A friend of mine used to collect Broomhandle Mauser’s, he must’ve had at least 15 of these wicked looking pistols. At least 10 were of Chinese origin. Thank you Professor Felton for shining a light on these unusual weapons of World War II.
In China....some were unauthorized Chinese made copies....others were true German Mausers, imported from Germany in the interwar years and used in the Chinese War-Lords conflicts.....
Mark, I've read accounts of decent numbers of Waffen SS joining the French Foreign Legion after WW2, and fighting in French Indo Chino, to include Điện Biên Phủ. Any possibility of a video covering the SS serving in the Legion?
I've read that most Germans in the FFL after WW2 were simply young men who needed jobs, the ex-Nazi angle is salacious hyperbole (although it's certainly possible).
Good one. My old scout master, Anatole Zakroczymski, a "lucky" Soviet POW from Kiev, having escaped German captivity in France became a Legionarie after WW2. He never wanted to return home. He told me whilst stationed in Indochina as a sapper he'd met quite a few shady Germans in the Legion. His comrades all suspected they were former Waffen SS, hiding from past sins.
When I served my compulsory military service in the Finnish army in 1974-75 I had a chance to use some of the old weapons on the shooting range. I fired a clip with the 1916 model Mauser with the caliber 9x19P (9mm Parabellum) . In the Finnish army it had the nickname "Ukko Mauser" or translated in English " Old Man Mauser". It was not a very comfortable handgun at all. I preferred my personal sidearm the L1935 Lahti pistol with the caliber 9x19 too.
Mark, would be very interesting if you could do more on the Czechs generally. They are definitely an underappreciated player in the war. Weapons, tanks, planes and battles!
Yeah. I was thinking about this also. Not only Czechs. I'm afraid the videos would have to be hidden behind some or another version of "Nazi thumbnail", otherwise there are no clicks. Not saying his videos are click bates, it's iust that generations of people grew up obsessed by the evil empire that Nazi Germany was and as such are prone to automatically pay attention to anything that's related to it. We all love to hate. :))
There were quite a lot of tanks captured in from the Czechoslovakian army that the Panzerdivsions used. Perhaps one of the most notable was the LT-35 tank that the Germans named the PzKpfw 35. It was a light tank that soon became obsolete but found a use when they used the chassis for numeorus versions of tankhunters like the Marders and the Hetzer.
What should be mentioned is that most of the explicitly Czech weapons were produced in plants which only 20 years before belonged to the Austrian empire as the regions of Checkoslovakia were constitutionals parts of the Austrian and before German Empire (Holy Roman Empire of German Nation) for more than 1000 years, so the engineer tradition of weapons and machines were in large part of German-Austrian tradition and were seen as such by the time.
Would have been interesting to have seen Mark bring up the captured Browning Hi Powers, Radom Vis 35's and Cz 38's among other handguns that they used early on in the war. Maybe in another video.
The Hi Powers were made for the Germans after the capture of the FN factory in Belgium, the weapons weren’t necessarily captured by them. They were also used extensively until the end of the war.
Ive only heard one other author mention that the Waffen SS was originally called the SS-VT, and that was Michael Reynolds in Steel Inferno. Well done Mark as always.
The Czech ZB37 was in service in a modified form with the British Army as the BESA tank machine gun, surprisingly still in the Mauser 7.92mm round. It was considered acceptable as Tanks had their own separate logistics chain from the infantry.
It took too long and too much money to convert it into 303 as the British originaly wanted to replace all Vickers guns with it. By 1938 the project had not gotten far and they needed a tank mg as they only needed a few thousand, a domestic 8mm mauser production line could be set up
@@lastswordfighter No my parents grew up during the cultural revolution era. Back then every able bodied person had to do training with weapons, My father specialised in AA guns and type 56 AK. My mother wasn't allowed to join because of her Russian heritage, Because of the Sino-Soviet split ethnic Russians were discriminated in China but my mothers knowledge of the Russian language was considered useful and she was instead offered the role of a spy who would report any fifth column activity if the Russian community was in contact with the Soviet Union which was silly because most of them were exiles who were driven out by Stalin including my own Babushka.
I've read that the SS were outside the normal procurement system for weapons. So they always had many different types of small arms. They were also early adopters of what eventually became the STG44.
Very good video,sir.I have read that the early SS were equipped with the Mauser 'Sportmodell',a civilian version of the Mauser 98k,bearing little difference,but just enough to escape Versailles Treaty inspectors.Many also used WW1 Gewehr 98,and the Kar 98 short rifle.The Totenkopf had a more difficult time obtaining weapons,and Eicke resorted to theft,barter,and sometimes his people were using various .22 training rifles.Thank you for another great production.
Surprisingly many young people know of the SS-VT, due to the videogame *Hearts of Iron IV* featuring the unit as a german motorised unit at the start of the game in 1936.
Just a point Mark: I have a ZB-30, the export version of the ZB-26, and they only had 20 round and 40 round magazines (Apparently for air defense). There was a later version, post war, in a different caliber that had an actual 30 round magazine.
When Inglis produced BRENs for the Nationalist Chinese in 7.92, did they manufacture any 30 round mags or only copies of the original 20 rounder for the ZB26?
3:10 specialized air crews also were deemed highly competitive in the recruiting strategy. My Grandfather entered the Wehrmacht in MG battalion .6 in 1935....decided he wanted more. Took and passed the heightened physical with flying colors....... But at 5'3" 150 pounds.......deemed too little for SS Aryan guidelines. Became a Stuka rear gunner and was very happy with the choice. Probably saved his life going into the air service instead of frontline service.
Except for the Schnellfeuer they weapons listed all used standard 9mm and 7.92mm ammunition. And 7.63mm Mauser was still made for the German police, who Himmler also controlled.
