Hello guys I'm just curious, were the 101st Airborne given the BAR M1918A2's for the jump? I know they were given the M1 Garand, Thompson and M1A1 Carbines, even the .30 cal Browning M1919 LMG's. I just want to know if anyone from the 101st were actually issued any BAR's? I watched Band of Brothers last night again and I saw in two episodes some 101st had the BAR. One is from episode Crossroads, when Winters lead the assault on the other side of the dike. One paratrooper had the BAR with bipod extended. Another scene is from episode The Breaking Point, there's a 101st BAR rifleman suppressing the sniper and the Germans with the BAR. Also I saw another one near Winters in the forest. Anyways I just hope to know if any of you have any information on whether or not the paratroopers were given the BAR's, or did they pick these up from... the Glider troopers? Any info would be appreciated thanks !!
allright.I AM NOT ENTIRELY SURE OF WHAT IM GOING TO SAY HERE: but i heard that BARs were not issued to paratroopers on D-DAY although they usually got them from glider troops. in eib in the chapter called "hell's corner" hartsock says that he found a BAR in the back of a crached glider but the paratroopers never jumped with them on june 6 .
No, there were no BARs in any of the paratrooper's hands before the jump on D-day. Many were used by the glider troops and picked up afterwards by paratroopers. The reason for this was that you could not easily disasseble the BAR, and it was too large to jump fully constructed.
Oddly enough, some paratroopers were dropped with BARs in operation Market Garden.
Thanks guys for the info. But some people on the internet told me they have books with pictures of the 101st with BAR's before they got on the plane. Oh I think I was told that some 101st Airborne troopers exchanged their M1A1 Carbines or .30 cal LMG for the BAR's from the Glider troops. Wondering if it's true ...?
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I think Mozzerman is right. They didn't jump with the BAR because it wasn't easily dissassebled. I'm not sure about D-Day, but .30 cal teams jumped with there MGs in Market Garden.
BAR's did go in with the jump teams on D-Day along with the .30cal they were usually dropped in canisters that were placed under the wings of the Horsa Glider a good example of which can be seen at the Pegasus Bridge museum at Ranville.
Originally posted by TBL-Sqn: BAR's did go in with the jump teams on D-Day along with the .30cal they were usually dropped in canisters that were placed under the wings of the Horsa Glider a good example of which can be seen at the Pegasus Bridge museum at Ranville.
They were on gliders, but not with paratroopers as they jumped. The paratroopers just picked up BARs on the ground from the glider troops and the infantry.
In Market Garden the paratroopers did jump with BARs after the 82nd Airborne developed a way to jump with them.
BARs were eventually a part of the Airborne Division's TOE, AFTER the war, the 17th and the 82nd used them after the war after they devised a method of it strapped with the barrel down.
The name of the website where I saw this.....slipped out of my mind
"Real Servicemen don't brag about their service"
Sgt. Possum: Killing insane people is not good for public relations. Pvt. Griff: Killing sane people is okay? Sgt. Possumt: That's right.
"Preach all you want but who's gonna save me?"
"At the root of all of his storytelling and the acts he either commits or fabricates in order to have a story to tell, at the sick root is the desire to be held in awe with others, so that he can feel better about himself" - Jarhead
Don't know about the 101st, but from the photo's the 82nd had at least for the Salerno jump and jumped with them for that jump. It seems an eterprising para developed a griswald for it before Market Garden(for which he recieved a army commendation). About the TO&E though it was not niether was the BAR in the Ranger TO&E(and we know it was used).
About the browning 1919 you see some guys jumping with it by putting it in their leg-bag(thank you Michael De Trez).
Sgt. Possum: Killing insane people is not good for public relations. Pvt. Griff: Killing sane people is okay? Sgt. Possumt: That's right.
"Preach all you want but who's gonna save me?"
"At the root of all of his storytelling and the acts he either commits or fabricates in order to have a story to tell, at the sick root is the desire to be held in awe with others, so that he can feel better about himself" - Jarhead
The weapon saw use by the 101st--very heavy, but lighter than the M1919 browning air-cooled and fired a powerful .30 round. It was not issued in numbers as high as the M1, but it was never meant to be used as such.
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