I know that both sides would use captured artillary, and i've seen pictures of Shermans and Churchill tanks repainted and used by the Nazi's, i've also read about allied soldiers swapping the personal weapons for german MP40's and keeping any MG44's they could find, but what other things would they use? did Nazi soldiers use the M1 garrand for example or was it just down to individuals preferences?

Originally Posted by KC72

I know that both sides would use captured artillary, and i've seen pictures of Shermans and Churchill tanks repainted and used by the Nazi's, i've also read about allied soldiers swapping the personal weapons for german MP40's and keeping any MG44's they could find, but what other things would they use? did Nazi soldiers use the M1 garrand for example or was it just down to individuals preferences?

I don't know enough about infantry weapons to provide much detail as to why German soldiers would prefer the M1 Garand over the Mauser K98k. I know the M1 had a higher rate of fire but with the German squad emphasis on the role of the LMG this may not have been a big deal. With personal weapons there might be an element of the 'prestige' value of owing a foreign weapon - look how highly prized Lugers were for example. I know also that the Germans liked using captured 'Tommy' sub-machineguns when they were available too.

With regards to tanks the Germans certainly used captured T-34s but Shermans and Churchills? I had not been aware of that and in the case of the Shermans, those German tankers must have been pretty damm desperate! Got any links as I'd like to get more info on this.

I know that some countries used captured aircraft.

http://www.achtungpanzer.com/ctpic.htm


http://www.achtungpanzer.com/ctpic2.htm


http://www.achtungpanzer.com/ct.htm

The British 3inch AA gun was highly prized by the Germans, they even made their own ammunition for it

Thanks for the links. I would imagine that the Germans making use of British tanks was out of desperation, whereas some other scenarios like German soliders choosing to use M1 Garands would be through choice. The gun on the Sherman Firefly was pretty good, but the basic faults of the Sherman design remained.

With the firefly tank many of the problems of the tank bursting into flames with any hit had largely been overcome. This had been done by stowing the ammunition in steel boxes to stop small lumps of red shrapnel hitting the shell casing and igniting the propellant. Now the Germans did use the Matilda Tank in the Western Desert, although it was lightly gunned and rather slow it was very heavily armoured

I'll try to mention things not mentioned before...

I have seen photos M4A3 with Iron Crosses, I think they were used for evaluation or training. There might have been a second line unit or two that had them.

There were 3 non-Russian tanks the Germans liked and used. The first 2 were French the Char-B bis and the S-35 Samoa. Both of these were superior to anything the Germans had in 1940 and were studied extensively. The Char-B was the first Heavy Tank used in WWII and it inspired the Tiger Tank. 161 Char were captured during the fall of France. The S35 was also used during WWII by the Italians and by the Germans and Vichy in West Africa.

The last tank I will mention, is the the Pz-38(t). Although the tank itself was obsolete, the chassis was a automotive masterpiece. German enginners captured several, removed the turret and fashioned a fixed turret with good sloping armour and a high velocity 75mm they could destroy any Allied tank except the Russian Super-Heavys. It was fast, menueverable, reliable, and was very difficult to destroy due to its small size. This became the German Jadspanther 38 Hetzer.

I will mention one weapon the Germans loved was the Russian PPsh-41. They tried to grab as many as they could and even figured out a simple field modification for it to fire German 9mm Parabellum rounds.

The Germans did have a respect for the American rifles, but they didnt use them that much because there own Gewehr 41 and 43 were starting to become available not to mention the fancier guns such as the Fg.42 and Stg.43/44. Also after 1940, The Germans had a clear preference for SMGs than rifles and tried to equip their units with them as opposed to rifles. This was espically true of the SS and Panzergrendier units.

Right i've found these


German Paratrooper with sten gun




Germans with Russian PPsh-41



German closest the camera with suspected M1 carbine

An American Spitfire squadron