4:55 - the Knorr-Bremse rifle? You know, Bremse is brake, and Knorr is from Georg Knorr, founder of the company that built a variant of the Westinghouse automatic train brake for the German railways. The company Knorr-Bremse AG still exists.
It had some popularity in China. There is a story that they held it sideways so the recoil would help them sweep a room. Of course there is a blaster version too.
Hello Mark, The Mauser selective-fire pistol in Germany was identified as the Mauser C96 'Schnellfeuer', without the 712 which was A. F. Stoeger's catalog number for this German pistol. The Mauser Export 'Bolo' pistol offered in the US market in the 1920's was catalogued as the 710 and the Mauser M1930 semi-auto was catalogued as the 711.
Another excellent mini-doc, i applaud you! 👏 A small remark however, you mentioned Sepp Dietrich and Felix Steiner as the first high-ranking officers of the SS-VT. But the founding father of the SS-VT and the later W-SS has to be Paul Hausser, who was instrumental in shaping the armed SS into the elite force it became. Keep up the excellent work! 👍
I m frm India as i was interested in ww2 Germany from childhood i was searching for more information and then i got this channel thanks mark Felton for giving us such great information
The camouflage pattern on the used photo's are of most interesting. And it seems that history repeats itself because some of these old pattern still do work in the field or are upgraded. That said, the modern Multicam, although different, has overlap with the old German 'tarns'. Even A-TACS FG has similarities. That said, the German were their time far ahead (...or no big developments happened after WWII !)
Not 100% sure but i think the italians used first Camouniform or Smocks. The SS developed in the 30s-40s alot of Camo smocks in Eichentarn/platanentarn, Rauchtarn, Palmentarn Pattern they adopted the first Camouniform M44 in Erbsentarn/Flecktarn (Austrian army used a variation of Erbsentarn late 50s to 70s) and late war the Waffen SS (after italy was out of the war) used sometimes Uniforms with italian Pattern, the italians used their camo Pattern also for a long time from 30s up to the 70s or maybe longer. The Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe used Splintertarn ( the Federal german Army had a variation of the Splintertarn uniform during late 50s early 60s) and Sumpftarn ( federal german Border guard BGS used Sumpftarn uniforms in 50, 60s up the 70s), at wars end they planed a new camo uniform called Leibertarn for all Branches Army , SS , the army wasnt happy about that but there are few Photos around of Army/Wehrmacht Soldiers in Leibertarnuniforms. The Swiss Army adopted a variation of Leibertarn for their first Swiss army camouniform and used it for a long time 60-80 or 90s.
It’s pretty well known in the firearms collecting community that the SS appropriated the small arms manufacturing of every country Germany took. Poland, Belgium, as well as the others mentioned in this video. These firearms are highly sought after in the United States many of them brought back as trophies by returning soldiers.
Is there a Mark Felton video about all of the captured French, Czech, and Soviet weapons that were used to equip the German coastal defense divisions in France prior to D-Day?
If the non-combat members of the SS had not been used for so many other things, I'm especially thinking of Concentration Camps, those healthy men could have been used in fighting the war giving probably another million soldiers all told. I'm thankful that Himmler was so protective of the SS of all incarnations or the war would have gone on even longer.
The waffen ss was equipped with weapons that suited them for the task at hand. Early Russian campaign saw waffen ss stealing vehicles from the wehrmacht, especially because the army originally distrusted them. Later on they respected them. The totenkopf division also received supplies from warehouses stocked with plundered Jewish goods. In the later years waffen ss divisions that were most important (Hitler youth,adolf Hitler,wiking) were sometimes given special treatment of weapons but most of the time this was for divisions going on the attack. Lets not forget that almost half the waffen ss were about elite as the worst wehrmacht divisions. Only some waffen ss divisions were very practical. Thank you for reading.
The SS used many french guns, the FM 24/29 was the best for the SS with the MAS 36 and many hand guns like MAB D, Unique 17, Ruby, in 7,65 mm browning !
The 1896 Mauser pistol was an incredibly popular handgun in its early years. It served soldiers quite well in several armies. Even Winston Churchill carried his in the Boer war as a young cavalry officer. The shoulder stocked versions are interesting as are any stocked carbines based on pistols or revolvers.
Many interesting designs and innovations from the Germans. But the elegant M1 Garand was the best infantry rifle in the war, imho. The Germans made an STG model late in the war that was cutting edge for a battle rifle but who knows how it really performed? The Russian's made the AK-47 based on that ugly thing and it's a proven beast.
Wait, when you said "Knorr", I automatically thought of the brand/company that produced food products. Don't tell me they're the same company and they made guns that time?!... Two thoughts are running in my head: 1, at least it has pedigree, but associated with ss. And 2, I freaking hope I'm wrong
Has DR Felton ever covered the military cooperation that occurred between Germany and the USSR after World War One? With Russia currently posing as an eternal enemy of Fascism, it might be interesting to explore how the Germans already had a good running start on rebuilding their military once Hitler came to power thanks to a little help from the Soviets.
Interesting I don't ever remember seeing that MG35 it must be amazingly rare. Also imagine how quick a fully automatic C-96 would expel it's cartridges leaving the soldier vulnerable.
A local gun store sold surplus C96 pistols in the mid '60s. One had an odd trigger and was displayed left-side down---to hide the "fun switch," for $69.95 back then. (I recently saw an operable M712 on line for $31,000).
The acquisition of all these quality Czech weapons, and the Skoda armaments factory at Plzen, just underlines how stupid and shortsighted the 1938 Munich Agreement was. And no nonsense about it "buying time" for France and Britain; as William Shirer pointed out in his tome "The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich", subsequent events (in 1940) removed any doubt whatsoever of the falsity of this.
