German+Guns+WWII

Marlon Sabo

The German Army, called "Heer" in German, are the land units of the German military. Under the Treaty of Versailles, the Wehrmacht, German Military, was only allowed 100,000 men between the Army and the Navy. Following the 1932 German elections the Nazi Party came to power and began disregard the treaty and started suiting up their armed forces. The Army was made part of the Wehrmacht in May 1935. The Wehrmacht included not just the Army and Navy but also a third branch known as the Luftwaffe, which was the air force. Initially, the Army was expanded to 21 divisional-sized units and smaller formations. Between 1935 and 1945 this force grew to consist of hundreds of divisions and thousands of smaller supporting units. Between 1939 and 1945 close to 16 million served in the German Army. Over 3 million were killed and over 4.1 million were wounded. Of the 7,361 men awarded the initial grade of the highest German combat honor of World War II, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, 4,777 were from the Army, making up 65% of the total awarded. At the end of the war the Allies dissolved the German Army, on 20 August 1946.

The German Heer was one of the, if not the best military in WW2 and up to present date. In WW2 they were such a skilled fighting force largely due to their technology and weapons.

List of the most popular Infantry Weapons: The Luger P08 was probably one of the most common hand guns used by the German military, but it was highley effective and reliable.
 * Handguns**
 * Walther P38 The Walther P38 is a 9 mm pistol that was developed by Walther as the service pistol of the Wehrmacht at the beginning of World War II. It was intended to replace the costly Luger P08.
 * Luger P08
 * Walther PP, PPK
 * Sauer 38H
 * Mauser HSC
 * Dreyse M1907
 * Mauser C96
 * Rifles**
 * Gewehr 41/43 The Gewehr 43 or Karabiner 43 is a 8x57mm caliber semi-automatic rifle developed by Germany during WW2. It was a modification of the G41(W) using an improved gas system similar to that of the Soviet Tokarev SVT40. The Gewehr 43 was never mass produced and was never general issue, the official list of issued units was to be 1 in every platoon, and those were to be issued to a select specialist (designated marksman/engineer). Despite the Gewehr being a good improvement over the problematic Gewehr 41, and being a more effective combat rifle over slower bolt-action rifles, the Gewehr 43 was never as reliable or as robust and simple as the Allied rifles like the M1 and SVT-40, nor was the G43 a common enough rifle, for every 1 Gewehr 43 the Germans produced, the Americans produced 50 M1s and the Soviets produced 20 SVTs.

> It combined the characteristics and firepower of a light machine gun in a lightweight form no larger than the standard-issue Kar 98k bolt-action rifle. Considered one of the most advanced weapon designs of World War II, the FG 42 influenced post-war small arms development and helped to shape the modern assault rifle concept.
 * Mauser Karabiner 98k The Karabiner 98 Kurz was a bolt action rifle chambered for the 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge that was adopted as the standard service rifle in 1935 by the German Wehrmacht. It was one of the final developments in the long line of Mauser military rifles. Although supplemented by semi- and fully automatic rifles during World War II, it remained the German service rifle until the end of World War II in 1945. It could also be fitted with a scope and proven to be accurate up to 1000m when used by a skilled sniper.
 * Submachine Guns**
 * MP34 The MP34, "Machine Pistol 34", is a submachine gun (SMG) that was manufactured by Waffenfabrik Steyr and used by the Austrian police and eventuallu by units of the German army, including the Waffen SS, in World War II. An exceptionally well-made weapon, it was used by some forces well into the 1970s.
 * MP40 The MP 38 and MP 40, "Machine Pistol 40", were submachine guns developed in Nazi Germany and used mostly by paratroopers, tank crews, platoon and squad leaders, and other troops during World War II. This is probably the most famous military submachine gun of all time. It was a very reliable bun which could fire under any circumsatnce, it had good accuracy and a fairly good rate of fire.
 * MP3008
 * Machine Guns**
 * MG 34 The Maschinengewehr 34, or MG 34, is a German air-cooled machine gun that was first produced and accepted into service in 1934, and first issued to units in 1935. It accepts the 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge.It was designed to perform both as a light machine gun and in heavier roles, as an early example of a general purpose machine gun. In the light machine gun role, it can be equipped with a bipod and 50-round ammunition belt in a drum-shaped magazine attached to the receiver. In the heavier role, it is mounted on a larger tripod and is belt-fed. The infantry relied mainly on belt-cartridge ammunition for the bipod version, functioning as a classic medium support infantry weapon.
 * MG 42 The MG 42 (shortened from German: Maschinengewehr //42//, or "machine gun 42") is a 7.92mm universal machine gun that was developed in Nazi Germany and entered service with the Wehrmacht in 1942. It supplemented and in some instances, replaced the MG 34 general purpose machine gun in all branches of the German Armed Forces, though both weapons were manufactured and used until the end of the war. The MG 42 has a proven record of reliability, durability, simplicity, and ease of operation, but is most notable for being able to produce a stunning volume of suppressive fire. The MG 42 has one of the highest average rates of fire of any single-barreled man-portable machine gun, between 1,200 and 1,500 rpm, resulting in a distinctive muzzle report. It is still in use today but in a more modern version and still proves to be one of the best machine guns on the market.[[image:800px-MG42-1.jpg width="482" height="276" caption="A WWII MG 42"]]
 * Automatic Rifles**
 * Sturmgewehr 44 The StG 44 (Sturmgewehr 44, "storm (or assault) rifle model of 1944") was an assault rifle developed in Nazi Germany during World War II and was the first of its kind to see major deployment, considered by many historians to be the first modern assault rifle. It is also known under the designations MP 43 and MP 44 (Maschinenpistole 43, Maschinenpistole 44). It was probably the best rifle of World War II.[[image:800px-Sturmgewehr_44.jpg width="420" height="189" caption="StG 44"]]
 * FG-42 The FG 42 (German for Fallschirmjägergewehr 42 or "paratrooper rifle 42") was a selective fire battle rifle produced in Nazi Germany during World War II. The weapon was developed specifically for the use with Fallschirmjäger airborne infantry in 1942 and was used in very limited numbers until the end of the war.
 * Sniper Rifles**
 * Gewehr 43 (scoped)
 * Karabiner 98k (scoped)
 * Anti-tank Weapons**
 * Panzerfaust The Panzerfaust (German for "armor fist" or "tank fist") was an inexpensive, recoiless German anti-tank weapon of World War Ii. It consisted of a small, disposable preloaded launch tube firing a high explosive anti-tank warhead, operated by a single soldier. The Panzerfaust remained in service in various versions until the end of the war.
 * Raketenpanzerbüchse "Panzerschreck" Panzerschreck was the popular name for the (Raketenpanzerbüchse), an 88 mm calibre reusable anti-tank rocket launcher developed by Nazi Germany in World War II. Another popular nickname was Ofenrohr ("stove pipe"). The Panzerschreck was designed as a lightweight infantry anti-tank weapon. The weapon was shoulder-launched and fired a rocket-propelled, fin-stabilized grenade with a shaped charge warhead. [[image:Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-671-7483-29,_Reichsgebiet,_Soldat_mit_Panzerabwehrwaffe.jpg width="424" height="278" caption="German soldier firing a Panzerschreck with a blast shield"]]

Sources: [] [|www.wikipedia.com] []