Johnson Light Machine Gun M41/44

[Dandelion]

Minute detail I know, but does anybody know if the Johnson lmg saw service in Europe? I saw some note indicating that the US/Can 1.SSF used it, and I know this force has adept students in the forum, so I was wondering if anyone could confirm?

And did any of the semi-automatics reach Europe? I know the Dutch colonials used it, but did the Metropolitan army use it as well?

Cheerio

Dandelion

[Kingfish]

According to this 1st SSF site, one man in each squad was equipped with the Johnson LMG.

[junk2drive]

A google search a long time ago turned up what you posted. Best I can tell is wasn't all that well liked. Check the Dutch East Indies WWII website.

[Dandelion]

Thanks King, that must be near record in replytime.

Say, did the SSF have paradrop capability?

Cheerio

Dandelion

[junk2drive]

Juju's Johnson, er, LMG is in the alternates section of his CMAK modslutsmack small arms mod.

Check M Dorosh's The Med website for details on the 1stFFS and grunts.net

[Michael Dorosh]

Originally posted by Dandelion:

Thanks King, that must be near record in replytime.

Say, did the SSF have paradrop capability?

Cheerio

Dandelion

They trained in jumping, amphib assault and mountain ops. They used all of them in combat except paradrop.

I think Colonel Frederick made his jump in bedroom slippers, unless I am mixing up my airborne lore.

They went to one of the US naval bases for their amphib training and set the record for embarking into landing craft, beating even the best times of Marine units.

There was a story in one of the Force histories about a US pilot (I think, or an escaped PW) doing some escape and evasion, who came upon a Forceman wearing the special fur-hooded parka, baggy paratroop pants, and carrying a "Johnnygun". The US serviceman had to ask "Kee-rist, are you American?"

When the Force disbanded, there may have been men on strength not para trained, I'd have to check my references. I think the bulk of the Canadians were, and they went to 1 Can Para Bn. The Americans serving with the Force went to a leg unit, the 474th Infantry Regiment, again, IIRC.

[Dandelion]

The Med? I knew you had two hu-uge sites, those listed in your sig, but The Med is new to me. Any link?

By the way I noticed you wrote a Austria? on the regional affiliation of I.D.331. Though Wehrkreis was Vienna (or more precisely Amstetten in EII/130), the men were mostly (66%) Sudeten Germans, the component regiments formed in Pilsen (Plzen), Brünn (Brno) and Dresden (just Dresden, i.e. Saxons).

The WK for GD was III.

Ah well, I'll stop now

Anyway, thanks for the input everyone. Does anyone have an idea of how the Johnson lmg worked out in field service?

Cheerio

Dandelion

[Michael Dorosh]

Originally posted by Dandelion:

[QB] The Med? I knew you had two hu-uge sites, those listed in your sig, but The Med is new to me. Any link?

I am folding the content into other sites, but for now visit http://members.shaw.ca/madorosh/

By the way I noticed you wrote a Austria? on the regional affiliation of I.D.331. Though Wehrkreis was Vienna (or more precisely Amstetten in EII/130), the men were mostly (66%) Sudeten Germans, the component regiments formed in Pilsen (Plzen), Brünn (Brno) and Dresden (just Dresden, i.e. Saxons).

The WK for GD was III.

Ah well, I'll stop now

How would you represent that on a chart though...were they officially Austrian?

And do you have the regional affilitations of the other 500 Divisions....pretty please (or however it is said in Deutsch...)

[Dandelion]

Originally posted by Michael Dorosh:

I am folding the content into other sites, but for now visit <font size='>" target="_blank">http://members.shaw.ca/madorosh/

"Other" sites. You mean you have more still?

How would you represent that on a chart though...were they officially Austrian?

Officially Austrian yes, insofar that WKXVII (Amstetten) was divisional "home". The men were Germans from Bohemia, Moravia and southern Saxony, regions bordering eachother. Amstetten (the Austrian, not German, Amstetten) lies in Niederösterreich, another bordering region, specifically along the Danube just South of the Moravian border. So together they form a coherent landmass and the Germans in them spoke like dialect - not far from Austrian but still distinctly not. So the recruiting area of the Division was Bohemia, Moravia and South Saxony.

And do you have the regional affilitations of the other 500 Divisions....pretty please (or however it is said in Deutsch...)

I'm surprised you don't know how to say that in German Michael, Andreas must have grown soft on you.

Of course I have. It's elementary. German listings will often display as such:

ID 331 (WKXVII, E II./130 Amstetten)

- IR 557 (Brünn)

- IR 558 (Durch WKIV Dresden)

- IR 559 (Durch WKXIII Pilsen)

- AR 331 (Aus WKIV, XVII und XIII)

That way you know where the men were actually from. Now, 331st is an oddball, a 17th Welle Walkür division, most others will have regiments from the same WK as the division.

