No4's Dropped to the French Resistance

[30Three]

It should also be remembered that there are probably quite a few WWI rifles in attics and barns around France.
Many would have been brought back after WWI and probably hidden during WWII if not handed in to the Nazi's in or passed on for use in the resistance

[desperatedan]

Cheers Kev, I will do. Business has me heading down through Normandy and Brittany in the new year on a regular basis.

One of our Milsurps family has already been very generous with information and potential contacts and like yourself, I want to add a French resistance piece to my gun locker.

Either a K98 or No4 will do very nicely, as long as it has a resistance connection and a viable bore I am interested..

Any chance of a few pics of yours?

Cheers John

Hi John, a few pics - excuse the quality but quickly taken with my phone when I had my gunsafe open earlier (hence no bolts fitted). The no.4 is pretty much as found, including the 1941 dated sling, just cleaned up. The battle sight is broken off and some pitting on the magazine but the rest is in remarkably good condition considering how long it was hidden away. Very good bore and a very accurate shooter.

The k98 is a 1937 J.P. Sauer und Sohn, Suhl manufacture. Apart from the repro sling added by me it's as originally found, one or two pits on some of the metalwork but shoots well enough, although my middle aged eyes prefer the aperture sights of the no.4 these days.
Attachment 79095Attachment 79096Attachment 79097Attachment 79098Attachment 79099Attachment 79102

[Kev G]

From SOE 'List of Standard Packs'(SNOWBALL) 1943.
If you have a 'dropped' No4 you now need to call it 'VIOLET'



OSS pic -

[Flying10uk]

I never realised that we dropped German rifles, presumably captured K98's, (PANSYS) to the Resistance.

[mrclark303]

Hi John, a few pics - excuse the quality but quickly taken with my phone when I had my gunsafe open earlier (hence no bolts fitted). The no.4 is pretty much as found, including the 1941 dated sling, just cleaned up. The battle sight is broken off and some pitting on the magazine but the rest is in remarkably good condition considering how long it was hidden away. Very good bore and a very accurate shooter.

The k98 is a 1937 J.P. Sauer und Sohn, Suhl manufacture. Apart from the repro sling added by me it's as originally found, one or two pits on some of the metalwork but shoots well enough, although my middle aged eyes prefer the aperture sights of the no.4 these days.
Attachment 79095Attachment 79096Attachment 79097Attachment 79098Attachment 79099Attachment 79102

Many thanks for sharing, I really appreciate you taking the time, lovely examples of historically significant rifles.

[henry r]

The fact they were dropping 98's, carcano's and beretta's makes me wonder if they were dropping no1mk3's not no4's at this stage.
Also if the american rifles were 1903's, m17's or less likely garands.

[can14&]

I think ammo would be an issue. 9mm easy to find, 8mm easy to find. 303 or 3006 not so easy.

[mrclark303]

.303 would have been dropped in quantity I am sure.

[Flying10uk]

I wonder if there was some other reason for dropping German weapons for the resistance to use such as traceability???

[mrclark303]

I'm not sure they were worried about traceability in Northern France F10, after all the Germans played a cat and mouse game with the resistance and SOE regarding air drops, so they knew kit was arriving on a regular basis.

I would think apart from earmarked new batch deliveries, they got whatever was avalable. You would assume some of the more exotic firearms mentioned on the list must have had accompanying ammo though, or it would be about as useful as a chocolate tea pot to the active cells.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the Belgium resistance groups mainly used German weapons and drops to them were more ammo and explosives related.

I can't wait to get a resistance rifle into my collection, to honour the brave men and women of the various groups that took the fight back to the Germans, some of them paying a very high price for their actions.