{"id":125918,"date":"2021-07-04T10:44:23","date_gmt":"2021-07-04T14:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=125918"},"modified":"2021-07-04T10:44:23","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T15:43:01","slug":"a-young-american-goes-to-war-the-m1-rifle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/a-young-american-goes-to-war-the-m1-rifle\/","title":{"rendered":"A Young American Goes to War: The M1 Rifle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A
The Stars and Stripes flew proudly in this man\u2019s front yard every single day. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The man lived on his\nrural farm on the outskirts of his tiny Mississippi town. His yard was\nmeticulously maintained, and Old Glory fluttered quietly in the breeze from an\nimposing flagpole set in concrete. The flag didn\u2019t stay out overnight\u2026ever. It\nhad been raised and lowered every day on this pole for more than half a\ncentury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
With the exception of nearly a year spent in combat in Europe, this man lived his entire life on his rural Mississippi farm. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He was the very image of a good Christian man of character. He had served as a deacon in his church and teased a modest living out of the farmland that surrounded his modest three-bedroom home. He had raised his kids well and selflessly helped his neighbors. Now well into his eighties, he had agreed to spend an afternoon with me and my young son. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Despite the peaceful safe surroundings, the man\u2019s memory clearly took him to a very different place. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The man was soft-spoken\nas we nursed our iced tea and soaked up every word. He looked off into nothing\nas his mind wandered back to very different times. Though we sat in peace,\nsecurity, and comfort, his memory took him somewhere else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
My buddy rode a Higgins boat ashore on D-Day. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This unassuming man\ndescribed being a 19-year-old Infantryman heading ashore in a Higgins boat on\nJune 6, 1944. His destination was Omaha beach. It was about 1400 in the\nafternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, was a butcher\u2019s shop. My son and I had the privilege of hearing a man who was there describe what it smelled like. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He charged terrified down\nthe open ramp into the very bowels of hell. Wrecked equipment and shredded\nbodies littered the sand, surf, and shale. The smell of cordite, dirty smoke, ruptured\nbowels, and death pervaded everything. German mortar and artillery fire still\nslammed into the beach as well as the advances inland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Steep Learning Curve<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"A
My friend paired up with another backwoods Southerner in his unit to put their homegrown fieldcraft skills to good use. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The man survived the Longest Day to advance with the Allied vanguard. A product of the Mississippi backwoods and a survivor of the Great Depression, this tough teenager found that he had a knack for soldiering. When his company needed intelligence he and a fellow Southern redneck boy would slip off into the night looking for trouble. Sometimes they came back with a prisoner. Sometimes not. The man told me he got comfortable with a knife in the dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
The German Wehrmacht was a formidable battle-hardened army skilled in the mobile defense. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By late August the man\nand his buddies had taken the full measure of the enemy. The hard fighting\nthrough the bocage hedgerows had brought him face to face with the Nazi\nsuperman. He found the German Wehrmacht to be a hardened professional fighting\nforce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
My pal had little use for the Waffen SS. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He called the Waffen SS \u201cthose Gestapo men.\u201d Decades later his hatred for these fanatical racist lunatics modulated the timbre of his conversation. He told me unapologetically, \u201cWe didn\u2019t take many of those Gestapo men prisoner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
My buddy and his comrades came to expect a stay-behind sniper team when the Germans finally abandoned a significant terrain feature or defensive position. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He explained that the SS\nfrequently left a couple of snipers behind when the Germans finally abandoned a\nposition of strategic importance. The carnage they inflicted made little\ndifference in the grand scheme. They just dealt death whenever they could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kill or Be Killed<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"A
The Luftwaffe had made good use of Orly Airport as an airbase throughout their time in France. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My buddy\u2019s unit was\ntasked to seize Orly airport outside Paris. The Luftwaffe had used Orly as a\nfighter and bomber base throughout the occupation of France, and the Allied air\nforces had pounded it into rubble as a result. In August of 1944, however, the\nwrecked aerodrome was deceptively quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
The two SS snipers left behind after the Luftwaffe abandoned Orly Airport were fixated on the main body of approaching American troops. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The company commander called a tactical halt. My friend and his battle buddy crept around the periphery of the wrecked airport before ascending one of the taller structures for a proper vantage. Taking cover such that they could just peer over the edge of the roof they finally saw the two German snipers. Tucked into a pile of debris on the roof of a nearby structure the two SS sharpshooters were well-camouflaged and fixated on the approaches to the aerodrome. The two Germans had no idea that they had only moments to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