As a german, i am frustrated by your constantly wrong translations, that wouldve been pretty easy to get. 1 example, you said Waffen-SS is translated best at "armed-ss" which is wrong, we have a word for armed, it is bewaffnet, "Waffen" are Weapons, so Weapons SS, all Divisions were "armed"
The SS used captured Czech model 98 rifles, and later the CZ factory made many million K98K rifles. The SS and Luftwaffe used Czech handguns, and many of the early tanks of the SS were made at Skoda werke, and the basic chassis was used for several gun mounts for both Army and SS.
Theres a famous Photo of Jurgen Stroop and his cronies during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943 and every one of them holds a different sub machinegun of some sort
My local gun shop in Texas recently had a Browning Hi-Power with German Stamping and insignia for $900. During the war the Germans captured a factory in Belgium that was producing them under license, and continued production for their own forces. The Browning Hi-Power may be the only pistol officially issued to both allied and axis forces.
Ironically enough Germany used more Browning Hi-Powers than any of the allied nations did(combined), as over 300.000 Hi-powers were produced during German occupation for the Wehrmacht and SS. The Brits didn't start looking seriously at the potential of adopting the Hi-power for themselves until the war was nearly over. Browning 1911 pistols (Kongsberg Colt 1914) were also produced for the German army in Norway, also under occupation, with a little less than 10.000 being produced for the German army before the end.
@@JohnDiabol Conversely, some ex-Herstal technicians escaped with plans to Canada, where John Inglis & Company set up a factory in 1940 near Toronto to produce the FN Hi-Power P35 [''under license''] for Allied Lend Lease. The bulk went to Nationalist China, some to the USSR, and select pistols to British commandos. The Canadian Army was issuing the P35 into the '90s. I picked one up surplus in the mid-'90s. Superb plinker.
Excellent information as usual Mark. Always new tidbits that are hidden in the details and this is quite a wonderful documentary - as are most of your other productions. Better than the usual garbage from Hollywood. ;)
The Jerry’s were so ahead of the Allies when it came to weapons technology, we are so lucky they did not have nearly the production and capacity the Allies had, or we would be living a real “Man in the High Castle” scenario.
Fascinating video again! Always thought the Waffen-SS was named as such when they invaded the Netherlands. You hardly see SS-VT anywhere. What never changed was their utter disrespect for prisoners of war.
If only one percent of the soldiers were veterans, I understand that. The world has watched that 5 to 6 million Germans have been enslaved like animals in France, that their homeland has been exploited and that thousands of children have starved to death as a result. The survivors have received no mercy from the victors
Hey man I really appreciate this video I love seeing odd weapons of WW2 especially Germany. I've also seen Polish BARs in service of Germany and the Soviet union
Seen a few of the Astra 7,63s ,they were very nice . Cost is now about 3000 US for one fine condition with stock. Luftwaffe also used many hunreds of them in a rescue unit .
I always think of H*tler having absolute iron control over everything so it's fascinating to hear this sort of struggle. Even fabricating a scandal to remove army officers instead of just dragging them out and shooting them like we'd come to expect
I wouldn't think of Hitler having such absolute control in every case, for example when he heard of Rommel's suicide he allegedly immediately suspected that the Gestapo had actually murdered him.
2:56 Fritsch wasn't anti-nazi (he was an antisemite and party member) rather he was critical of Hitler's eagerness to commence war in '38 and hesitant to prepare for war, going as far to threatening to resign his command.
Hope if you have not done it you could do an in depth video on the Dieppe Raid. A closer look reveals it was not the great failure many believe. The British accomplished many vital objectives such as studying and destroying a German radar station, freeing 80 French underground fighters and placing over a hundred German speaking spies behind enemy lines. Of course these objectives were achieved at great sacrifice of many men. Few tell the entire story.
@@MaxZRider Check out the book, A Man Called Intrepid by William Stevenson. The true goals of the operation had to be kept highly secret so the Nazis would think it was a complete failure. Some of the spies placed behind German lines even infiltrated the German army. The Germans were so distracted during the raid that important radio messages were sent by the British to the French underground totally undetected by the Germans. There remains to this day a great lack of understanding about the raid on Dieppe.
They did not even manage to capture radar station you mentioned 😁 And even if they did, they would be captured by Germans anyway, like most of the troops.
@@aleksazunjic9672 British commandos with a leading radar engineer from Britain captured, studied, photographed and then blew up that new radar station. They were not captured by the Nazis and made it back to England. British commandos also killed the Gestapo members at a prison and freed over 80 underground fighters and then called in fighter bombers that destroyed the prison. The success of the mission had to be hidden from the Nazis. The info is available for all to investigate today.
It would be nice a video of all german uniforms and production, for example, it seems a bit unclear for me when did the SS start using its cool camo patterns, or when the fallshirmjaeger changed to cammo aswell. Awesome as always !!!
I can recommend for a basic introduction to each of the SS Divisions the series of publications by Chris Mann et al. I have the Totenkopf and Liebstandarte editions and they contain the information you have referred to. At the end of each relevant book the there is a list of their respective main officers and NCO's, equipment, supplies and a very brief timeline of their war activities. The only division not included in this collection is the Dirlewanger Brigade, perhaps not surprisingly, they can be researched in The Black Hunters, and a few of the more obscure foreign volunteer Divisions. I found all the camouflage information contained plus the facts such as it could be used for a tent in rough conditions and had a waterproof and reversible layer that you could change depending on the environment and conditions.
@@goodnightvienna8511do you know what the German helmet liner sizes are converted to American sizes? I’m looking for a Helmet and I want to make sure the size is right. I want to surprise my grandfather as his original Wehrmacht helmet was lost.
@@deadlyoneable ....I think you're just joking mate 😊. buuuut ..if you want to buy a genuine Stahlhelm then good luck. $$$$$$$$££££££££€€€€€€€'so! !! It's one size fits all.
