Weapons of World War 2

As the world went into World War One, it faced new technological advances that

turned the view of battle forever. With the invention of many new killing machines,

soldiers were now in the deadliest battlefields ever. From artillery blasts to machine gun

fire, from air power to biological and weapons of mass destruction, the outcome of World

War One would be deadly. It would be the first war to be the greatest motivator for

technology at the beginning of the century.

Rifles and Pistols

One of the most important and common weapons was of course the Rifle and

Pistol. Rifles and pistols were large and significant part of the war. They were more

accurate and powerful and allowed the men to hit a target from further away with a better

chance of hitting where they aimed. Almost all infantry and officers in World War One

carried a rifle, pistol or both. Nearly all infantrymen in the First World War used bolt

action rifles.

The American rifle used in World War One was the Springfield. The bolt-action

magazine rifle was used by the United States Army during the First World War. The

M1903 rifle remained the US standard rifle until 1936. Because of production problems

with the M1A1, it was also used during the Second World War. Snipers also preferred

using the Springfield rifle all the way through the Korean War. A faithful pistol for the

Americans was the Colt .45, Model 1911. Throughout American history, Colt pistols

have been the standard-issue handgun used in combat from 1911 to 1985. Colt pistols

were in the hands of brave, WWI, WWII, Korean and Vietnam American soldiers. The

Model 1911 has a 5" barrel with 7-round magazine.

The Karabiner 98k was a German rifle introduced into service in 1898. It was the

primary German infantry rifle in both world wars, and was known for its excellent

accuracy and range of 800 meters. For this reason it continued to be used with a scope as

a sniper rifle. The 98k had disadvantages like being bulky and heavy and slow rate of

fire, due to the bolt-action mechanism. It was also designed to be used with a bayonet.

The 98K rifle holds five rounds of 7.9mm in a clip. The Luger was the standard German

pistol. Developed by George Luger, it became the world's most widely used military

handgun. The Luger fired a 7-round clip of 9mm ammunition. It is estimated that 1.5

million Lugers were produced in Germany during the First World War.

The Lee-Enfield was first rifle introduced in 1907 and by the beginning

of the First

World War as the British Army's main infantry weapon. The Lee-Enfield could be aimed

accurately over about 600 meters but could still kill someone over 1,400 metros away.

Later on, it would be designed to be used with a bayonet. The British pistol, actually

more of a revolver was the Webley MkIV. All officers in the British Army carried the

weapon. They were also issued to the military police, aircrew and people in tanks and

armored cars. Originally designed in 1887, but improved during the war, the Webley

was a strong, heavy weapon.

The Bayonet was provided to most infantrymen for their bolt-action rifles. Most

were a standard knife, but the French preferred a needle bayonet and some German

soldiers loved the saw-bladed version. The bayonet was the infantryman's primary close

combat weapon in trench warfare. The importance of the bayonet as an offensive weapon

was drifting away during the war because of the use of a machine gun from an advancing

army.

Artillery

A main support weapon for most of the armies was a long-barreled field gun. This

was known as artillery, or a howitzer which was developed to be used under cover or

against hidden targets. These fired heavy shells through a short barrel and were the best

type of artillery gun to employ against enemy buildings.

Grenades were hollow iron balls filled with gunpowder and ignited by a slow

burning match. Soldiers had to be able to throw them over 100 feet and the tall, strong

soldiers became known as grenadiers. The German stick grenade had a wooden handle

about ten inches long that carried a metal canister at its head. The head unscrewed to

allow