Did the Birtish armed forces use old ww1 weapons in 1939.. I know alot of battle ships were WW1 and some WW1 planes were used for costal guard.. but what about some of the machine guns, cannons and big guns were they used or what happened to them. same for the ww1 tanks obviously seemed out of date in 1939 but what happened to them. during the defence of britain was there ever a need to recall any old WW1 tanks planes guns etc thanks
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I know that a handful of Bovington's exhibits, including WW1 tanks were used by the local home guard in static roadblocks etc. As regards the bulk of the first war tanks, which had largely been dumped in Dorset, the work to destroy them for scrap by a Mr Cyril Roper was completed around 1932.
Did the Birtish armed forces use old ww1 weapons in 1939.. If they were anything like us Americans, they did. We used quite a few WWI small arms, especially in the early days - the M1903 rifle, M1917 Browning machine gun, and the M1917 cal. 45 revolver. JT
Did the Birtish armed forces use old ww1 weapons in 1939.. I know alot of battle ships were WW1 and some WW1 planes were used for costal guard.. Battleships, certainly; all our WW2 battleships except the King George V class dated from WW1, or at least had started construction at that time. Some Cruisers and Destroyers dated from WW1. So did two of our aircraft carriers - Argus and Furious But NO aircraft though - of that I am certain. And none of our submarines. Many of our SMLE rifles and Vickers and Lewis guns were WW1. I'm sure VP is right about tanks (but the French were still using Renault FT17 tanks from WW1, albeit re-engined. The Afghan army still had some of these things in the 1980s). I don't know enough about field guns etc to say.
http://www.btinternet.com/~ian.a.paterson/equipartillery.htm 18 Pounder Field Gun: The artillery piece was basically the same as was used during the First World War, but with some modifications, such as pneumatic tyres and split-trail design to allow it to be towed behind a tractor unit, such a lorry or the Quad tractor and limber. It saw service until the latter stages of the Second World War albeit in a training or reserve capacity.
In addition to the ships named by Adrian, at the end of WW1 the aircraft carriers Hermes was under construction & conversion of an uncompleted Chilean dreadnought into the Eagle was in progress. Out of 12 British battleships & 3 battlecruisers in service in September 1939, 10 battleships & 2 battlecruisers served in WW1 & the Hood was under construction at the end of that war. The exceptions were the Nelson & the Rodney, which the UK was allowed to build after the signing of the Washington Treaty in 1921 because her battleships were all inferior to the latest Japanese & US ships. Some WW1 submarines did survive into WW2; 8 H class & 3 L class were still in use on training duties & H49 was lost in 1940.
Even more so in the Far East, which was at the bottom of the Allied supply list. The American rifles were M1903 Springfields, very long, great accuracy at long range, but prone to jamming. The machine-guns had been cosmolined since the Argonne, and the anti-aircraft shells were equally out-of-date. The British had similar problems in Malaya and Hong Kong. The Americans in the Philippines lacked hand grenades and anti-tank weapons, and made them out of beer bottles, by the way. And the reservists called up in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, had to wind on their 1918-issue puttees around their legs, an incredible struggle.
In my previous post I forgot to mention HMS Courageous & Glorious, which served as battlecruisers in WW1 before being converted to aircraft carriers in the 1920s & were sunk in WW2.
The American rifles were M1903 Springfields, very long, great accuracy at long range, but prone to jamming. Actually, the M1903 Springfield barrel is 24.2 inches, similar to the SMLE at 25.2 inches and the K98k Mauser at 23.6 inches. While I'm unaware of jamming problems, the M1903 has terrible sights. Not only are they tiny and difficult to see, except perhaps for 18-year-old eyes, but they are delicate and easily damaged. Marines at Guadalcanal carried M1903 rifles, since the M1 Garand had not yet reached general issue. JT
.............. The American rifles were M1903 Springfields, very long, great accuracy at long range, but prone to jamming .......... That is something I have never experienced with -- or heard about -- the bolt action M1903 Springfield rifle. Do you remember any details as to what the jammimg was? James
