Hi there, I was wondering what type of weapons my grandad would have carried ordinarily in his day to day duties as a driver during WWII ? He served from 1940 to 1946 and was part of the 50th (Northumberland) Division, mostly as part of the RASC 522 COY. In this company he seems to have been a dispatch rider and lorry driver. For a time (during the push north from France -> Belgium -> Holland) in the summer and autumn of '44, he served as a jeep ambulance driver (142 Ambulance, RAMC) attached to 9th Durham Light Infantry. I wondered how well armed he would have been given that his main responsibilities would have been logistics and delivery of ammo, supplied, medicals etc.. Thanks, Darren
If you are looking for equipment scales you might begin with the Trux pages here. They cover 1944-45 (NWE). I expect that the RASC would have a basic allotment of personal weapons for self-defense (rifles, pistols, later SMG, a Bren or two) but no heavy weapons. I don't know if all RAMC personnel were unarmed, but in Europe at least I would expect they would be unarmed if they wore the brassard. In the Far East, RAMC too were armed--the Japs didn't respect the Red Cross. In 1940, even some TA infantry battalions were short of their full scale of equipment so I would imagine that the RASC weapons scale would have been very light indeed at that time.
We have had inquiries like this before. See this thread: http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/49744-rasc-drivers-personal-kit/
RASC personnel carried arms, even when driving ambulances. For the early part of the war rifles were normal. In NW Europe some rifles were carried in vehicles but most drivers, especially with motorcycles or jeeps, carried Sten guns. Even RAMC units were armed and would fight in self defence. Usually this was limited to non medical personnel. Mike.
Did you see the link in your other thread in my post #40 ? http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/60374-new-to-this-need-some-help/?p=697913 As mentioned on here, it was info posted by Trux. It lists all the weapons carried by members of a Field Ambulance. I'll link to it here again http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/23794-royal-army-medical-corps/
Photographic evidence relating to motorcyclists suggest that whilst many military policemen and a number of R. Sigs DRs regularly carried Stens, most other motorcyclists on general duties simply carried a pistol for self-defence.
Can somebody point me to the exact model of pistol that RASC dispatch riders would have carried ? Was there a standard issue pistol ? Thanks, Darren
Either Enfield, Webley or Lend Lease Smith and Wesson Revolver. All .38 calibre. The first two would have been more common.
I don't know much about this area but I remember reading somewhere that nurses/medics etc were supposed to be handed back if taken as POW. Is that correct?