Garands in old WW2 Japanese movie

[VeeVee]

Here's a screen shot from an old Japanese propaganda movie made in 1943. It was titled Dawn of Freedom and as you can guess, the theme was Japanese = Friend, Americans = Bad. Nothing subtle about it in the movie.

But anyway they pulled some American POWs from Cabanatuan to act in it. Here's a screen shot from a scene where the Americans were supposed to be shooting a Filipino who just wanted to surrender to the Japanese. The rifles and props they used were of course those captured by the Japanese in Bataan.

Check out the garands!

click for bigger:

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Calif-Steve]

Most likely Gas Trap Garands. Many were sent to the PI as soon as they were made. By the way, a proper supply of clips was NOT shipped over. The Garands had little impact in the combat.

[VeeVee]

Not everyone had garands, but two Philippine Scout Infantry regiments, the American 31st Infantry, and the 26th Cavalry PS had garands as their issue weapons. The Japanese complained about the firepower so I would think they made a difference. I did read that they had to conserve their enbloc clips but they must have had plenty enough to use as these units with M1's were repeatedly heavily engaged during the Bataan campaign. They couldn't have policed all their enblocs from the battlefields.

[smle-man]

I read that the 8 rd clipped ammo was shot off pretty quickly and from that point all ammo issue was in 5 rd clips. The M1 equipped units had to pick up expended clips and reload them. The supply of clips on hand rapidly diminished. Another problem was with the 1917 Enfield Rifles issued to the P.A.; many had bad extractors and would not extract fired cases. The soldiers were reduced to poking out the fired case with a long stick before chambering the next round. The book that this was mentioned in was I believe "Our Last Ditch".

[enbloc8]

Not everyone had garands, but two Philippine Scout Infantry regiments, the American 31st Infantry, and the 26th Cavalry PS had garands as their issue weapons. The Japanese complained about the firepower so I would think they made a difference. I did read that they had to conserve their enbloc clips but they must have had plenty enough to use as these units with M1's were repeatedly heavily engaged during the Bataan campaign. They couldn't have policed all their enblocs from the battlefields.

I have an oral history book, "Death March: The Survivors of Bataan". In it, one of the interviewees claimed that he and his men traded their Garands to the Filipinos and rear units for Springfields and Enfields. My recollection is that they felt the Garand was fine on the range but unreliable in battle, and they needed something they knew would work no matter what. While it wasn't stated, I imagine the clip issue was involved as well.

The production of this movie was mentioned as well; I have also seen it called "Down With The Stars And Stripes". The interviewees mentioned being issued "new" uniforms and captured rifles, which they made sure to sabotage when the guards weren't looking.

[VeeVee]

I have that book too but after having read many other books about the Bataan campaign, I've come to the conclusion that that was a localized decision to exchange weapons. Maybe here and there someone would exchange rifles but it certainly wasn't wholesale. There are too many accounts of the last days in Bataan where there were mentions about the garands they carried in battle.

I've even come across an account where some young soldiers didn't even know how to work bolt-action rifles because they went to boot camp and were trained with the garand in 1941. These were the young and non-prior service soldiers and the garand was the only rifle they knew.

By the way, here is a LIFE Magazine photo of a soldier in Manila before the war started:

[enbloc8]

I have that book too but after having read many other books about the Bataan campaign, I've come to the conclusion that that was a localized decision to exchange weapons. Maybe here and there someone would exchange rifles but it certainly wasn't wholesale. There are too many accounts of the last days in Bataan where there were mentions about the garands they carried in battle.

Like where? I have always had a strange fascination with the Bataan story and am always on the lookout for new accounts.

I've even come across an account where some young soldiers didn't even know how to work bolt-action rifles because they went to boot camp and were trained with the garand in 1941. These were the young and non-prior service soldiers and the garand was the only rifle they knew.

Funny, the story I heard once was the exact opposite...a large group of pilot trainees was released to the infantry late in the war and was sent to the front as reinforcements. One of them asked my friend (a veteran of the 37th Division/129th Infantry in the PI) how to load a Garand because he'd only been trained on the M1903 in basic.

And now for the important question...do you know where I can get a copy of this movie? Being a Chicago-area resident who periodically drives through Maywood, I at least once a year pause to remember Company B of the 192nd Tank Btn.

[Art]

Bataan wasn't the only case of M1 clip shortages. At the start of the Korean war the troops that went to Pusan had clipped ammunition but the replacement ammo all came in cartons. Troops went through a period, thankfully short, of having to police up and re use their clips in Korea too.

[VeeVee]

I found this interesting quote about the M1 made by a Bataan vet...

---excerpt---
SR: How long were you in the defense line before you started getting attacked?

TC: Oh, man, we was there about ten days, and then we went to (Abu cay Hacienda?), we had an engagement with them, and the only thing that saved us was the M-1 rifle. We had good firepower.

EC: Can you describe your first combat experience?

TC: Frightening, man, frightening.

EC: Did you see them? Did you actually get to see the enemy?

TC: No, I heard them when they made their Banzai charge. They scream like banshees, that will scare the hell out of you, but, you stiffen up because, "I got to do it." You know, nobody leaves the line, you got to do it, you stay there and fire away as you can, and the firepower is what prevented them to come in. You know, you take five guys with an M1 rifle, they got good fire. They could hold down a Japanese company of two-hundred-and-fifty to three-hundred men, because that's tremendous, you can't get through that wall of fire.

---Full Text: ---
Thomas G. Calderone, US Army, 31st Infantry Regiment, POW & Corregidor Survivor

[Rick the Librarian]

I would agree with VeeVee that the M1s had quite an effect. It influenced the Japanese enough that they attempted to make a copy of it