Weapons

By Max Moore

WWII spurred many important advancements in the field of combat. Though they killed many people, they became more capable of scaring countries out of going to war with each other.

The personal firearms of WWII were simple: The pistol, the rifle, and the sub-machine gun. Pistols were small and were categorized in two groups; revolvers and automatics. Revolvers carried their ammo in ammo filled drums that could hold 6 rounds, and automatics had larger ammo strips that didn’t need to be reloaded as often. Rifles were more effective than pistols because they were more powerful. The extra power made the rifle more lethal and accurate at long distances. Sub-machine guns had speed and power that almost matched machine guns, but used smaller bullets and were used while moving. They were more effective at closer ranges because they had lower range and accuracy than machine guns. More powerful weaponry allowed infantry to damage tanks and airplanes. Machine guns and rocket/grenade launchers were used to take on the vehicles of WWII. Machine guns shot larger bullets at extremely high rates. They were used primarily as anti-aircraft weapons. Rocket and grenade launchers sent out explosive projectiles to take out tanks. The most notable weapons of these types are the American Bazooka/M9A1 Rocket Launcher and the German Panzerfaust.

More Firepower means larger and heavier artillery. There were two types of heavy artillery, field guns and heavy artillery. Field guns like the howitzer could either be used to fire straight at tanks or aircraft, or shot over obstacles to destroy enemy establishments. Heavy artillery was a rare sight. The most notable piece of heavy artillery was the German Dora. It was a massive gun, and all of its weight had to be distributed through two lines of railway. It was essential in winning Blitz Krieg as quickly as Germany did.

The weapons of WWII may have assisted infantry, but WWII really belonged to the vehicles of WWII. Tanks had to address 3 vital points to be successful; guns, armor, and mobility. The ground was dominated by tanks, but planes owned the skies. There were two types of aircraft; fighters and bombers. Fighter planes were designed for mobility, whereas bombers were heavily armored. The watercraft of WWII ranged from enormous aircraft carriers to tiny quick-response vehicles. Smaller craft were simply for transporting infantry and laying out depth charges. Large battleships had huge deck guns to take out one another in fights. Aircraft carriers were essential for transporting aircraft directly to their target, and had large arrays of deck guns. Submarines spent weeks underwater hunting ships, and when they got close enough they would submerge and attack with their onboard torpedoes.

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