1944 Bren Photos

[garrettbragg12]

My great uncle served with 742nd over in Italy, and had a couple photos of his ground crew which featured a few Bren guns which appear to be being used as AA guns. Attachment 38832


M1/M3 Carbine: late '44 Inland
M1 Garand: late '44 Springfield

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.

[tankhunter]

Nice Pics. As the Bren 'users' are smiling & not wearing steel helmets. I guess these are posed Pictures taken during a non hostile moment?

Thanks for sharing them with us.

[garrettbragg12]

Nice Pics. As the Bren 'users' are smiling & not wearing steel helmets. I guess these are posed Pictures taken during a non hostile moment?

Thanks for sharing them with us.

I'm assuming that they are in fact posed. Or taken while firing the weapon for fun!


M1/M3 Carbine: late '44 Inland
M1 Garand: late '44 Springfield

[Brit plumber]

Was your Great Uncle in the USAAF? Looks like he has a US type shirt. If he was, I'm guessing he must have picked up the Bren from a Brit/Canadian on his travells or is the chap behind in British gear? Interestingly it is a Mk2 with a Mk1 barrel.

[Peter Laidler]

Same again with barrels. The only stipulation with barrels was that they had to be matched by mark type, wear according to the gauges and quarters of life and fit to the gun. Until they became unserviceable that is. The VAOS list stated something like '...WSE* use barrel C1-BE 1234' which would be a short Mk4 barrel. But even then, only in matched pairs. So you'd find a load of part worn but serviceable Mk1 and 2 barrels on the rack but insufficient to use any because they conformed to different gauge standards to the serviceable one you still had fitted and were trying to match up or couldn't be fitted/tightened as a matched set using the barrel washers..... you know the sort of thing. So every so often they'd all get the chop
*WSE= when stocks exhausted

[garrettbragg12]

He was with the USAAF. My great uncle isnt the man behind the bren. Thats one of his ground crews for his B-24. This was all while he was stationed in Italy with the 742nd BS.

[Brit plumber]

I wonder if there was a British contingent there to guard the base. Your great uncle could have got chatting to some Brit gunners and they did some mutual photo taking.

[tombear]

The Foggia area had been originally captured by the 8 th Army and there were UK fighter squadrons very near to San Giovanni where the 742 was at Cerignola so there would have certainly have been Empire forces in the area. Logically we would have provided ground and AA defences at least while we were operating from these fields.

ATB

Tom