A Photographic Essay

American Rifleman
Jun 2011
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R I F LEMA N D I G I TA L
R E N E W/ U P G R A D E
More on the Web
www.americanrifleman.org/GI45
The World War II
U.S. M1911 & M1911A1
A Photographic Essay
During World War II, the .45 ACP M1911
and M1911A1 pistols were popular with
American troops, and here we present
some imagery of those who trained and
fought with “old slabsides.”
BY TOM LAEMLEIN
National Archives photos
A Marine armed with the M1911A1
pistol advances on Okinawa (l.).
A Marine tanker armed with an
M1911A1 takes cover outside his
disabled Sherman tank on Iwo
Jima (far l.). The M1911A1 pistol
was standard-issue for tank crews.
In a photo taken on March 14, 1945,
a Marine combat cinematographer
is armed with an original M1911 in
the black volcanic ash of Iwo Jima
(below, l.).
American Rifleman
Jun 2011
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THE G.I. .45
T
he American military has long had an affinity for
handguns, and during World War II the United States
issued more pistols and revolvers to its troops than
any other combatant nation. Handguns were normally
issued to officers, non-commissioned officers and specialist
troops (such tank crewmen). Many frontline American
troops, however, found a way to equip themselves with a
handgun—usually a .45—in spite of issuance regulations,
with many bartered for, borrowed or outright stolen.
The most common American handguns during World
War II were the M1911 and M1911A1 .45-cal. semiautomatic pistols. The M1911 was designed by John M.
Browning, produced by Colt and adopted on March 29,
1911. The M1911 was manufactured by Colt, Springfield
Armory and Remington-UMC. And the gun proved itself
to American troops during World War I.
A few small changes were made to the frame, trigger,
hammer and grip, and in 1926 the M1911 became the
M1911A1. During World War II, more than 1.7 million
M1911A1s were manufactured by Colt, Singer (500 guns
under an educational contract), Ithaca, Remington-Rand
and Union Switch & Signal, and the M1911A1 remained
standard issue until the 1980s.
Despite being a posed photo, these two Marine radio
reporters on Iwo Jima in March 1945 were smart to keep
their M1911A1s at hand as there was always a danger of
enemy activity almost anywhere on that terrible little island.
American Rifleman
Jun 2011
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THE G.I. .45
With a rack of Springfields
behind him, an armorer
inspects a brand-new M1911A1
(above). The crew of “The Pay
Off,” a U.S. Marine M3 Stuart
tank (above r.), pose with their
personal arms on Bougainville.
Included are three M1911s, an
M1 Thompson submachine
gun, and one mean-looking
machete. An Army G.I. (right)
inspects a Japanese coconut
log and coral rock bunker on
Munda, New Georgia during
October 1943. These positions
proved remarkably strong.
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R I F LEMA N D I G I TA L
U.S. Small Arms In World War II
G
eneral George S. Patton once wrote, “Wars may
be fought with weapons but they are won by men,”
and author Tom Laemlein’s new book, U.S. Small
Arms In World War II, from which this article is excerpted,
presents hundreds of those men with the handguns, rifles,
submachine guns,
machine guns and
shotguns they used
during the war.
Laemlein is the
author of a numerous
books on arms and
armor (the kind with
tracks) and the editor
of World War II
Ordnance Illustrated
magazine. For U.S.
Small Arms of World War II he laboriously poured through
public collections, such as the National Archives, as well
as private collections, in search of interesting photographs
that tell the story of American’s soldiers and Marines—and
their tools of the trade—during World War II. The book is
organized by arm type, and there are chapters on handguns,
Thompsons, M3 “grease” guns, M1 carbines, M1 Garands,
M1903 Springfields, M1917 Enfields, BARs, shotguns and
the Browning .30- and .50-cal. machine guns. Of particular
interest are the chapters on the Reising submachine gun,
the Johnson Light Machine Gun and the Marlin UD42
submachine gun, which include the best imagery of these
guns I have seen.
The book’s photographic reproduction is excellent, and
many unusual and previously unpublished photos are
included from training, to rear areas to combat photos from
the front line. The detail in the imagery extends far beyond
merely telling the story of the guns, and Laemlein’s eye
for the dramatic and interesting makes for an excellent
photographic synopsis of American troops and their arms
from World War II.
The hardbound 24-pp., 8 ½"x11" book costs $35 plus
shipping and is available from Osprey Publishing;
(866) 620-6941; www.ospreypublishing.com.
—Mark A. Keefe, IV, Editor In Chief