German troops with M41 Carcanos (pictures)

[Pat]

Here are two pics I found while searching for something else.
The first (blurry) photo shows what appears to be an M41 Carcano rifle being used by a German soldier. It's hard to tell, but the the outline and sling arrangement look correct.

The rifle in the second pic is unmistakably an M41. The personnel appear to be mixed German Ordnungspolizei (note the decal on the helmets) and unknown Italian troops. Also note the correct M41 bayonet hanging from the belt of the soldier in the middle.

Pat

 

[WaPrüf2]

Use by Orpo quite likely. SS-Polizei Bn. Bozen used them along w Italian armored cars and the Standschützen Bns. frequently used Italian equipment.

 

[Pat]

Use by Orpo quite likely. SS-Polizei Bn. Bozen used them along w Italian armored cars and the Standschützen Bns. frequently used Italian equipment.

I think the unit in the following pictures has been tentatively ID'd as SS Polizei in Yugoslavia, 1943-44.
Pat

 

[RyanE]

Photos above (the first post) are taken in Rome in the aftermath of the murder of a group of policemen (and several civilians) by communist guerrillas in March 1944 (well after the city was declared "open", by the way). I think all the men are from Regiment Bozen. All the other photos from this event show virtuallt all the Germans armed with Italian rifles (mostly M41) and Beretta submachineguns.

 

[jhv 41]

Here are a few rifles I can't ID. Maybe someone can:

 

[RyanE]

Here are a few rifles I can't ID. Maybe someone can:

1) Browning A5. Men appear to be hunting.

2&3) Both appear to be vz24

4) Yugoslavian M95M, photo apparently taken in Norway.

 

[jhv 41]

Ryan, you get an A+ and a speed bonus!

 

[WaPrüf2]

Photos above (the first post) are taken in Rome in the aftermath of the murder of a group of policemen (and several civilians) by communist guerrillas in March 1944 (well after the city was declared "open", by the way). I think all the men are from Regiment Bozen. All the other photos from this event show virtuallt all the Germans armed with Italian rifles (mostly M41) and Beretta submachineguns.

I thought that might be the case. The resistance types set off an IED against elements of SS-Pol. Bozen, which was recruited primarily from Standschützen Bn. Bozen; reprisal was the Adeatine (sp.?) Cave Massacre. There is a memorial plaque to some of the Germans killed erected postwar by a German veterans' organization in a church in Italy.

 

[Pat]

That explains why I found this linked on a search for Erich Priebke.
He was implicated as being at the top of the CoC which gave the order for the massacre and even helped carry it out. Ironically, the prosecution went with the 'orders are orders' defense in the sense that Priebke's fatal flaw was including five extra victims over the 330 that were planned ('10 for every German soldier killed').

Between many Italian units folding/being disarmed after the September 1943 armistice and the German-funded movement of factories and machinery to the north to escape bombing, there would have been plenty of Italian arms to go around, with more arguably being produced for Axis consumption as the events in those pictures were taking place.
Pat

 

[Amberg]

1) Browning A5. Men appear to be hunting.

Looks like Adolf Galland on the left.

 

[NathanLM]

Looks like Adolf Galant on the left.

Agreed. Adolf Galland

 

[Amberg]

Volkssturm with Carcanos.
From November 1944 newspaper.

 

[Amberg]

A bit OT.
German frogmen in late 1944. Please note the Italian Dive Knife at the far right.

 

[Pisgah]

A bit OT.
German frogmen in late 1944. Please note the Italian Dive Knife at the far right.

Not too surprising considering the Italians had the most ambitious and successful special operations frogmen at that time. That was one area where the Italians excelled.

 

[Pat]

Volkssturm with Carcanos.
From November 1944 newspaper.

Great picture, thanks for sharing! I've never seen that one before.

Not too surprising considering the Italians had the most ambitious and successful special operations frogmen at that time. That was one area where the Italians excelled.

+1. They definitely led the way in NSW for the time, and pioneered many new techniques and combat swimmer delivery systems. I think only the USN had them beat when it came to beach surveys, especially considering the greater emphasis placed by the US on pre-invasion reconnaissance (mostly in the PTO). I'd still give the Italians the nod in anti-shipping UDT, though.

Pat