The 500, yes. I pasted your list into this post, and will now fill out the gaps you have. I notice there are almost 250 absentee divisions in your list, I am assuming they are not interesting.

Infantry list

5 WK V (Ulm, Kolmar)

6 WKVI (Bielefeld)

7 WKVII (München)

8 WKVIII (Troppau, Metz)

9 WKIX (Marburg)

14 WKIV (Leipzig)

15 WKIX (Frankfurt/M)

17 WKII (Schneidemühl)

18 WKVIII (Görlitz)

26 WKVII (Mülheim)

28 WKVIII (Breslau, Lüben)

31 WKXI (Braunschweig)

34 WKXII (Koblenz)

35 WKV (Heilbronn)

44 WKXVII (Senica, Hradisch) [HuD was the Gds Rgt of the Austrian empire, thus the name]

45 WKXVII (Linz)

46 WKXIII (Karlsbad, Bayreuth)

50 WKIII (Guben, Züllichau)

52 WKIX (Eschwege, Kassel)

56 WKIV (Dresden, Bautzen)

57 WKVII (Brannenburg, Reichenhall)

67 No inf div

68 WKIII (Frankfurt/Oder, Schwerin, Warthe)

69 WKVI (Detmold)

70 WKVI, created from Schattendivision Wahn and not affiliated in this sense.

71 WKXI (Hildesheim, Aschersleben, Hannover)

72 WKXII (Koblenz, Heidelberg)

73 WKXIII (Erlangen, Laun)

75 WKII (Neustrelitz)

76 WKIII (Brandenburg)

78 WKV (Tübingen)

82 WKIX (Frankfurt/Main)

86 WKVI (Detmold, Herford)

88 WKXIII (Erlangen, Laun)

94 WKIV (Naumburg, Bautzen, Zwickau)

95 WKIX (Frankfurt/M) later transfer to WK VI (Köln, Mülheim)

98 WKXIII (Hof, Gitschin)

99 WKXIII (Fürth) (this was a light inf div)

102 WKVIII (Diedenhofen, Cosel)

106 WKVI (Mülheim/Ruhr, Aachen)

110 WKX (Oldenburg, Lüneburg)

111 WKXI (Hildesheim)

112 WKXII (Mannheim)

113 WKXIII (Passau, Prag)

123 WKIII (Crossen)

125 WKV (Ulm, Kolmar)

129 WKIX (Fulda)

131 WKXI (Hannover)

134 WKIV (Zittau)

137 WKVII (Krumau)

161 WKI (Allenstein)

162 WKII (Rostock)

163 WKIII (Frankfurt/Oder, Spandau)

164 WKIV (Dresden, Zittau)

167 WKVII (Kempten, Brannenburg, Reichenhall)

168 WKVIII (Tarnowitz, Arzweiler, Neutitschein, Kattowitz)

169 WKIX (Frankfurt/M)

181 WKXI (Hannover, Hameln)

183 WKXIII (Weiden)

186 No inf div.

197 WKXII (Kalisch, Idar-Oberstein)

198 WKV (Konstantz)

206 WKI (Insterburg, Bialystok)

208 WKIII (Lübben)

211 WKVI (Bonn, Köln)

212 WKVII (Neuburg, Augsburg)

213 WKVIII (Bunzlau)

216 WKXI (Hameln)

217 WKI (Allenstein, Ortelsburg)

221 WKVIII (Breslau, Wohlau)

229 No inf div

239 WKVIII (Gleiwitz, Diedenhofen)

246 WKXII (Worms, Saarburg, Trier, Luxemburg)

251 WKIX (Eisenach, Fulda)

252 WKVIII (Jauer, Schweidnitz)

253 WKVI (Rheine, Aachen)

254 WKVI (Detmold, Düsseldorf)

255 WKIV (Döbeln)

256 WKIV (Glauchau)

257 WKIII (Landsberg/Warthe)

258 WKII (Stralsund)

260 WKV (Karlsruhe)

262 WKXVII (Mistelbach)

267 WKXI (Blankenburg)

268 WKVII (Füssen/Allgäu)

269 WKX (Lübeck, Itzehoe)

285 This was converted from a Sicherungsdiv from WKII (Kolberg)

286 Same as above, SichDiv from WKVIII (Altkirch/Oberelsaß, Bunzlau, Teschen)

292 WKII (Stargard)

293 WKIII (Landsberg)

294 WKIV (Leipzig, Dresden)

295 WKXI (Blankenburg)

296 WKVII (München)

297 WKXVII (Engerau, Olmütz)

298 WKVIII (Breslau, Carlowitz)

299 WKIX (Siegen, Büdingen)

305 WKV (Karlsruhe, Straßburg)

323 WKV (Konstantz)

328 WKII (Güstrow, Viborg, Schwerin)

330 WKVII (Augsburg)

335 WKV (Konstanz)

336 WKIV (Naumburg, Weissenfels)

337 WKVII (Kempten)

339 WKIX (Eisenach)

340 WKI (Budweis, Wartenstein)

342 WKXII (Landstuhl)

