lend lease in combat

[rice 123]

Did the Britts use any of our lend lease Garands, 03s, or 17s in combat. I know they used Thompsons

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[Jim Tarleton]

I don't know, but the Greeks and Chinese probably did. I have an A4 Keystone stock that has a "People's Army" brand on the buttstock. The 03's have been an many a war, not all of them ours.

Jim

[Sunray]

From what I've read, albeit on-line, only RAF Regm't units guarding USAAF bases used M1 Rifles. Mostly post war, as I recall. The rest of 'em were returned. Logistics issues for Line PBI units. .30-06 ammo wasn't in the Brit supply system.

[Rick the Librarian]

I've seen at least one picture of the British using M1s in Korea, but use of M1s and M1903s was very sparse, if at all. That is what makes British M1903s and M1s so valuable - they received very little use. I agree with Jim that other countries used U.S. firearms a lot in combat and in service.

[Chuckindenver]

iv seen more then a few 1911,a 1903,s Garands, and 1917,s with Brit, Canada, NZ, and Dane markings all over them, so id bet money they were used, and used alot.
Rick has a nice pile of redtripe Remingtons, that saw some use in the lands of hot tea, bad teath, and Bennie Hill.
Jolly Good Show Mate

[Fredtheobviouspseudonym]

From what I've read, albeit on-line, only RAF Regm't units guarding USAAF bases used M1 Rifles. Mostly post war, as I recall. The rest of 'em were returned. Logistics issues for Line PBI units. .30-06 ammo wasn't in the Brit supply system.

They received the US rifles because in the Torch invasion they were supporting US forces and the brass felt it would make ammunition resupply easier.

I think it was No. 6 Commando, but don't bet the farm.

Apparently (this is from an Osprey book, "Army Commando," so can't be absolutely certain of the info) said Commando liked the Garands so much they held onto them for years -- they were deployed to Burma and kept the Garands. I have no idea how they got the 30-06 rounds -- suspect through some back channel deals with US troops.

[tiriaq]

Toward the end of the War, .30-06 was definitely in the supply system, because of the Browning guns on armoured vehicles.
The "red band" rifles tended to be used for secondary purposes. RCAF used M1917 rifles in Canada, don't know about overseas.
M-1 rifles sold surplus by the UK were among the first M-1s to reach the surplus market, at a time when the M-1 was still US issue. Some US collectors carefully removed the red bands. These rifles were early production, completely original, never rebuilt or altered.
.30 Lewis guns were used.
The Home Guard used many non-standard firearms.
Don't know how many Thompson guns were Lend-Lease to Britiain; the large initial orders were paid for with gold.

[Johnny Peppers]

The M1 Rifles lend-leased to England and released for commercial sale in the 1950's represent a large number of original and virtually new condition early rifles. There may be some, but I have never seen one with the British military broad-arrow property mark.
Likewise, a large number of British lend-lease Model 1911A1 pistols were released for sale about the same time, and they were all in excellent condition, with a few remaining in the original shipping boxes from the manufacturer.
Some were issued to the British Home Guard, but it appears that military use of most of the lend-lease small arms was small.

[tiriaq]

Well, the Lend-Lease Savage made No. 4 rifles were certainly used. They were of British pattern, though.
In general terms, the Lend-Lease arms were reserved for secondary use, freeing up the standard British types for front line service.
The 300,000 Thompsons ordered in 1940 were paid for using gold reserves, at 45-50 Pounds Sterling each. Only 100,000 reached Britain, the balance being lost in transit. The Thompsons were extensively used by all Commonwealth forces. Britain was broke, and the importance of Lend-Lease cannot be underestimated.

[Johnny Peppers]

The No.4 rifles were British main battle rifles. The M1 Rifles and 1903 rifles were not, as well as the M1911A1 pistols.
The U.S. had signed the Neutrality Act of 1939, and could not supply direct aid to our allies. By slightly bending the rules the U.S. enacted the Lend-Lease act which allowed us to supply weapons to our allies, but technically the weapons still belonged to the U.S. as they were stamped U.S. PROPERTY.
In 1940 before the Lend-Lease Act had been passed the British Purchasing Commission went into Colt and purchased everything they had in stock. This included everything up to Colt Single Action Army pistols, and some of these weapons came back to the U.S. when the British government released them for commercial sale in the 1950's, and virtually all were in excellent condition.