My friend and his battle buddy coordinated their fire to neutralize both enemy snipers simultaneously. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Speaking in hushed whispers my buddy and his comrade estimated the range to their targets and adjusted the rear sights on their heavy M1 rifles to compensate. My friend called the man on the left and his counterpart oriented on the one on the right. On the soft count of three, both men squeezed their triggers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
This shattered SS helmet came from a battlefield in Latvia. The associated cool reproduction gear came from www.worldwarsupply.com. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Both rifles rolled back in recoil as their 152-grain M2 ball rounds covered the distance to the pair of German snipers at 2,800 feet per second. Both of the American grunts had grown up with guns, and they knew how to shoot. Each GI center-punched the coal-scuttle helmet of his respective SS target, killing them both instantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Guns<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"A
The M1 rifle was the most capable Infantry weapon on the planet when it was introduced. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1936 the United States\nmilitary was woefully behind those of most other major powers. The Great\nDepression had ravaged the American economy, and a lack of attention to\nmilitary readiness had taken a horrible toll on such stuff as tanks and combat\naircraft. The gleaming exception was the M1 rifle. American troops entered WW2\nwith what General George Patton described as, \u201cthe finest battle implement ever\ndevised.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
John C. Garand, the inventor of the M1 rifle, was born in Canada but emigrated to the US when he was an infant. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Designed by a Canadian-American inventor named John Cantius Garand (properly pronounced, I\u2019m reliably told, so as to rhyme with \u201cerrand.\u201d), the M1 was a .30-caliber, gas-operated, 8-shot, clip-fed, semiautomatic rifle. The weapon weighed 9.5 pounds and was 43.6 inches long. By the time the M1 reached US Army troops in 1937, production at Springfield Armory was ten rifles per day. Two years later output languished at 100 per day. By the end of the weapon\u2019s massive production run, however, some 5.4 million had been made by four major manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Ammunition for the M1 rifle was issued in disposable spring steel clips. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By modern standards, the M1 was heavy, cumbersome, and grossly overpowered. However, at the outset of the Second World War, the M1 was a wonder weapon. Ammunition was supplied in spring steel 8-round en-bloc clips that were pressed in place from above with the bolt locked to the rear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Loading the M1 rifle under pressure was an acquired skill, but the weapon yielded superb service in all theaters of combat. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

En bloc simply means that the ammunition clip became part of the weapon\u2019s action during firing. When loading the rifle, the operator pressed the clip down from above and snatched his thumb clear as the bolt automatically flew home. The clip was ejected out of the top of the action after the last round fired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Despite its prodigious weight and bulk the M1 rifle was beloved by the American grunts who carried it. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An M1 rifle cost Uncle\nSam about $85 during the war. That\u2019s about $1260 today. The M1 was rugged,\naccurate, and powerful. I have never spoken with a combat veteran who carried\none who had anything but unvarnished praise for the piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rest of the Story<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"A
It took nearly a year for the Allies to wrest Western Europe out of the clutches of the Nazis. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There was a still a great\ndeal of fighting left to be done after my friend and his comrades cleared Orly\nairport. There is no telling how many lives these two young warriors saved just\nin this one exchange. However, the worst was yet to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Kampfgruppe Peiper pushed deep into France during the Ardennes Offensive. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Ardennes Offensive\nhas become known as the Battle of the Bulge from the vantage of comfortable\nhindsight. My buddy said at the time it was pure unfiltered chaos. German Army\nGroup B led by Joachim Peiper and the 1st<\/sup> SS Panzer Division slashed\ndeep into Allied territory, shredding American defenses and scattering combat\nunits randomly among the detritus. The US response devolved into tiny packets\nof troops fighting for their lives. My pal found himself leading a handful of\nbedraggled survivors deep behind the German spearheads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Tired, cold, jittery GIs fighting in the Battle of the Bulge grew distrustful of strangers after rumors of Skorzeny\u2019s commandos began to circulate. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Otto Skorzeny\u2019s Operation\nGreif involved the insertion of English-speaking Germans in American uniforms\nto sow confusion in Allied rear areas. The effect that had on the Allied\ndefense was outsized beyond their pure numbers. Suddenly nobody trusted anybody\nthey didn\u2019t already know well, and jumpy sentries shot first and asked\nquestions later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
