Non German weapons used by Germans in WWII
The Germans used weapons captured from the various countries they conquered to supplement their own weapons supply.
I just obtained a prewar French Mas 36 and stamped in small letters just under the serial number in the stock is a small stamp, LK5.
The theory is that this is either a German capture & check mark or possibly a German unit assignment stamp. However there are apparently no German documents known so far to prove this theory.
A number of rifles from various countries which the germans fought or took over have been observed having a similar stamp there, either having a LK5 stamp, or other numbers after the LK. The French ones know with that stamp, all have the LK5. There is even a British Enfield having this stamp.
In an attempt to find more guns having this stamp to help add weight to the theory, could folks with prewar or WWII period guns other then German made ones, look to see if that stamp is present on their gun. The stamp is quite small and could be missed easy. It is usually located on the butt stock near the butt plate. Thanks for any help. Ray
There is a large collection of German WW2 Eastern front photos
on the internet. These show plenty of Germans with Tokarev STV 40s, PPSH submachine guns and Soviet DP 27s . Usually they are stacked up near a trench ready for use if something pops over the horizon (like a squad of Russians on a T34). The 98K is a fine weapon, but after 5 shots, you will have a problem.
The German army used captured English and French trucks
Czech tanks, French tanks, Yugoslav machine guns, Russian anti-tank weapons, anything they could get. They were a horse drawn army and Germany had only a very few auto and truck companies. We had about 30 to choose from. Their problems were just as much economic as material based. Imagine how much money went out the door when several hundred MG34s were lost? That's why they went to stamped steel weapons like the MG42 and MP44; way cheaper to make. That was also the main reason that they saddled their soldiers with Mausers when everyone else had semi-autos. They had enormous stocks of 7.92X57mm (thousands of millions) and the cost of scrapping it would break the bank. It is a great argument to say that the German doctrine was built around the machine gun with bolt actions to protect the gun. A better way to say it is - they HAD to be built around the MG, they had no choice. We were done with the bolt action by the end of the Guadalcanal campaign.
The SMLE wasn't a typical bolt action
It had twice the magazine capacity of the 98K and in the right hands was a formidable weapon. The Japanese were in much the same predicament as the Germans and the culture of the common Japanese soldier being valued as a worthless pawn didn't help them either. The Russians realized the value of fire power and made the PPSH in quantity. Those and the Tokarev were used to great effect later in the war.
