Garands in old WW2 Japanese movie

[VeeVee]

FWIW, I think from the shape of the front sight guards that the top rifle in that picture is a gas trap, and probably the second is also. The third, I can't tell.

Jim

It does look like a gas trap. According to this book though, not all garands in the PI at that time were gas traps.

[cruiserdan]

Here's one:

[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.

[Rick the Librarian]

I see it on eBay fairly often - try using the keyword "Bataan". I have the movie and the quality is less than perfect, but still interesting.

[VeeVee]

The mention about not being familiar with a bolt-action rifle is from the book, Odyssey of a Philippine Scout by Arthur Kendall Whitehead who was an officer in the 26th Cavalry PS. Most of the book is about his escape to Australia though.

We can't generalize though. It may have been a more specific situation to the Philippines. It is more likely to happen to infantrymen/cavalrymen rather than pilots. The US Army's Philippine Division recruits went to boot camp in the Philippines and in 1941, the infantry and the cavalry already had garands, so that's probably what the newest recruits trained on. I've talked to one Bataan veteran who said he preferred the garand over the 1903 because it didn't kick back as much.

I can remember a lot of mentions about the garand in the book Bataan, Our Last Ditch by John W. Whitman. Otherwise here are some I have on the shelf. You can't make out all the titles but basically there are a lot out there and if you'd know what you've read or haven't. I'm probably not even a third through my reading list.

click for bigger


As for the movie, I did get my DVD copy from ebay (just a home copied one). It's usually listed for $12. Just keep an eye out for it. Cheers.

[VeeVee]

You got me reflecting on it a little bit more so I did some digging around. In the book Odyssey of a Philippine Scout, it was a young cavalryman who didn't know the 1917 Enfield. It wasn't too specific so maybe it was referring to how he didn't know how to take it apart and take care of it?

I also asked a 31st Infantry veteran of Bataan yesterday via email about it. He was in the middle of all of that you-know-what when it hit the fan. and here are the things he told me:

- In boot camp they had to qualify for both the 1903 and the Garand

- They used the 1903 only for sniper hunting because it was perceived to be more accurate than the Garand in that respect. But everyone carried the Garand because it wasn't accuracy in the jungle they were after but firepower. And the recoil to fire it was "just like rocking in a rocking chair" in his words.

- He only had two jams with his Garand during the whole campaign and wasn't too difficult to fix.

- He said that a CO who allowed his men to exchange all their Garands for 1903's would have been very wrong to do so.

- They never had a shortage of enbloc clips.


I realize that what is true in one infantry company may not be true for another, but this is true for F Company, Second Battalion, 31st Infantry.