I fired the MP35 on a range in Poland. Excellent smooth weapon (considering it was80 year old) It was the Rolls Royce of sub machine guns and over engineered and expensive
Some of the weapons associated with the Waffen-SS: Karabiner 98k: The standard bolt-action rifle used by the German army, including the Waffen-SS. MP40: A submachine gun known for its compact design and automatic firing capability. StG 44: Considered one of the earliest assault rifles, it combined elements of a rifle and a submachine gun. MG34 and MG42: General-purpose machine guns used extensively by German forces, including the Waffen-SS. Gewehr 43: A semi-automatic rifle developed by Germany during the war. Panzerfaust: A single-shot, disposable anti-tank weapon. Panzerschreck: A reusable anti-tank rocket launcher. Sturmgewehr 45: An advanced but less widely used assault rifle developed near the end of the war. Luger P08: A semi-automatic pistol used by officers and certain personnel in the Waffen-SS. Karabiner 98k with ZF41: A sniper variant of the Karabiner 98k equipped with a scope.
Funny to see that Knorr-Bremse made firearms. They're primarily a manufacturer of railway brake equipment. Then again, all sorts of companies made unusual things during the wars. Baldwin Locomotive Works made tanks and IBM made M1 carbines.
@robertstallard7836 British furniture companies made parts for Horsa gliders and Mosquito fighter-bombers. One of my favorite stories is how Chrysler took the early version of the Bofors 40mm autocannon, adapted it for mass production and reliability, and made some 40,000 of them. Mostly for the Navy, but some were also used for land-based air defense.
3:03 i cannot be the only one to think that Himmler looks so cute with that uniform, never though i would want to squeeze the cheeks of Reichsfuhrer-SS
My grandfather had one! He was a Baikal Cossack whose father, a Siberian ataman, led White Army forces during Russia's civil war. My dad remembers playing with the pre WW1 Mauser with wooden stock as a little kid in northern Manchuria. The weapon was always unloaded. Phew!
A friend of mine used to collect Broomhandle Mauser’s, he must’ve had at least 15 of these wicked looking pistols. At least 10 were of Chinese origin. Thank you Professor Felton for shining a light on these unusual weapons of World War II.
In China....some were unauthorized Chinese made copies....others were true German Mausers, imported from Germany in the interwar years and used in the Chinese War-Lords conflicts.....
churchills favourite , i think?
@@andyf4292 ...not sure if it was his favorite, but he did buy and use one....he used it in the Battle of Omdurman in the Sudan , reportedly.
He carried one as his side arem. Also, Han Solo's blaster was modeled after one
So does Leon s Kennedy
Thank you Mark for all the years you’ve delivered top quality material.
Your greatly appreciated.
Noun missing John
'You're'...
"Your"???
You’re dealing with people who pay attention to detail - both historically and grammatically. 😂
@@MichaelKingsfordGray Struggle from womb to tomb. Hang in there.
Mark, I've read accounts of decent numbers of Waffen SS joining the French Foreign Legion after WW2, and fighting in French Indo Chino, to include Điện Biên Phủ. Any possibility of a video covering the SS serving in the Legion?
Would be a great video
I've read that most Germans in the FFL after WW2 were simply young men who needed jobs, the ex-Nazi angle is salacious hyperbole (although it's certainly possible).
They might have joined armies in South America too.
They still sing some German marching songs so can't see why not. A lot did join
Good one. My old scout master, Anatole Zakroczymski, a "lucky" Soviet POW from Kiev, having escaped German captivity in France became a Legionarie after WW2. He never wanted to return home. He told me whilst stationed in Indochina as a sapper he'd met quite a few shady Germans in the Legion. His comrades all suspected they were former Waffen SS, hiding from past sins.
When I served my compulsory military service in the Finnish army in 1974-75 I had a chance to use some of the old weapons on the shooting range. I fired a clip with the 1916 model Mauser with the caliber 9x19P (9mm Parabellum) . In the Finnish army it had the nickname "Ukko Mauser" or translated in English " Old Man Mauser". It was not a very comfortable handgun at all. I preferred my personal sidearm the L1935 Lahti pistol with the caliber 9x19 too.
A wonderful historical coverage video
i always have respect for brave Finnish for having stood against Russian invaders
Isn't Ukko also the lord of thunder?
@@LehySnekyes but in modern casual speech it just means an old guy
Mark, would be very interesting if you could do more on the Czechs generally. They are definitely an underappreciated player in the war. Weapons, tanks, planes and battles!
Zlaté české ručičky
Yeah. I was thinking about this also. Not only Czechs. I'm afraid the videos would have to be hidden behind some or another version of "Nazi thumbnail", otherwise there are no clicks. Not saying his videos are click bates, it's iust that generations of people grew up obsessed by the evil empire that Nazi Germany was and as such are prone to automatically pay attention to anything that's related to it. We all love to hate. :))
@@8818F Absolutely!!
There were quite a lot of tanks captured in from the Czechoslovakian army that the Panzerdivsions used. Perhaps one of the most notable was the LT-35 tank that the Germans named the PzKpfw 35. It was a light tank that soon became obsolete but found a use when they used the chassis for numeorus versions of tankhunters like the Marders and the Hetzer.
What should be mentioned is that most of the explicitly Czech weapons were produced in plants which only 20 years before belonged to the Austrian empire as the regions of Checkoslovakia were constitutionals parts of the Austrian and before German Empire (Holy Roman Empire of German Nation) for more than 1000 years, so the engineer tradition of weapons and machines were in large part of German-Austrian tradition and were seen as such by the time.
Would have been interesting to have seen Mark bring up the captured Browning Hi Powers, Radom Vis 35's and Cz 38's among other handguns that they used early on in the war. Maybe in another video.
I own a Waffenamt marked Radom. It was a vet bring back.
The Hi Powers were made for the Germans after the capture of the FN factory in Belgium, the weapons weren’t necessarily captured by them. They were also used extensively until the end of the war.
The Germans also used Norwegian licensed manufactured Colt M1911’s.