357 WKVII (Brünn, Kremsier)

367 WKVII (Augsburg)

370 WKVIII (Diedenhofen, Neutitschein)

371 WKVI (Düsseldorf, Minden, Paderborn)

376 WKVII (Kempten)

377 WKIX (Aschaffenburg)

383 WKI (Königsberg)

384 WKIV (Döbeln)

385 WKVI (Namur)

387 WKVII (München)

389 WKXII (Commercy, Mörchingen)

402 a zbV division from WKII, no specific affiliation.

404 As above from WKIV (Dresden)

408 As above, from WKVIII (Leignitz, Görlitz)

413 As above, from WKXIII (Fürth, Sulzbach)

433 Listed as WKIII but actually hodge-podge, guys from all over.

444 Sicherungsdiv from WKVIII (Breslau)

454 as above from WKVIII (Breslau, Wohlau and Straßburg too)

463 Ersatz with no affiliation, WK III

464 As above, WKIV

469 As above, WKIX

539 This was a zbV division, WK IV (Frankenberg, Glauchau, Tabor)

540 As above, WKXVII (Hainburg, Tabor)

542 WKI (Preuß-Eylau)

546 This is the 45th in early shape (Sperr), see 45.

600 A Russian division, formally from Freiw.Stamm-Rgt 4 but no WK.

604 A zbV division from WKXI, no specific affiliation.

605 As above, from WK I.

606 As above, no specific WK (hodge-podge), men transferred to 540 VGD eventually.

607 zbV again, this from WKVIII (Breslau).

610 zbV from WKIX, no specific affiliation.

613 Again zbV, no WK no affiliation.

650 A Russian division of the ROA again. As the other one above.

707 WKVII (Lindau)

710 WKX (Heide, Oldenburg)

711 WKXI (Braunschweig)

712 WKXII (Luxemburg, Saargemünd)

715 WKV (Baden-Baden, Tübingen)

That ends your infantry list. Though like I said we see a lot of gaps in it. Thats probably wise, as a complete German OOB is a bit of a lifetime project

I'll go see if I can find a beer and the strength to deal with the other lists.

Cheerioops

Dandelion

[Dandelion]

-gulp-

Right. Motorised infantry list.

GD had WK, but was recruited nationwide.

3. WK III (Frankfurt/oder)

10. WKXIII (Regensburg)

14. WKIV (Leipzig)

16. WKVI (Wuppertal)

18. WKVIII (Görlitz)

20. WKX (Hamburg)

25. WKV (Ludwigsburg, Stuttgart)

29. WKIX (Jena)

36. WKXII (Wiesbaden)

60. WKII (Greifswald)

The Light division lists include only those that converted to Jäger. There were others. I am assuming this is intentional. Also missing some divisions that turned into Jäger divisions, but who did not start life as Light Divisions.

5 WKV (Kolmar, Ulm)

8 WKVIII (Troppau, Metz)

28 WKVIII (Breslau, Lüben)

97 WKVII (Bad Reichenhall)

100 WKXVII (Ried, Braunau/Inn)

101 WKV (Brünn, Heilbronn, Bruyères, Karlsruhe)

117 WKXVII (Braunau)

118 WK XVIII (Radkersburg)

Mountain list.

1 WKVIII (Mittenwald, Garmisch)

2 WKXVIII (Kufstein)

3 WKXVIII (Leoben)

4 WKVII (Garmisch)

5 WKXVIII (Salzburg)

7 WKXIII (Fürth)

Hm. Some divisions missing here.

Well that concludes all the infantry listings I found on the site. I see you've got the WK for the Panzers.

So, Guess you'll have to use an Atlas on Germany and check what region these places are all in then You'll become a virtual German geography grog doing it, if you're not already.

Cheerio

Dandelion

[Michael Dorosh]

Ah thank you....I believe my list was only divisionen that served in the East; as culled from MAA titles dealing with that Front. Never had the strength to cross reference those that only saw action in the West or south...