripping cloth" and "Hitler's Buzzsaw". During the war, over 400,000 were manufactured.

In the late 1930s the MG34 was arguably the best machine gun in the world at the time, but was expensive and time consuming to construct. In order to arm the increasingly large German army, an effort was started to build a simpler gun that could be built much faster. The winning design was offered by a newcommer to the contest, Metall-und-Lackierwarenfabrik Johannes Grossfuss AG, experts in pressed and punched steel parts. Their efforts resulted in a dramatic reduction in complexity – it took 75 man-hours to complete the new gun as opposed to 150 for the MG34, and cost 250RM as opposed to 327RM.

The resulting MG39 remained largely similar to the earlier MG34, a deliberate decision made in order to maintain familiarity. The only major change from the gunner's perspective was dropping the drum-feed options, leaving it with belts only, and the further increase in the rate of fire. Although made of "cheap" parts, the prototypes also proved to be considerably more rugged and resistant to jamming than the somewhat tempermental MG34.

Given the success of the prototype, it's somewhat mysterious that the gun did not enter production until 1942, thereby requiring a renaming to MG42. As soon as it was introduced it garnered intense demand by field units, a demand that German industry was never able to meet.

The MG42 weighed 11.6kg in the light machine gun role with the bipod, lighter than the MG34 and easily portable. The bipod, the same one used on the MG34, could be mounted to the front or the center of the gun depending on where it was being used. In the role as a heavy machine gun it utilised a newly developed Lafette 42 tripod that weighed 20.5kg on its own. The barrel was lighter than the MG34s and wore out more quickly, but could be replaced in seconds by an experienced gunner.

In 1944 the acute material shortages of the Third Rheich led to a newer version, the MG45 (or MG42V), which used steel of lesser quality, reduced weight to only 9kg, and yet further improved the maximum rate of fire. First tests were undertaken in June 1944, but development dragged on and eventually only ten were ever built.

Even today it is still regarded by many experts as the best machine gun ever. The MG42, with minor modifications, is still the primary heavy machine gun of the modern German army, now called the MG3. A number of other armies around the world have adopted versions of the original, and guns looking similar, or identical, to the MG42 remain in widespread service today. The US Army's M-60 is based upon the MG42.

Bren

The Bren Gun was Britain's primary light machine gun of WWII. It was adopted by the British army in 1935 to replace the aging Lewis Gun. It fired .30 caliber rounds at a rate of 500rpm. The disadvantages of the weapon were that it fired much slower than its German counterparts, and it only accepted box or drum magazines, which meant more frequent reloading than belt fed machine guns.

Its weight also stretched the definition of "light" machine gun, often requiring it to be partially disassembled and its parts carried by two soldiers when on long march. Despite these shortcomings, it was popular with British troops, and respected for its high reliability and combat effectivenes. It was manufactured by the Enfield armory, and is still in use in modified forms by the British military today.

Sten

The Sten gun is a British submachine gun used in WWII notable for its extremely inexpensive production costs. The Sten gun was visually distinctive for its very bare appearance (just a pipe with a metal loop for a stock) and that the magazine stuck out horizontally, rather than downwards, which is the default for submachine guns.

Stens fired full automatic 9mm, and were often disparaged by soldiers for inaccuracy and break downs. They were essentially the cheapest possible weapon that would work at all. The logic behind the Sten's introduction was that Britain was facing imminent danger of being conquered by the Nazis, and desperately needed to arm large numbers of recruits very quickly. Prior to 1941 the British army had purchased Thompson submachine guns from America, but these were quite expensive. In order to rapidly equip a sufficient fighting force to counter the German threat, the Enfield armory was commisioned to produce a radically cheaper alternative.

Stens were produced in a wide number of variants, with the Mark II (pictured) being the most prolific, at 2 million units. Later versions had slightly more robust construction, including wooden grips and stock, as well as models with integral silencers. All combined, approximately 4.5 million Stens were produced during the war, many of which were airlifted by the crate to resistance fighters throughout occupied Europe. Due to their slim profile, and ease of dismantlement, they were good for concealment and guerilla war.

Despite its relative unpopularity with troops, the Sten saw continued use even after the economic crunch of WWII was over. Specialized versions of the Sten were used by British commandos in Korea, due to its very low weight and bulk.

Stens were so cheap, that even today despite the generally high cost of WWII era collectibles, a Sten gun, converted to semi-auto, can be had usually for less than $100.

