Post by tgunner91 on Jul 26, 2010 7:59:19 GMT -5
Hi all,
My name is Scott and this is my first post here! Great discussion site by the way.
Anyway, I have a question that I'm hoping you folks can help me with. I was wondering if anyone can confirm that the M1919 light machine gun was used by the US Army/Scouts during the '41-'42 campaign. I know that three of these weapons were part of the basic TO&E for infantry companies at this time and I've seen photographic evidence of them in use by other US units at the time (mainly in CONUS).
However I haven't really seen anything that shows that they were used in the Philippines. I've seen tons of pictures and references to the older and heavier M1917 but almost nothing about the M1919. I seem to remember seeing a 'recent' picture of a Philippine Scout showing a re-enactor some things about the weapon and I think I've seen the weapon represented on the Memorial statue for Layac Junction. In the statue Sgt. Jose Calugas
is depicted manning a machine gun on a tripod. This machine gun LOOKS like a M1919, but on a rather tall tripod. I don't get the feeling that this is accurate because didn't he win the CMH by manning a 75mm gun???
Finally I have one, rather vague at that, account from Major Louis B. Besbeck. During the 1940's he wrote an essay for the Advanced Officer's Course about the operations of the 3rd Battalion, 45th Infantry at the Abucay Hacienda. In the essay he describes how the 3/45th was organized and equipped. He says, "Their (the battalion's) equipment included late model light machine guns, though the mounts had not arrived for the guns;..." Later in the same sentence he mentions that the battalion had "18-30 Caliber heavy Browning machine guns;..." What he seems to be saying is that the battalion had two types of machine guns and is referring to the M1919 when he says "late model light machine guns" and to the M1917 when he refers to the "heavy Browning machine guns".
Beyond this very thin evidence, I have zip!
I'm researching this because I want a company in Australia to make 15mm toy soldiers armed with the M1919. These soldiers would be in US kit dating from 1941 and I'm trying to give them good reference materials to make these castings. In particular I'm hoping to find pictures of these weapons being used with their ground mounts (basically tri-pods). I would love to find a 'period' picture, but re-enactor pictures (accurate ones) would be just as good!
Thanks for any help here!
Scott
My name is Scott and this is my first post here! Great discussion site by the way.
Anyway, I have a question that I'm hoping you folks can help me with. I was wondering if anyone can confirm that the M1919 light machine gun was used by the US Army/Scouts during the '41-'42 campaign. I know that three of these weapons were part of the basic TO&E for infantry companies at this time and I've seen photographic evidence of them in use by other US units at the time (mainly in CONUS).
However I haven't really seen anything that shows that they were used in the Philippines. I've seen tons of pictures and references to the older and heavier M1917 but almost nothing about the M1919. I seem to remember seeing a 'recent' picture of a Philippine Scout showing a re-enactor some things about the weapon and I think I've seen the weapon represented on the Memorial statue for Layac Junction. In the statue Sgt. Jose Calugas
is depicted manning a machine gun on a tripod. This machine gun LOOKS like a M1919, but on a rather tall tripod. I don't get the feeling that this is accurate because didn't he win the CMH by manning a 75mm gun???
Finally I have one, rather vague at that, account from Major Louis B. Besbeck. During the 1940's he wrote an essay for the Advanced Officer's Course about the operations of the 3rd Battalion, 45th Infantry at the Abucay Hacienda. In the essay he describes how the 3/45th was organized and equipped. He says, "Their (the battalion's) equipment included late model light machine guns, though the mounts had not arrived for the guns;..." Later in the same sentence he mentions that the battalion had "18-30 Caliber heavy Browning machine guns;..." What he seems to be saying is that the battalion had two types of machine guns and is referring to the M1919 when he says "late model light machine guns" and to the M1917 when he refers to the "heavy Browning machine guns".
Beyond this very thin evidence, I have zip!
I'm researching this because I want a company in Australia to make 15mm toy soldiers armed with the M1919. These soldiers would be in US kit dating from 1941 and I'm trying to give them good reference materials to make these castings. In particular I'm hoping to find pictures of these weapons being used with their ground mounts (basically tri-pods). I would love to find a 'period' picture, but re-enactor pictures (accurate ones) would be just as good!
Thanks for any help here!
Scott
