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Post by okla on Jul 8, 2016 9:52:42 GMT 8
Hey Guys...If memory serves, the 45th and 57th Philippine Scout Infantry Regiments were issued the new Garand M-l Rifles during the latter part of 194l. I was wondering if the remaining Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Division, the 31st Infantry (US) was ever issued the Garand. I am sure some of our resident Ordinance "Gurus" can shed some light on my "Earth Shaking" problem. I am aware that an Army Regimental Combat outfit appeared on Guadalcanal, sporting the new Garand in late 1942 and the Emperor's representatives were very surprised at facing the increased firepower as compared to what the "Gyrenes had been serving up with their older, bolt action 03s. Just wondering. Cheers.
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Post by fortman on Jul 9, 2016 1:46:36 GMT 8
Hi Okla,
I Googled "Garand M1" and apparently just over 6000 M1 rifles were delivered to the Philippines in 1941. There is a photo in the "Pictures" section of a US soldier with old-style steel helmet with his Garand. The caption says that the photo was taken on Bataan.
fortman
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Post by okla on Jul 9, 2016 2:21:11 GMT 8
Hey Fort....Thanks a bunch for the "poop from Group". If 6000 of these shoulder weapons were, eventually, on the scene prior to the outbreak of hostilities, you would think that every Soldier, serving in Regular US Army Units, having a "Combat" type MOS, i.e. Infantry, Artillery, etc would or should have had access to one of these excellent weapons. Ain't hindsight great??? lol. Cheers.
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Post by fortman on Jul 9, 2016 8:26:26 GMT 8
My pleasure. You can also "Google" the "Axis History Forum", there is an article dealing exactly with your question. Answer: yes, Garands were used. There are photos of soldiers in Philippines with M-1s.
Regards,
fortman
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Post by Karl Welteke on Jul 9, 2016 16:17:26 GMT 8
The 31 Inf. Reg. had the Garand M1 Rifle. I recently read that at the Abucay Hacienda fighting the 31 Inf. Reg. soldier had the advantage of the greater firepower with their Garand M1 Rifles V2 is this a Garand M1 Rifle? This picture came from a Battling Bastards of Bataan (BBB) webpage.
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Post by fortman on Jul 9, 2016 18:59:05 GMT 8
This is one of the photos I was thinking of. It looks like a Garand to me. Any views Batteryboy?
fortman
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Post by joeconnor53 on Jul 12, 2016 3:59:56 GMT 8
Note also the very cool Hallicrafters Sky Buddy radio receiver. These were not military issue, and this receiver was probably owned by one of the fellows in the photo. The Sky Buddy was more than adequate for receiving news from American radio stations on the West Coast.
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Post by cbuehler on Jul 13, 2016 0:13:49 GMT 8
Yes, the M1 rifles were issued prior to the war, but my understanding is that only American units received them and The Scouts did not. This however is not confirmed. Certainly no Philippine Army units received any. Even the vast majority of the US Army in the States were still issued the M1903 rifle as of 1941. These rifles were of the very early "gas trap" design, which was quickly modified to a different design for the rest of the rifles subsequently issued to the US military, none of which reached the PI of course. Note the bright gas tube at the muzzle of the rifle in the photo above. These were of stainless steel and could not be Parkerized, however another process was used on subsequent variations that did manage hold an applied finish better. Those early gas trap Garands are now very rare and costly collector items. PS, to add, I half to mention the popular and erroneous myth that USAAFE forces were armed with out of date, poor "WW1 arms and equipment". Mention is often made of "old" poor m1917 rifles used by the Phil. Army. etc., a rifle that was actually a better combat rifle than the m1903 rifle which was even older. All armies of the world started WW2 with what were essentially WW1 vintage arms and equipment, and the Japanese were generally equipped with even older designs. CB
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Post by victor on Jul 19, 2016 10:08:25 GMT 8
Hi Okla, The frontline combat units of the US Army were issued and had first priority on garands. The 45th Infantry PS, 57th Infantry PS, 31st Infantry US, 14th Engineers PS, 26th Cavalry PS were issued garands. I've been recording and chronicling supporting material for this including books, photos, veterans recollections, newspaper and magazine articles. I have two pages of chronicled information on this here: pinoyhistory.proboards.com/thread/2185/garands-bataanAlso both gas trap and gas port garands were in use. (see picture of american 31st Infantrymen in Manila in the thread) Cheers!
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Post by victor on Jul 19, 2016 21:26:05 GMT 8
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