He already did
Those weren't SS exclusive
Ive only heard one other author mention that the Waffen SS was originally called the SS-VT, and that was Michael Reynolds in Steel Inferno. Well done Mark as always.
then you never read Eugen Kogon "Der SS Staat" (the SS State)
Common knowledge.
Who was thé first one?
The Czech ZB37 was in service in a modified form with the British Army as the BESA tank machine gun, surprisingly still in the Mauser 7.92mm round. It was considered acceptable as Tanks had their own separate logistics chain from the infantry.
It took too long and too much money to convert it into 303 as the British originaly wanted to replace all Vickers guns with it. By 1938 the project had not gotten far and they needed a tank mg as they only needed a few thousand, a domestic 8mm mauser production line could be set up
The broomhandle was still being used even until the 60's and 70's. I have a picture of my dad holding one in China during militia training.
@@stc3145 or simply using captured supplies, although it pain in ass to loaded it
What your in the People's Liberation Army/militia or the Twainese Army?
@@lastswordfighter No my parents grew up during the cultural revolution era. Back then every able bodied person had to do training with weapons, My father specialised in AA guns and type 56 AK. My mother wasn't allowed to join because of her Russian heritage, Because of the Sino-Soviet split ethnic Russians were discriminated in China but my mothers knowledge of the Russian language was considered useful and she was instead offered the role of a spy who would report any fifth column activity if the Russian community was in contact with the Soviet Union which was silly because most of them were exiles who were driven out by Stalin including my own Babushka.
3:34 If it weren’t for the SS helmet, I would have probably mistaken the guy for Brad Pitt in Fury…
I've read that the SS were outside the normal procurement system for weapons. So they always had many different types of small arms. They were also early adopters of what eventually became the STG44.
Hitler tried 3 times to derail the stg44. He was totally against it.
Cite source
@@MaxZRider This video - it also pointed out why. Forgotten Weapons just did a video that also supports the last point.
The Heer fearing an attempt by the SS to replace them refused to share their equipment with them. This changed as the war went on.
Yes the SS had separate contracts with the German Arms Industry. The Wehrmacht had its own contracts with the same companies.
Very good video,sir.I have read that the early SS were equipped with the Mauser 'Sportmodell',a civilian version of the Mauser 98k,bearing little difference,but just enough to escape Versailles Treaty inspectors.Many also used WW1 Gewehr 98,and the Kar 98 short rifle.The Totenkopf had a more difficult time obtaining weapons,and Eicke resorted to theft,barter,and sometimes his people were using various .22 training rifles.Thank you for another great production.
Cite sources
Love the insights and meticulous details that Mr Felton always puts in his videos.
Surprisingly many young people know of the SS-VT, due to the videogame *Hearts of Iron IV* featuring the unit as a german motorised unit at the start of the game in 1936.
Never a disappointing video, there’s always something new.
Making a full auto Mauser C96 was planned during the first world war for clearing trenches, but it never materialized. It was abandoned for the MP18.
0:30 Rudolf von ribbentrop, son of German foreign minister. That dude saw some serious action on the eastern front !
Just a point Mark: I have a ZB-30, the export version of the ZB-26, and they only had 20 round and 40 round magazines (Apparently for air defense). There was a later version, post war, in a different caliber that had an actual 30 round magazine.
When Inglis produced BRENs for the Nationalist Chinese in 7.92, did they manufacture any 30 round mags or only copies of the original 20 rounder for the ZB26?
3:10 specialized air crews also were deemed highly competitive in the recruiting strategy.
My Grandfather entered the Wehrmacht in MG battalion .6 in 1935....decided he wanted more. Took and passed the heightened physical with flying colors....... But at 5'3" 150 pounds.......deemed too little for SS Aryan guidelines.
Became a Stuka rear gunner and was very happy with the choice. Probably saved his life going into the air service instead of frontline service.
Would love to hear about the weird weapons (mainly sidearms) issued to the German Air Force during that time also.
7:10 I had a cap gun of the Mauser - with the stock/case - when I was very small in the '60s (they made good toys back then!)
The only problem with using such a mixture of weapons,would be the supply of ammunition.
Except for the Schnellfeuer they weapons listed all used standard 9mm and 7.92mm ammunition.
And 7.63mm Mauser was still made for the German police, who Himmler also controlled.
Hugo boss can make some damn good uniforms
I wonder if Steiner's attack will pronlong this terrible war even further...
4:55 - the Knorr-Bremse rifle?
You know, Bremse is brake, and Knorr is from Georg Knorr, founder of the company that built a variant of the Westinghouse automatic train brake for the German railways. The company Knorr-Bremse AG still exists.
Never knew the c96 had a full auto version ❤
It had some popularity in China. There is a story that they held it sideways so the recoil would help them sweep a room.
Of course there is a blaster version too.
The last registred use of the ZB Vz 26 was in Afghanistan in the 1980´s by the Mujhaidins against the USSR ocupation.
Hello Mark,
The Mauser selective-fire pistol in Germany was identified as the Mauser C96 'Schnellfeuer', without the 712 which was A. F. Stoeger's catalog number for this German pistol.
The Mauser Export 'Bolo' pistol offered in the US market in the 1920's was catalogued as the 710 and the Mauser M1930 semi-auto was catalogued as the 711.
Historians will always refer to the full auto variant of the C96/30 Broomhandle Mause as model 712.....nonetheless
@@TheWilferch even though 712 was i'm told the nazi designation for the schnellfuer or fast fire that mauser called it
And I Would Have Gotten Away With It Too, If It Weren't For You Meddling Kids"
-the German High Command
Everyone is still waiting for Steiner's counterattack!
SS commander going through weapons checklist:
Pistols: Czeck
Rifles: Czeck
MGs: Czeck
LOL!
Clever
At 3:05, you can see Himmler’s medal rack which includes a medal awarded for Chicken Farmer of the Year with Oak Leaves.
