Armament of the SS and the Wehrmacht in the Battle of Berlin (I): Light weapons. – Archives of History | Your disclosure page

With the war in Europe drawing to a close and the end of a dying Third Reich under the relentless blow of the hammer and sickle looming on the near horizon, it is hard to imagine that the German arms industry functioned still at full capacity. Therefore, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to state with certainty the armament that the weakened German army used during the defense of Berlin in 1945, since the different divisions were supplied according to available stocks rather than by necessity.

However, we have been able to get an idea of ​​the weapons used by the Wehrmacht due to the study of the production of the German war industry and the testimonies of the soldiers, both Allied and German, who survived the capture of Berlin.

In this article, we are going to focus on mentioning the light weapons that the Allied troops that faced the remnants of the German army in the battle of Berlin probably faced.

StG44

The Sturmgewehr The German was the ideal weapon for an army corps that had to face an enemy with numerical superiority, such as the huge number of Soviet soldiers that were flooding Berlin at that time. Due to its high rate of fire and its great reliability at short and medium ranges, this rifle proves to be very useful in street fights.

Special emphasis should be placed on this weapon, as it can be considered the first modern assault rifle on which almost all the weapons subsequently manufactured for military infantry have been inspired.

The creation of the StG 44, also known as the MP 44, was motivated by the need for armies to increase the firepower of the infantry.

This weapon had a gas intake that actuated a piston located in a cylinder on the barrel. They could be used in automatic mode, despite the fact that they were manufactured by default to be fired in semi-automatic mode, and were used to counteract the attacks of the Soviet PPS-43 and PPSh-41 submachine guns, having a greater range than these.

Main features:

• LENGTH: 940mm
• WEIGHT: 5.12kg
• BARREL: 420mm
• CALIBER: 7, 92mm Kurz
• STRIPED: 4 ribs/dextrorsum
• OPERATION: gas intake
• FEEDING: 30-round curved magazine
• Sliding RAISE: up to 800 m
• INITIAL SPEED: 647m/s
• SPEED OF SHOOTING: 500 shots per minute
• SHOOT: shot by shot and burst

MP40

The German MP 40 (and its variants MP 38, MP 38/40, MP 40/2 and MP 41) is, without a doubt, one of the most famous weapons of the entire World War II and most characteristic of the armies of the Third World War. Reich throughout the conflict, since from the beginning of the conflict until 1945 approximately 1,047,000 units were manufactured.

Its proven effectiveness, its great precision at distances between 50-100 meters, its lightness, easy maintenance and resistance, made this weapon highly valued and sought after both in the German and Soviet ranks.

Main features:

• CALIBER: 9mm Parabellum
• SELECTOR: automatic
• FEEDING: 32-round straight magazine
• EMPTY WEIGHT: 4.03 kg
• LOADED WEIGHT: 4.7 kg
• LENGTH: 833mm
• STRIPED: 6 ribs/dextrorsum
• LIBRILLO RISE: 100-200 m
• RATE OF FIRE: 450 to 455 shots per minute
• INITIAL SPEED: 381 m/s
• EFFECTIVE RANGE: 200m

PM 3008

Due to the progress of the war, the urgent need arose to produce a low-cost and relatively fast-manufactured weapon due to the scarcity of raw materials and to be able to arm the newly formed Volkssturm. Then, at the beginning of 1945, the MP 3008, also known as volksmachinepistole (popular machine gun).

The MP 3008 is a sober German-made submachine gun, which is directly inspired by the British Sten MK II, the main difference between the two being the location of the magazine, since in the Sten it is housed in a horizontal position on one of the sides of the magazine. weapon.

This submachine gun is characterized by its recoil action and open bolt firing. Initially it was manufactured in workshops and steel was used as raw material; It also had no grip or forend, just a triangular-shaped wire stock welded to the main frame of the weapon. However, setting a specific design for this small submachine gun is complicated, because as it was manufactured in small workshops, modifications were constant, such as, for example, copies with wooden stocks could be found.

Another piece of information worth mentioning is that the MP 3008 used the same 32-round 9mm magazines as the MP 40. Between 10,000 and 30,000 units of this submachine gun were manufactured in 1945.

Main features:

• CALIBER: 9mm Parabellum
• SELECTOR: automatic
• FEEDING: 32-round straight magazine
• EMPTY WEIGHT: 2.95 kg
• LOADED WEIGHT: 3.2 kg
• LENGTH: 760mm
• BARREL LENGTH: 200 mm
• FIRE SPEED: 450 shots per minute
• INITIAL SPEED: 365m/s
• EFFECTIVE RANGE: 100 to 150 meters

Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr

Without a doubt, it is the most characteristic weapon of the Volkssturm and the German arms industry at the end of the war. This semi-automatic rifle was manufactured exclusively for the German popular militias that served as auxiliary support to the different Wehrmacht corps that were still operational.

