In Their Words - Infantry Weapons

	M1903 'Springfield' - A rifle firing .30 caliber (.3-inch diameter bullets) that had been widely used in World War I. Thousands were still in service at the outbreak of World War II. It was a bolt-action rifle, requiring a sliding breech mechanism to be worked by hand prior to each shot. All other major combatants (ie. Britain, Germany, Japan, and Russia) used very similar rifles as their primary infantry firearms.
	M1911 Colt - Standard US sidearm used during World War II. This .45 caliber weapon was semi-automatic, meaning that after the first shot it could be fired over and over again (until the magazine was empty) without working a bolt-action or otherwise cocking the pistol. Although it could fire faster than the M1903, the type of ammunition used carried significantly less punch. Most other combatants in the war used similar, but smaller-caliber weapons.
	M1 'Garand' Rifle - Invented by John Garand this rifle combined the best features of the first two weapons noted above. It used the powerful .30-06 cartridge of the M1903 Springfield but was semi-automatic like the M1911. Widely considered the best infantry rifle of the war, it was vastly superior to its British, German, Japanese, and Russian counterparts. The German G43 was a crudely-built, late war imitation of the Garand.
	M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) - A reliable .30 caliber weapon named after inventor John Browning that could operate as a fully-automatic light machine gun. This meant that the weapon continued to fire over and over again at a voracious speed as long as the trigger was depressed. Some models were capable of different rates of automatic fire, or even semi-automatic fire like the M1 Garand. The German SG44 was probably the most similar foreign weapon, but the SG44 was lighter, carried larger magazines, and was generally superior. Fortunately it was not developed until too late in the war to affect the outcome.
	M-1 Carbine - A semi-automatic lightweight rifle that was originally intended for rear-echelon troops, but often made its way to the front lines due to its popularity. It used less powerful ammunition than the other rifles noted above, but was easy to carry and some models were capable of firing in either semi-automatic or fully-automatic mode.
	M1/M1A1 Thompson Submachine Gun - Made famous in the gang wars of Chicago during the 1930s the Thompson submachine gun was a rugged, fully-automatic weapon that fired the same ammunition as the M1911 pistol. It was later centrally featured in many war-films and comic books. The British Sten, German MP40, and Russian PPSh-41 filled similar roles, but for its part Japan used very few submachine guns.
	M-3 Submachine 'Grease Gun' - This weapon was designed in a mere two months during WWII as a cheaper alternative to the Thompson. It used the same ammunition but corners were cut on its manufacture and it was subsequently a bit less reliable. Its unique shape reminded troops of a mechanic's lubricating device, hence the nickname.
	M1919 Browning Machine Gun - This .30 caliber 'light machine gun' was actually pretty heavy in comparison to the weapons above, weighing in at over 30 lbs and typically requiring at tripod or bipod mount to function effectively. It was tough and reliable and being air-cooled was a lot lighter than the machine guns of World War I, hence the designation "light." Most other combatants in the war used similar weapons.
	M-2 .50 Browning Machine Gun - A heavy machine gun based upon a very similar design as the M1919. It used a powerful .50 caliber bullet that had unparalleled range and could even penetrate lightly armored vehicles. Still in active service around the world today, including Iraq.
	Rocket-Launcher M1A1 'Bazooka' - An anti-tank device, nicknamed after a similar-looking musical instrument, was a metal tube designed to trigger-launch small explosive rockets. Although it was woefully inaccurate at long range and often failed to penetrate hull armor, it was effective at immobilizing German tanks by knocking off their treads or destroying enemy machine-gun nests. The Germans used a disposal rocket called a "Panzerfaust" and later built a copy of the bazooka called a "Panzerschreck."
	M2 Flamethrower - This variant of the original German World War I invention was designed to shoot flaming liquid 20 yards or so at an enemy. Denounced as inhumane and abandoned by the US Army in the 1970s, the horrific device was highly effective at taking out enemy troops hiding in bunkers or caves in the Second World War.