Sounds like a logistics nightmare
@Robert Stallard Then how come the U.S. lost in Vietnam?
Another excellent mini-doc, i applaud you! 👏
A small remark however, you mentioned Sepp Dietrich and Felix Steiner as the first high-ranking officers of the SS-VT.
But the founding father of the SS-VT and the later W-SS has to be Paul Hausser, who was instrumental in shaping the armed SS into the elite force it became.
Keep up the excellent work! 👍
nazis trying to direct their thugs? lol
I m frm India as i was interested in ww2 Germany from childhood i was searching for more information and then i got this channel thanks mark Felton for giving us such great information
The camouflage pattern on the used photo's are of most interesting. And it seems that history repeats itself because some of these old pattern still do work in the field or are upgraded. That said, the modern Multicam, although different, has overlap with the old German 'tarns'. Even A-TACS FG has similarities. That said, the German were their time far ahead (...or no big developments happened after WWII !)
Not 100% sure but i think the italians used first Camouniform or Smocks.
The SS developed in the 30s-40s alot of Camo smocks in Eichentarn/platanentarn, Rauchtarn, Palmentarn Pattern they adopted the first Camouniform M44 in Erbsentarn/Flecktarn (Austrian army used a variation of Erbsentarn late 50s to 70s) and late war the Waffen SS (after italy was out of the war) used sometimes Uniforms with italian Pattern, the italians used their camo Pattern also for a long time from 30s up to the 70s or maybe longer.
The Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe used Splintertarn ( the Federal german Army had a variation of the Splintertarn uniform during late 50s early 60s) and Sumpftarn ( federal german Border guard BGS used Sumpftarn uniforms in 50, 60s up the 70s), at wars end they planed a new camo uniform called Leibertarn for all Branches Army , SS , the army wasnt happy about that but there are few Photos around of Army/Wehrmacht Soldiers in Leibertarnuniforms. The Swiss Army adopted a variation of Leibertarn for their first Swiss army camouniform and used it for a long time 60-80 or 90s.
Stg 44 was the best German rifle of WW2, the grandfather of all modern rifles and inspiration for the ubiquitous AK 47
It’s pretty well known in the firearms collecting community that the SS appropriated the small arms manufacturing of every country Germany took. Poland, Belgium, as well as the others mentioned in this video. These firearms are highly sought after in the United States many of them brought back as trophies by returning soldiers.
So they caused their own logistical nightmare ?
Is there a Mark Felton video about all of the captured French, Czech, and Soviet weapons that were used to equip the German coastal defense divisions in France prior to D-Day?
If the non-combat members of the SS had not been used for so many other things, I'm especially thinking of Concentration Camps, those healthy men could have been used in fighting the war giving probably another million soldiers all told. I'm thankful that Himmler was so protective of the SS of all incarnations or the war would have gone on even longer.
The waffen ss was equipped with weapons that suited them for the task at hand. Early Russian campaign saw waffen ss stealing vehicles from the wehrmacht, especially because the army originally distrusted them. Later on they respected them. The totenkopf division also received supplies from warehouses stocked with plundered Jewish goods. In the later years waffen ss divisions that were most important (Hitler youth,adolf Hitler,wiking) were sometimes given special treatment of weapons but most of the time this was for divisions going on the attack. Lets not forget that almost half the waffen ss were about elite as the worst wehrmacht divisions. Only some waffen ss divisions were very practical. Thank you for reading.
Boom! Right on time!
The SS used many french guns, the FM 24/29 was the best for the SS with the MAS 36 and many hand guns like MAB D, Unique 17, Ruby, in 7,65 mm browning !
The 1896 Mauser pistol was an incredibly popular handgun in its early years. It served soldiers quite well in several armies. Even Winston Churchill carried his in the Boer war as a young cavalry officer. The shoulder stocked versions are interesting as are any stocked carbines based on pistols or revolvers.
Many interesting designs and innovations from the Germans. But the elegant M1 Garand was the best infantry rifle in the war, imho. The Germans made an STG model late in the war that was cutting edge for a battle rifle but who knows how it really performed? The Russian's made the AK-47 based on that ugly thing and it's a proven beast.
Dr Felton is the red pill of history channels. I love it.
TIK aswell
@@tinglerium1494yep tik history, ww2 week by week, and mark felton are my favorite...
Oh and kings and generals Pacific campaign is fantastic as well
Exactly! I love going down that WW2 rabbit hole
He knows his history
@@jboss119don't forget The Operations Room!
In almost all the combat pictures, the nazis have helmet camo and loose combat outfit. Looks modern
All due respect sent to you Dr. Felton. Thanks.
Wait, when you said "Knorr", I automatically thought of the brand/company that produced food products. Don't tell me they're the same company and they made guns that time?!...
Two thoughts are running in my head: 1, at least it has pedigree, but associated with ss. And 2, I freaking hope I'm wrong
I think they're different (in any case Knorr the food brand is now owned by U.K.-based Unilever).
Fun Fact: a real Mauser C96 was used to create Han Solo's blaster in the original Star Wars films.
Mainly an mgc replica although a real one was used for a couple of shots notably in the space slugs belly in the empire strikes back
And the Empire uniforms are pretty obviously inspired by German WWII uniforms.
Has DR Felton ever covered the military cooperation that occurred between Germany and the USSR after World War One? With Russia currently posing as an eternal enemy of Fascism, it might be interesting to explore how the Germans already had a good running start on rebuilding their military once Hitler came to power thanks to a little help from the Soviets.
Interesting I don't ever remember seeing that MG35 it must be amazingly rare. Also imagine how quick a fully automatic C-96 would expel it's cartridges leaving the soldier vulnerable.
A local gun store sold surplus C96 pistols in the mid '60s. One had an odd trigger and was displayed left-side down---to hide the "fun switch," for $69.95 back then. (I recently saw an operable M712 on line for $31,000).
