Weapons of the Trenches

[jrhead75]

The 03' never served overseas, just the 1917.

Incorrect...the Marines carried '03s.

Another interesting feature of the Canadian Ross was that the bolt could be assembled improperly, and firing the rifle would earn the shooter a face full of bolt. The Canadians were issued the Enfield No1MkIII from late 1915 on, IIRC.

 

[Trebor]

As far as I know, the Pederson Device was never used operationally. It would have been used in the spring offensive of 1919, had there been a spring offensive of 1919.

It would have been interesting to see U.S. troops armed with Springfields fitted with the Pederson Device backed up by BAR's attacking the the German trenches.

I bet afterwards the troops would have loved the BAR and hated the Pederson Device. The BAR gave the troops undprecedented mobile firepower in a reliable package, but the Pederson Device was a clumsy lash-up firing an underpowered cartridge. I bet most of the Pederson Devices would have been quickly "lost in action."

 

[Detritus]

the Pederson Device was a clumsy lash-up firing an underpowered cartridge.

that lacked that all important part of "supressive firepower" SOUND to make the enemy aware that all those bullets are comming his way!
(the little .30 cal pistol round used plus the rifle length barrel resulted in a very quiet weapon)

the largest component of supressive fire isn't really the bullets, it's the perceived noise of the guns firing them, without the some sort of other indicator than the "splash" of the bullets the germans would most likely NOT be impressed by the use of such a device, they'd simply get behind their maxims and mow the americans down like wheat.

 

[Nightcrawler]

Is there any way that either side could've achieved a more decisive victory, early on, you think? Seems to me that the war bogged down as a result of Napoleonic tactics in an era of machine guns and modern artillery. Not a good combination, as the Battle of the Somme proved.

What if the "belligerents" had waited until 1918 to really make large offensives, using things like airplanes, tanks, flame throwers, gas, etc. in conjunction? Could've really handed it to the other side, had the other side primarily used the primitive tactics that the armies all demonstrated in 1914.

Would've been interesting to see how the M1919 machine gun did in the Trenches, as well as (if the war went on long enough) the M1921 Thompson.

Who were the main central powers in the War? There was Germany, the Austrio-Hungarian Empire (desperately trying to keep its mish-mash of nationalities, cultures, religions, and peoples under autocratic rule). I know the Turks fought with the Central Powers; was it still under the auspices of the Ottoman Empire?

The Allies were, primarily, the British Commonwealth, Belgium, France, Russia (until 1917), and the US. Though, "officially", China, Japan, and dozens of other countries were involved in the war as well. Italy was with the allies too, at least late in the war.