The first prototype was designed and manufactured in 1943, but it was not until 1944 and 1945 that mass production began, revealing, like the MP 3008, the lack of raw materials and the limited production capacity it suffered. the German military industry in that period. About 10,000 units of this model were manufactured.

Made of 39 metal parts (not counting rivets or screws), it uses a delayed gas recoil action similar to that used in the unusual machine gun. Barnitzke German, causing the gas purged from the barrel to create a resistance near the chamber that drives back the operating parts that cease when the projectile is fired from the muzzle of the barrel. This gas comes from four holes in the barrel cylinder. It had a shot-by-shot firing mode although it can also be used in burst fire.

It used the same magazines and projectiles as the StG 44, however, after several copies were captured and tested by Soviet troops, it was shown that this rifle turns out to be quite inaccurate from 100 meters and very inaccurate at distances of 300 meters.

Main features:

• CALIBER: 7, 92mm
• AMMUNITION: 7, 92 x 33mm Kurz
• RATE OF FIRE: shot-by-shot and semi-automatic
• LENGTH: 885mm
• BARREL LENGTH: 378 mm
• UNLOADED WEIGHT: 4.27 kg
• LOADED WEIGHT: 4.6 kg
• ACTION: delayed gas recoil
• EFFECTIVE RANGE: 300 meters
• FEEDING: 30-round curved magazine

Walther P38

The Walther P38 arose with the aim of replacing the famous P08 Luger, since this new pistol had a lower cost and faster production. This weapon soon became very popular among the different branches of the Wehrmacht and the SS due to its easy maintenance and much improved handling and robustness compared to its predecessor.

The fame and quality of this pistol was such that its production did not end in Germany (where some 550,00 units were manufactured until the end of the war) with the end of World War II, but continued to be manufactured as an endowment weapon for the Bundeswehr until 1957, in countries like France or Turkey, which had their production license.

Main features:

• CALIBER: 9mm Parabellum
• OVERALL LENGTH: 214mm
• WEIGHT WITH EMPTY MAGAZINE: 950 grams
• WEIGHT WITH FULL MAGAZINE: 1,050 kg
• FOOD: 8-round magazine

Walther PPK

The Walther PP was not very widespread among the troops that defended Berlin since it was originally a weapon intended to be part of the German secret police’s weapons equipment, when it was introduced in 1929, in fact, its initials mean Polizeipistole Criminal. In 1931, a shorter version of this weapon will appear, known as the Walther PPK (Kurz). These were the first semi-automatic pistols that could be carried with a bullet in the chamber without the risk of accidental discharge from a blow or fall.

During the Third Reich and World War II, the Walther PPK enjoyed great popularity among the German secret police that occupied the western part and among the elites of the army and Nazi leaders. In fact, Hitler’s lieutenant and supreme commander of the Luftwaffe, Herman Göring, had a personalized copy, in addition to being the weapon used by Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun to kill themselves in the Berlin Chancellery bunker on April 30. from 1945.

The operation of this pistol consists of activating an external hammer by pulling the slide back and releasing it, thus introducing the first bullet into the chamber, just like the operation of any current pistol.

The Walther PP and the PPK introduced several innovations in their design and operation with respect to the rest of the pistols. These were equipped with a safety that when lowered, allowed the external hammer to fall without hitting the projectile. In addition, the trigger mechanism allowed the first shot to be fired revolver-style (actuating the trigger travel causing the hammer to recoil), leaving subsequent shots with the hammer actuated so that it could fire without having to manually depress it. This trigger mechanism received the name “double action”.

As a curiosity, we can mention that the Walther PPK is the weapon used by the literary and cinematographic character created by Ian Fleming: the secret agent of the British intelligence service, James Bond.

Due to its small size and easy handling, it has been a very popular weapon among the civilian population throughout the 20th century, causing it to be imitated by different countries and weapons producers. In fact, despite its age, countries like the United States and Germany continue to produce this weapon today.

Main features of the Walther PPK:

Mauser Kar 98K

The Mauser Kar 98k bolt-action rifle is the weapon most commonly used by Wehrmacht infantry troops throughout the conflict. This rifle arose from the need of the German army for a weapon that was more manageable than the Mauser Gewehr 98 rifle.

In 1939, it presented a design of great beauty, although as the war unfolds, the need arises to lower its production costs, therefore, some of its pieces will be replaced by other more affordable ones that require materials of less strategic interest. However, this did not alter its already more than proven effectiveness in its handling.

Despite being one…