The acquisition of all these quality Czech weapons, and the Skoda armaments factory at Plzen, just underlines how stupid and shortsighted the 1938 Munich Agreement was.
And no nonsense about it "buying time" for France and Britain; as William Shirer pointed out in his tome "The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich", subsequent events (in 1940) removed any doubt whatsoever of the falsity of this.
Interesting & well researched Mark; as usual.
As a german, i am frustrated by your constantly wrong translations, that wouldve been pretty easy to get. 1 example, you said Waffen-SS is translated best at "armed-ss" which is wrong, we have a word for armed, it is bewaffnet, "Waffen" are Weapons, so Weapons SS, all Divisions were "armed"
Thanks Dr. Felton. Your
Informative video helps to explain that time in History.
❤ have a nice day~
They also used the Czechoslovakian rifle VZ24 due to shortage of K98.
The SS used captured Czech model 98 rifles, and later the CZ factory made many million K98K rifles. The SS and Luftwaffe used Czech handguns, and many of the early tanks of the SS were made at Skoda werke, and the basic chassis was used for several gun mounts for both Army and SS.
Were inspired by K98k but not even direct copies! Vz 24 were shortened.
Generally your German is good, but you mispronounced Verfugungstruppe. You emphasized third syllable, but it should be the second.
Top notch content here, keep it up
Theres a famous Photo of Jurgen Stroop and his cronies during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943 and every one of them holds a different sub machinegun of some sort
My local gun shop in Texas recently had a Browning Hi-Power with German Stamping and insignia for $900. During the war the Germans captured a factory in Belgium that was producing them under license, and continued production for their own forces. The Browning Hi-Power may be the only pistol officially issued to both allied and axis forces.
Ironically enough Germany used more Browning Hi-Powers than any of the allied nations did(combined), as over 300.000 Hi-powers were produced during German occupation for the Wehrmacht and SS.
The Brits didn't start looking seriously at the potential of adopting the Hi-power for themselves until the war was nearly over.
Browning 1911 pistols (Kongsberg Colt 1914) were also produced for the German army in Norway, also under occupation, with a little less than 10.000 being produced for the German army before the end.
That factory was here in Belgium, in the city of Liège /Luik /Lüttich.
@@JohnDiabol Conversely, some ex-Herstal technicians escaped with plans to Canada, where John Inglis & Company set up a factory in 1940 near Toronto to produce the FN Hi-Power P35 [''under license''] for Allied Lend Lease. The bulk went to Nationalist China, some to the USSR, and select pistols to British commandos. The Canadian Army was issuing the P35 into the '90s. I picked one up surplus in the mid-'90s. Superb plinker.
Polish Radom was another. It was a close relative to the John Browning designed guns
@@HootOwl513 The Canadian army is still using those pistols, they have just recently started a replacement program.
Excellent information as usual Mark. Always new tidbits that are hidden in the details and this is quite a wonderful documentary - as are most of your other productions. Better than the usual garbage from Hollywood. ;)
The Jerry’s were so ahead of the Allies when it came to weapons technology, we are so lucky they did not have nearly the production and capacity the Allies had, or we would be living a real “Man in the High Castle” scenario.
Fascinating video again! Always thought the Waffen-SS was named as such when they invaded the Netherlands. You hardly see SS-VT anywhere. What never changed was their utter disrespect for prisoners of war.
If only one percent of the soldiers were veterans, I understand that. The world has watched that 5 to 6 million Germans have been enslaved like animals in France, that their homeland has been exploited and that thousands of children have starved to death as a result. The survivors have received no mercy from the victors
Apparently Mrs Felton just presses "record" when Mark sits down at the dinner table.... and here we are.
Mark is one of the best on history period.
TH-cam seems to be up to their old tricks
Added 2 Felton videos to my "watch later" and after multiple attempts they still haven't shown.
Hey man I really appreciate this video I love seeing odd weapons of WW2 especially Germany. I've also seen Polish BARs in service of Germany and the Soviet union
It's so nice to hear the word "carbine" pronounced correctly in a video.
Depends what country you're from.
As someone who likes Steel Division 2, this part 04:31 was enlightening! Great video and learned something new, as always, thanks!
Man steel division has so many weird weapons.... i love it.
That picture is in reverse/mirror image… the MP35 fed from the right side and ejected out the left. The bolt is also on the right side.
I own an Astra 900 Mauser clone made in Spain it belonged to an SS officer who had bought it in China during the 1920s
Seen a few of the Astra 7,63s ,they were very nice . Cost is now about 3000 US for one fine condition with stock.
Luftwaffe also used many hunreds of them in a rescue unit .
They also used the FN Made Browning 9mm automatic, I knew someone who had an SS marked deactivated one.
I always think of H*tler having absolute iron control over everything so it's fascinating to hear this sort of struggle. Even fabricating a scandal to remove army officers instead of just dragging them out and shooting them like we'd come to expect
I wouldn't think of Hitler having such absolute control in every case, for example when he heard of Rommel's suicide he allegedly immediately suspected that the Gestapo had actually murdered him.
2:56 Fritsch wasn't anti-nazi (he was an antisemite and party member) rather he was critical of Hitler's eagerness to commence war in '38 and hesitant to prepare for war, going as far to threatening to resign his command.
Hope if you have not done it you could do an in depth video on the Dieppe Raid. A closer look reveals it was not the great failure many believe. The British accomplished many vital objectives such as studying and destroying a German radar station, freeing 80 French underground fighters and placing over a hundred German speaking spies behind enemy lines. Of course these objectives were achieved at great sacrifice of many men. Few tell the entire story.
Cite sources
@@MaxZRider Check out the book, A Man Called Intrepid by William Stevenson. The true goals of the operation had to be kept highly secret so the Nazis would think it was a complete failure. Some of the spies placed behind German lines even infiltrated the German army. The Germans were so distracted during the raid that important radio messages were sent by the British to the French underground totally undetected by the Germans. There remains to this day a great lack of understanding about the raid on Dieppe.
