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"U.S. Marine Raiders gathered in front of a Jap dugout on Cape Totkina on Bougainville, Soloman Islands, which they helped to take. January 1944."
Notice the nice shot of the straight stocked M1903 right up front.... front line yet in 1944 with that Raider.
Is the guy in the back row, left hand side of the photo carrying a No 4 Enfield?
Interesting photo of an interesting group.
cool picture. i see, a trench gun, a Carbine, and a Garand. pictures to fuzzy to really make them out as to make.
The rifle is an M1 Garand.Quote:
Originally Posted by us019255
J.B.
Used for grenade launcher maybe?
Jim
Hi Jim,Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Tarleton
Possibly... but the Garand could fullfill that role too with the M7 launcher. By 1944 a Marine Division was authorized 456 M1903 rifles and an identical number of M1 rifle grenade launchers... so launching is certainly a possibility.
For grenade launching, if Marines used their M1903's like the Ranger's did late War with their 03A3's, they would generally have left the launcher attached to the rifle at all times during combat.
My latest research interest, prompted by very recent conversations with my Uncle who was in Europe with the 8th Division in WW2 and another Uncle who was with the 6th Marines on Tarawa, Siapan and Okinawa leads me to believe that M1903's and M1903A3's were used in numbers beyond that which we assume they were by front line combat units. I've been looking for photo sources which indicate their routine combat useage beyond issue to cooks and bakers....
This one is also USMC on Guadalcanal in 1942... it also appears to be a straight stock M1903. This isn't strange at all as M1903's were the issue for most Marines yet in 1942... and I suspect not all were the C stocked versions some assume they all were.
Jim, look at the front sight cover in your picture. It is almost surely a USMC unit for use with the USMC sight modifications. I have seen other pictures from Guadalcanal with what appear to be the oversize USMC front sight covers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Beard
You are right. Upon magnification what I saw as the sight protector on a No 4, is a shadow in the follage.
the second pic, is neet as well, notice, the polished bolt, and sight cover, love the 1911 pistol as well, rifle in the back is a Johnson light machinegun, or a BAR, hard to tell.
Concerning the original picture in this thread, the location is Cape Torokina on Bougainville BSI, late '43 or early '44. There's an ebay seller who's been unloading low quality copies of this photo for some time who has this same wrong location in his description. The Raider on the left is without a doubt carrying a garand, I have an original copy of this photo but can't make out a trenchgun. The Raider sitting in the front with the '03 has a couple of rifle grenades in containers strapped to the upper part of his pack. Could be he's carrying them for someone else's launcher or has one of his own not attached to his '03. My favorite photo of the pacific war.
maybe its the bad quality, or my old eyes, the guy standing right behind the 03 guy is holding a shotgun???
Chuck, he does indeed have a shotgun
If y'all are talking about the tall fellow with the BAR belt, it's hard to tell on this pic, but in a clearer one (I'm looking in "From Makin to Bougainville: Marine Raiders in the Pacific War" on page 37 if anyone has it) all you can really see is what's above his hand and it looks like a garand. I don't have my original copy of that photo here but will get it soon and maybe will be able to get a glass on it and tell.
Googled it and found a link to a better pic that can actually be enlarged (click on the pic in the link twice) with good resolution. It's clearly a garand.
File:US Marine Raiders on Cape Totkina on Bougainville.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
The National Archives file number for that photo is 80-G-205686. I noticed that Wikipedia had the Cape Torokina reference on the pic in the Bougainville Campaign page, which makes sense given the landing site and bunkers found there, but all the other references to the photo I've seen state Cape Totkina (the location of which I haven't been able to verify) including the caption on the original photograph.Quote:
Originally Posted by MByrd
http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/actio...5&jScript=true
Maybe a misspelling by the Navy photographer or ??? Have you any information to verify the correction that I can pass along ? I'll be looking at some materials the NA is sending me at the branch in Chicago in two weeks and can pass along the information.
Thanks,
Mike
Easy to reference that name with it's location, just google it and you'll get all you want. Google cape totkina and you won't get any hits other than to that mis-labeled photo.
You are right. I enlarged the picture and the rifles visible are 2 M1903's, 2 M1 rifles and 2 M1 carbnes. Quite a mix.Quote:
Originally Posted by MByrd
Cool photo, but almost surely posed. Not going to do much good with the sight cover in place. (mine touches the top of my front sight) and the cocky looking guy with the .45 is going to do a lot of damage to the web of his hand if he pulls that trigger holding it like that! As far as the weapon in the back, isn't that a bayonet peking out behind the right side of the guy with the .45? My guess is either a 1903 with the old long bayonet or a captured Jap rifle with bayonet.Quote:
Originally Posted by chuckindenver
I may be mistaken but I believe I see the compensator of either a Thompson or Reising SMG just to the right of the helmet worn by the Marine standing in the left foreground.
That's the muzzle of the shotgun we're talking about, beside the helmet of the left front tall man. Yes, the photo's staged. We did lots like that for the unit war diary. That's how unit historians record the history. Otherwise we all just disappear in the fog.
The picture is obviously posed and, with all due respect, those guys appear to be rear echelon support troops. They don't appear to have the demeanor of combat veterans who have been dodging bullets all day and watching their buddies get blown to bits. Nor do they appear like they're going to see the elephant.
J.B.