My friend had to talk his way back through American lines after several days of evading the Germans. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After a protracted escape and evasion, my buddy\u2019s motley band finally made it back to friendly lines exhausted and spent. The first sentry they encountered covered them with a BAR and demanded to know who won the World Series in a particular year. My buddy not so gently explained that he had no idea. He expounded that while the Yankees were comfortably enjoying their baseball he was out hunting opossums in the Mississippi swamps to keep his family from starving. The sentry let them pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
There were actually three American small arms used during WW2 that carried the designation M1. This is an M1A1 Thompson submachinegun. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My buddy rendered his professional opinion on all of the major US small arms. He explained that there was always only one M1. The M1 Carbine was simply the Carbine, and the M1A1 Thompson was always the Thompson. Nobody used the term Garand. The standard US Infantry rifle was always just called the M1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
My friend wielded an M1 rifle for nearly a year in combat in Europe during WW2. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He said for an entire year some part of his skin was touching that rifle. Awake, asleep, shaving, eating, or defecating, that weapon was always at arm\u2019s reach. He said that the Carbine was an effective and handy combat tool, but that it did frequently require several shots to take a German soldier out of the fight. By contrast, he said that so long as you caught him center of mass, the M1 would put an enemy soldier down instantly every single time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
This relic Luftwaffe helmet carries four bullet holes from some Russian grunt\u2019s PPSh submachinegun. The grenades came from www.worldwarsupply.com. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We went back to the man\u2019s\nbarn neatly populated with tractor components and the sundry detritus of a\nworking farm. The open building smelled like motor oil, horse manure, and dirt.\nHanging obscurely in the corner was a dusty German helmet, the faded SS runes\nstill visible. There was a .30-caliber hole running cleanly in and out both\nsides. How do we make such men as these?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
This is a German K43 sniper rifle of the sort frequently used by SS marksmen late in the war. The reproduction grenades come from www.worldwarsupply.com<\/a>. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
The profound violence of modern war is evidenced in this battlefield pickup SS helmet from eastern Europe. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The man survived the Longest Day to advance with the Allied vanguard. A product of the Mississippi backwoods and a survivor of the Great Depression, this tough teenager found that he had a knack for soldiering. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":125929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,257,772],"tags":[132,102,752,636,2262],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-125918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gunsamerica-authors","8":"category-historical-guns","9":"category-will-dabbs","10":"tag-buzz","11":"tag-feature-articles","12":"tag-historical-guns","13":"tag-history","14":"tag-m1-rifle"},"yoast_head":"\nA Young American Goes to War: The M1 Rifle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Young American Goes to War: The M1 Rifle - Will Dabbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/a-young-american-goes-to-war-the-m1-rifle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Young American Goes to War: The M1 Rifle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The man survived the Longest Day to advance with the Allied vanguard. 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However, shooting guns and claiming it was work seemed like a pretty sweet hustle. As a result, Will serendipitously transformed an avocation into a vocation. Raised in the Mississippi Delta, Will flew UH1H, OH58A\\\/C, CH47D and AH1S helicopters operationally as an Army Aviator. He is SCUBA-qualified and has parachuted out of perfectly good airplanes at 3 o'clock in the morning. Will has summited Mount McKinley, Alaska, six times\u2026always at the controls of an Army helicopter, which is the only way sensible folk climb mountains. Will has delivered sixty babies and occasionally wrung human blood out of his socks. He is married to his high school sweetheart and has three awesome adult children. Turn-ons include vintage German machineguns, flying his sexy-cool RV6A airplane, Count Chocula cereal and the movie \u201cAliens.\u201d www.word-monkey.com Experience: -Professional Writer-thousands of publishing credits for dozens of titles -Mechanical Engineer\\\/Practicing Physician -Instrument-rated Commercial Pilot -Sunday School Teacher\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.word-monkey.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/will.dabbs.9\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/drwildmanmd\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/author\\\/willdabbs\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Young American Goes to War: The M1 Rifle","description":"A Young American Goes to War: The M1 Rifle - Will Dabbs","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/a-young-american-goes-to-war-the-m1-rifle\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Young American Goes to War: The M1 Rifle","og_description":"The man survived the Longest Day to advance with the Allied vanguard. 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