They did not even manage to capture radar station you mentioned 😁 And even if they did, they would be captured by Germans anyway, like most of the troops.
@@aleksazunjic9672 British commandos with a leading radar engineer from Britain captured, studied, photographed and then blew up that new radar station. They were not captured by the Nazis and made it back to England. British commandos also killed the Gestapo members at a prison and freed over 80 underground fighters and then called in fighter bombers that destroyed the prison. The success of the mission had to be hidden from the Nazis. The info is available for all to investigate today.
@@rayross997 They did not capture either radar or engineer, they themselves were either killed or captured 😄
I don’t know why I’ve literally never heard of the Knorr Bremse MG35 before until now
Never a dull video, Mark!
It really helps that Himmler is one of the most weasel looking men of all time. He practically has no chin. He looks like Mr Mackey from South Park.
Mark, you are never disappointing.
Thanks for sharing your studies.
Is it just me or does Werner von Fritsch look like THE most stereotypical German movie villain?
Early war SS was like late war Volkssturm.
I remember reading somewhere that the Volkssturm were issued with rifles "from every country Germany had fought with or against".
Complete BS, you cant't compare the battle strengh and success of these formations at all.
That's right . however, the SS-VT had an SS skull button on their overseas side cap as a feature.
It would be nice a video of all german uniforms and production, for example, it seems a bit unclear for me when did the SS start using its cool camo patterns, or when the fallshirmjaeger changed to cammo aswell. Awesome as always !!!
I can recommend for a basic introduction to each of the SS Divisions the series of publications by Chris Mann et al. I have the Totenkopf and Liebstandarte editions and they contain the information you have referred to. At the end of each relevant book the there is a list of their respective main officers and NCO's, equipment, supplies and a very brief timeline of their war activities. The only division not included in this collection is the Dirlewanger Brigade, perhaps not surprisingly, they can be researched in The Black Hunters, and a few of the more obscure foreign volunteer Divisions. I found all the camouflage information contained plus the facts such as it could be used for a tent in rough conditions and had a waterproof and reversible layer that you could change depending on the environment and conditions.
There are numerous pictures of SS units from Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler in May 1940 in the west wearing camouniforms.
@@goodnightvienna8511do you know what the German helmet liner sizes are converted to American sizes? I’m looking for a Helmet and I want to make sure the size is right. I want to surprise my grandfather as his original Wehrmacht helmet was lost.
@@deadlyoneable ....I think you're just joking mate 😊. buuuut ..if you want to buy a genuine Stahlhelm then good luck. $$$$$$$$££££££££€€€€€€€'so! !! It's one size fits all.
@@deadlyoneable Reddickmilitaria has a good article about stahlhelms.
I fired the MP35 on a range in Poland. Excellent smooth weapon (considering it was80 year old)
It was the Rolls Royce of sub machine guns and over engineered and expensive
What constituted a “sex scandal” among the Nazis, when you consider the levels of depravity they sank to during their reign
The M712 must surely be the inspiration for Han Solo's blaster.
Some of the weapons associated with the Waffen-SS:
Karabiner 98k: The standard bolt-action rifle used by the German army, including the Waffen-SS.
MP40: A submachine gun known for its compact design and automatic firing capability.
StG 44: Considered one of the earliest assault rifles, it combined elements of a rifle and a submachine gun.
MG34 and MG42: General-purpose machine guns used extensively by German forces, including the Waffen-SS.
Gewehr 43: A semi-automatic rifle developed by Germany during the war.
Panzerfaust: A single-shot, disposable anti-tank weapon.
Panzerschreck: A reusable anti-tank rocket launcher.
Sturmgewehr 45: An advanced but less widely used assault rifle developed near the end of the war.
Luger P08: A semi-automatic pistol used by officers and certain personnel in the Waffen-SS.
Karabiner 98k with ZF41: A sniper variant of the Karabiner 98k equipped with a scope.
Others were Mp34 , Mp41 , Gew 98 ww1 snipers m vz 24 snipers and many more alo.
Walther P38 also
*_Did it matter for the purpose of aiming that the Czech ZB vz. 26 had a top-mounted box magazine obscuring the forward site, I wonder._*
No, because the site was mounted off to the side.
@@minuteman4199 Ah Thank-you.
Frigging ❤ those guys
You love nazis?
I _bet_ you do 😏
Funny to see that Knorr-Bremse made firearms. They're primarily a manufacturer of railway brake equipment. Then again, all sorts of companies made unusual things during the wars. Baldwin Locomotive Works made tanks and IBM made M1 carbines.
@robertstallard7836 British furniture companies made parts for Horsa gliders and Mosquito fighter-bombers. One of my favorite stories is how Chrysler took the early version of the Bofors 40mm autocannon, adapted it for mass production and reliability, and made some 40,000 of them. Mostly for the Navy, but some were also used for land-based air defense.
1896 C onstruction Mauser brother’s. Ante bellum ❤👑
4:32 the picture of the MP35 is a reversed image. It actually fed from the right side and ejected out the left.
3:03 i cannot be the only one to think that Himmler looks so cute with that uniform, never though i would want to squeeze the cheeks of Reichsfuhrer-SS
I read the book you took the thumbnail picture from, very interesting pity they never finished the series
My grandfather had one! He was a Baikal Cossack whose father, a Siberian ataman, led White Army forces during Russia's civil war. My dad remembers playing with the pre WW1 Mauser with wooden stock as a little kid in northern Manchuria. The weapon was always unloaded. Phew!
wow, I thought I knew a lot about the guns germany used during the war, yet this video has three I've never even heard of.
There is nothing weird about the broomhandle. One of the most powerful and reliable machine pistol of all time.
If he led regiments of Waffen SS, Steiner had no excuse for not counterattacking.