Easier to handle than a rifle, capable of producing large volumes of automatic fire and relatively compact, the submachine-gun, termed the machine pistol by the Germans, reigned supreme in close-quarter fighting. Within panzer-grenadier formations, officers, NCOs, special assault squads and specialists were equipped with machine pistols. Also, most large combat vehicles had enough space for at least one such weapon. Waffen SS formations were the largest user of the Bergman MP 35, which was a direct descendant of the World War I Bergman MP 18. Manufactured to an extremely high standard, with walnut furniture, these were excellent weapons, but the MP 35 was a product of a different age and too difficult to mass-produce in the numbers required, although it was made until 1945.
The MP 38, the most famous German submachine-gun of the war, was something very different indeed. ?hile not particularly innovative as a gun, it was revolutionary in terms of the mass production methods used in its manufacture. The MP 38 was constructed from metal stampings, die cast parts and plastic furniture; it was simple but also robust and effective. Its compactness made it ideal for troops carried in the cramped confines of a vehicle such as the Sd Kfz 251 and was a popular weapon with the panzergrenadiers, who received priority in its allocation. Its manufacture was further simplified in 1940 and the resulting weapon was known as the MP 40. To the troops who rightly prized this reliable and handy weapon this change would have made little noticeable difference. Incidentally, the MP38/MP 40’s nickname the ‘Schmeisser’ is something of a misnomer, since Hugo Schmeisser had nothing to do with the Erma-designed weapon.
¦ MP 40
Calibre: 9mm Parabellum; Weight: 4kg (8.81b); Magazine Capacity: 32 round box; Cyclic Rate of Fire: SOOrpm
The Germans also used vast quantities of captured Soviet PPSh-41s; many were even chambered to allow their own 9mm ammunition to be used.
World History
