Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Re. WW II - Whatever Became Of .......

The .50 Browning machine guns and ammunition that were in the U.S. fighters and bombers that were shot down in German occupied territory or Italy during WW II?? If on land, did the German troops try and salvage the machine guns and ammo, if the planes were not destroyed in an explosion when crashing, or a fire when it hit ground??

If they were salvaged by the Germans (and Italians), what happened to them after the war when the Allies began rounding up all the arms of the Germans and Italians??

Just wondering.

L.W.

LW, you ok? Thinking we should call for a welfare check........

Interesting question. I suppose the answer to what became of them if we repatriated them after the war is that they were dumped in the ocean.

Absent evidence to the contrary - I'd assume

1. Germany repurposed them to be used against the Allies - war's over and they were confiscated/destroyed from the Wehrmacht.
2. German Civilians found them - confiscated and either repurposed or destroyed by the Wehrmacht and or Allies as they came across them.
3. Germany melted them down to make more MG42s and whatever else they needed as resources became scarce.

I could only imagine what a "surviving Browning with Wehrmacht stamps" might fetch were such a thing to exist.

I onow the Germans ran all captured fiirearms not destroyed into their arsenals. Giving them their own model designation. Many were reissued to second line troops. Like train guards, volksstrum, etc.

In one book I have written by a French soldier who was captured in the 1940 fall of France, he stated the first MAS 36 he ever saw was in the hands of a German prison guard, detailed to guard them.

I read somewhere that any equipment the Krauts got was pressed into service if possible. Even the metal from planes was recycled.

SupFoo, I'm doing quite well, but thank you for thinking of my welfare. At my age, I'll take all the help I can get.

After all, one can never tell ........

L.W.

Samuel Cummings got them.

^^^^eggs ackley^^^

Seems like those guns would have been next to useless without a steady source of ammo.

I know what happened to some of them. My FIL was shot down over Northern Italy in a B25. The plane crashed with its bomb load intact. The German garrison detonated the bombs to prevent the locals from scavenging parts and materials from the plane. I have held the bolt of one of the 50’s that was found in the debris field, and have a number of scraps from the remains of his plane.

Old70

That’s what I’m thinking

The Nazis used all kinds of weapons, vehicles and armor they stole or confiscated from other countries. I'm sure nothing useful was left behind. Those M2s on planes weren't the same as the infantry models, and would have required some bubba engineering to be used on the ground.

But they crashed with their ammo - may as well use it until its gone I'd think. Abandon or melt it down after.

The German's used all types of captured arms,..including .50 Browning machine guns.

Battle Cry, says US Marines used Jap rifles, and rations when they needed to.

I imagine a fighter had about 30 to 45 seconds worth of ammo per gun. Doesn't seem worth humping the gun for a couple good bursts.

Gentlemen, thank you for your replies and videos. Just another one of my "curious questions" solved.

L.W.

I never shot one but my boy was SAW qualified and 45 seconds of depressed trigger is a lifetime according to him.