Lee-Enfield

The Lee-Enfield was the standard British Army rifle for much of the 20th century. It was a simple but very reliable bolt action rifle firing the standard rimmed .303" MK VII round. It had been scheduled for replacement almost before seeing action, but a series of delays and interruptions led to it being used into the 1950s, and not disappearing completely until the 1980s. Several versions were produced, and the short, magazine version resulted in the widely-used acronym SMLE. This actually referred to the 1914 version which was 3" shorter than the previous Long, magazine rifle.

It also had a broad bayonet boss flush with the muzzle which took the 18" sword bayonet. It was called the No. 1 SMLE. By D-Day (6.06.44) the lighter No. 4 SMLE was in use. The main change was to expose 2" of barrel at the muzzle onto which fitted the new socket bayonet. This looked like a shiny 7" nail. After 1945 a regular flat bladed 7" bayonet was issued. Also post 1945, the No. 8 or "jungle carbine" was developed for use in Malaya and other similar campaigns. IE the rifle was shortened by about 7" and most of the wood in front of the breech removed. A bell shaped flash hider was fitted and this meant a new bayonet with large ring fitting was required.

This rifle was probably designed at the Royal Enfield Small Arms Factory, which is based in what is now known as Enfield Lock at the bottom of Ordnance Road. The old site has now been built over with a housing estate; however some of the original buildings have been converted and evidence of the works are still visible. Within the local area there is also the Waltham Abbey gunpowder mills.

PIAT

The PIAT, for Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank, was the first effective anti-tank weapon based on the HEAT shell. It was developed by the British starting in 1941, reaching the field in time for the invasion of Sicily in 1943. Unlike the US bazooka and it's German copy, the Panzerschreck, the PIAT could be used in enclosed spaces which made it more useful in close-combat and for hiding in houses.

At the start of World War II, all major armies were investing in research into HEAT to produce an infantry weapon capable of defeating modern armor. The US and Germans concentrated on rockets to propel their weapons, in 1941 when the PIAT was being developed, these systems were nowhere near ready for use.

Instead they turned to a prewar weapon known as the Blacker Bombard, a small man-portable mortar using a large spring for propulsion. The spring pushed against a 12 pound steel canister and rod that rode up the barrel and impacted with the rear of the shell, igniting a small propulsion charge. The heavy bolt and rod, known as the spigot, was used primarily to damp out the recoil of the round leaving the barrel.

The Blacker Bombard was never used operationally, but was perfect for modification as the launcher for a HEAT round. For this use the upper portion of the "barrel" was cut away on one side to form a trough, which could be reloaded by dropping rounds into it while lying prone. The charge on the shell was small enough that it caused no real smoke or backblast, a significant advantage over the bazooka. On the downside the spring required a heavy barrel to hold it, and the spigot itself added even more weight, resulting in a weapon that weighed 34 pounds unloaded.

The three pound HEAT warhead was able to penetrate about 100mm of armor at 100m, the weapon's rate range. This was too little to defeat the frontal armor of the newer German designs, but remained effective against side and rear armor.Private Ernest Alvia "Smokey" Smith of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada earned the Victoria Cross after crawling to within 10 metres of a Panther to destroy it. The weapon was also used in a "house breaking" role out to about 350m.

Early rounds used in Sicily proved to require a "perfect" hit or they would not fire, and the weapon soon garnered a poor opinion among the troops. The Army then instigated a rapid series of improvements, and by the time of the invasion of the Italian mainland, the weapon had matured completely.

World War 2 Flags

In this section we offer a collection of information on and images of World War 2 Flags.

United Kingdom Flag

The United Kingdom Flag is blue field with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland); properly known as the Union Flag, but commonly called the Union Jack; the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including other Commonwealth countries and their constituent states or provinces, as well as British overseas territories.

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Italian Flag

The Italian flag is divided vertically into 3 equal sections of green, white and red. The three colors of the flag represent, symbolically, the three cardinal virtues of Hope, Faith, and Charity.

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Japanese Flag

The Japanese Flag is white with a large red disk in the center. The disc symbolizes the sun without rays.

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Nazi Flag

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Soviet Flag

The Soviet Union flag is plain red, with a hammer crossed with a sickle and a red star in the upper hoist. The hammer symbolizes the nation's industrial workers, while the sickle symbolizes the nation's agricultural workers. The red star represents the rule of the communist party.

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United States Flag

The 48 star flag was the official flag of the United States from 1912-1959.