Gun show carbines

[firstflabn]

Just because there was a wholesale mix up of parts done at FN after the war as a make work project for Belgians, doesn't mean everyone did it that way.

Except for this part, good job trying to teach the OP that a line in a TM is not the same as budget authority or a work order. I don't know, are we the only ones that understand the effects of the devastating budget cuts immediately postwar?

The ETO General Board in their early postwar report describes an "...emasculation of Ordnance service. Personnel received as replacements for high points ordnance personnel were generally unskilled and unsuited to the task of receiving, repairing, and preparing for shipment the volume of materiel that flooded Ordnance installations."

So it was the loss of experienced personnel that led Ordnance to FN's door. Without FN (and many other private concerns) even more ordnance materiel would have rusted away in supply dumps and on railroad sidings. Units redeploying to the Pacific packed their own gear and the occupation force had adequate ordnance support (thanks to a year's worth of planning), but that left all the gear formerly carried by the nearly 800k GIs being discharged upon arrival back in the U.S.

Redeployment was, of course, an ETO top priority and every nerve was strained - either to get units packed up and on their way to the Pacific or demobilizing GIs on their way home to resume making Buicks and babies.

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[DaveHH]

Except for this part, good job trying to teach the OP that a line in a TM is not the same as budget authority or a work order. I don't know, are we the only ones that understand the effects of the devastating budget cuts immediately postwar?

The ETO General Board in their early postwar report describes an "...emasculation of Ordnance service. Personnel received as replacements for high points ordnance personnel were generally unskilled and unsuited to the task of receiving, repairing, and preparing for shipment the volume of materiel that flooded Ordnance installations."

So it was the loss of experienced personnel that led Ordnance to FN's door. Without FN (and many other private concerns) even more ordnance materiel would have rusted away in supply dumps and on railroad sidings. Units redeploying to the Pacific packed their own gear and the occupation force had adequate ordnance support (thanks to a year's worth of planning), but that left all the gear formerly carried by the nearly 800k GIs being discharged upon arrival back in the U.S.

Redeployment was, of course, an ETO top priority and every nerve was strained - either to get units packed up and on their way to the Pacific or demobilizing GIs on their way home to resume making Buicks and babies.

I appreciate praise/criticism from you in any form. I seem to recall reading somewhere that the work done by the FM personnel was a make work project to the extent that they had plenty of trained skilled people twiddling their thumbs and they were broke and hungry. It makes sense that if you are going to farm out this work, might as well have honest skilled people doing it. I would imagine that after 4 years of working for the Germans they were very willing and proud to be working for the Yanks. Since Monty had gone off to Market Garden and ignored the Scheldt river access to Antwerp, the Army was denied use of one of the finest ports in the area which they desperately needed and the Belgians were denied all of the goodies that go with having a major port, food, gasoline, and all the stuff the Army uses. The US owed Belgium a favor. Maybe that huge contract was the favor? That one great photo of the FN folks working away suggests "Make work" lots of people doing something others standing there with their arms crossed. One thing is unmistakable, they were all ****ed off which would definitely be the case after working for the Boche. In any event, the task was an important one and with the Japanese to deal with, these weapons were essential.