No4's Dropped to the French Resistance

[browningautorifle]

303 british, was converted to 303 sporting,, 30,06 to 30,06cc, 8X57 to 8X60 and 8X64,
as the mill spec roungs changed the calss and you are not alowed to hunt with them.
the sights were fixed at 300m ot less and bayonet lugs removed, so you nedd to check the gun.

Sounds like you can still chamber the original cartridge though...

I wonder what efforts were made by the French provisional Government in the post invasion period (say 24 months) to round up the ex resistance firearms?

I don't think there was any effort at all...for some years. Mostly lip service.

[30Three]

Regarding the post by "read 6737: The modification to .303 sporting etc where done to convert military rifles to civilian calibres. This was to avoid the extra paperwork of owning what was then a Category 1 rifle.
The civilian calibres being available on a hunting licence; category 1 required specific authorisation from the police prior to purchase. Happily since 2012, the law has changed so all military bolt action rifles are grouped in the same class as hunting rifles. So no need to change the calibre or file off the bayonet lugs.
As I mentioned earlier; take a good look at the markings and stamps on a supposed resistance rifle. I would not expect to find any UK sold out of service stamps! (If I'm wrong, please let me know!)

[read6737]

The police do not autherise the permision for an arm, they check the criminal record and make a report, it is the local Prefecture who autherises. so hand guns semi auto long guns, the dangerous stuff, LOL are thus, but a Tikka T3 in 7.08 with silencer is just a declaration that you have it no permission necessary. But you still need a hunting or shooting licence, So If you think the usa laws are minimal then think again.
You cannot chamber any of the origional calibers in the modified arms,
not sure if the new regs alows you to keep the bayonet mount if you use the arm to hunt.
There are alot and I mean alot of arms still in use with these modified chambers, so my recomendation was that you need to look at the arm and check it is still origional,
many were converted to get past the law that changed in y 2005 I think, where the person purchasing the are had to register it, to the seller and they must get a autherised person to check the arm and paperwork. Many arms were therefore un registered, mill spec amo was hard to buy, but civil amo you just needed a hunting licence or shooting one to buy any civil amo.
Now it is the same except you must produce a declaration of a mill spec arm, ie 303 british, for the mill spec amo but not civil. I can lend any of my declaired arms to another licence holder, need to tell no one just let him have a copy of the declaration, when I die at the moment my arms can stay in the house and my family keep them as they are declaired. No permission necessary to keep.

[read6737]

Post war I do not know what the government did re all the arms, I am sure the tried to persuade people to hand them in, change a few retention laws,
but as the French feared many things such a comunists, and other things, the resistance fought amongst them selves during and after the war, diffrent polatics,
So, many many arms were put away for an other battle. invasion,
the French will keep them hidden, more undiclared arms here than declaired.
I know of places where they are still hidden ie under a concreat lab in the yard is one,

[browningautorifle]

under a concreat lab in the yard is one

I've heard that one before, dipped in wax and buried. Just like that...then when needed, the wax is removed with boiling water. That story came from an old woman.

[Mk VII]

We should recall that quite large quantities of arms were dropped ready for the post-invasion phase when resistance would be more overt in the period before the Allied battle line swept over that area. Sometimes, as in the case of the Vercors massif, it was premature and smallarms were of little use against armoured cars and aircraft.

[read6737]

When Georges Guingouin ordered the bombardment of Limoges, he got at least one arms drop just before , this very big one was on a hill top, there were over 4,000 resistance there, verse over 8,000 axis troops, he lost about 50 men and the germans I think 400 ish. They fought for 5/6 days then escaped.
Just a little example of the numbers of men involved in one small area.
Many resistance were invilved in street to street fighting, slowind down the movement of german troops, so alot of ambushes, attacing troop convoys,
railway lines, etc etc. Fat in faster out, light arms plenty of amo.

[Roger Payne]

Indeed, the path of 2nd SS Panzer Div Das Reich can be followed from the south of France northwards towards the Normandy bridgehead by the locations of the retaliatory atrocities its men committed. just out of curiosity, are you very far from Oradour sur Glane Mr Read6737? And what about Violette Szabo, was she not active in your neck of the woods - the Limousin, too? (Sorry if I'm a little out geographically - I'm better on the Pas de Calais & Somme!).

[read6737]

yes to both. Oradour sur Glane is about 30 min drive from me.
Violette was captured not far from the drop area I just spoke about, at a cross roads near a farm on the road from Sussac to Eymoutiers it is on the edge of the plateau de millevaches. the mount where the drop was mont gargan, Sussac, at a little chateau was the headquaters of Georges Guingouin for 2 months from where he orgered the bombardment of Limoges.
His resistance troops were hidden all over the area and got together to attack Limoges
9 years ago I was aircraft digging near Abbervile up north,
I met up with a ex resistance man and his wife who lived n the village where Violette spent het holidays as a child, the woman with permission of Violettes family represented her at memorial perades with her medals. They got out their old guns to show us, lots of photos and names of people to contact,
went to see a V1 rocket base in a farm yard, buildings still in use today ramp still in place grown over.. Spoke to 4 eye witnesses of crashes, dug up a FW 190, some parts of a B17 have lots of 50 cal rounds in the garage from it,
Got a lot of good leads on crashed aircraft from them, ended my visit there in identifying a crash as a Mustang in RAF colours at a crash site, it had been thought as a Spitfire by the locals, it had just attacked Abbervile air field.

The plateau de millevaches is south east of Limoges, I go to Sussac alot, I have a house there I can use, go camping with the twins by the lake there, get the kyak out,
Oradour sur Glane is west and very slightly north of Limoges,
Magnac Laval where I am is 55k north of Limoges.

[Roger Payne]

Absolutely fascinating. I had heard a little of the events of Mont Gargan from a friend of mine who has lived in France for many years, initially in the Limousin & now on the Somme, where he works as a battlefield guide specialising in ANZAC tours. I had no idea that it was such a big set to, though, with the combatants numbering into the thousands.

I have a friend who lives in one of the neighbouring villages to where I have my little cottage, who is well placed to chat to the locals & so when i am next over your side of the channel I'll see if I can get him to do a little prodding for more information on weapon drops for the resistance.

It's probably an apocryphal story but another British pal who has a farm in the South West of France (Bordeaux area) & who exchanges Xmas presents with the villagers, told me that sten mags are the most popular gifts for the old fellas! Who knows if it is literally true, but it made me smile....