Lee Enfield No.4 or Sten MK2 ( Not common )or MK 5 both were used for the regular para but if your a support gunner a Bren MK2. (PIAT or BOYS rifle if you are an anti tank guy.) btw sorry I have fixed it now to some of the comments to this I’ve read thx for the info and I’ve updated it :)
The Market Garden paratroopers also had access to Bazookas and Boys rifles. The US 82nd Airborne used the Boys to shoot at snipers from church steeples... As for the Paras, each platoon was assigned a sniper with a No. 4 Mk. I or Mk. II (T) rifle, a Browning Hi-Power (since the sniper was usually a Lieutenant) and a pair of binoculars. He never carried a pigsticker bayonet, but had them in the leg bag, tucked away in a survival kit. The sniper also never wore a Para helmet, but used the US M2 with cloth cover because the all-steel Para helmet would heat up while the American helmet with a plastic liner will not. An alternative is the woolen cap, watch cap or bandana. They never wore berets because it would make them a conspicuous target.
British airborne forces were equipped with much the same small arms as those used by the regular infantry. Each infantry section had a Bren Light Machine, while the standard infantry rifle was the long established Lee-Enfield . 303 (Mk 4). Officers and NCO's had the Sten sub machine gun
Uhm actually its a No.4 rifle Mk1 not a Lee Enfield Mk.4 🤓🤓 the SMLE Mark._ naming convention was ended with the introduction of the No.4 rifle spiritually and practically the No.4 rifle is a SMLE mark.4 but its name was the No.4 rifle.
@@joeroyle1399 ouch.... Major Digby Tatham-Warter - part of operation Market Garden, dropped on the bridge of Arnehm, with his Umbrella. There are famous picture of him standing infront of the bridge holding his umbrella up. When the germans came demanding their surrender... he stood with his umbrella looking down at the bridge from his hq building and told them... he couldn't accept their surrender, he simply didn't have the facilities to house all the prisoners.
Frost: ‘But why the hell do you always carry that bloody umbrella?’ Carlyle: '…Memory…' Frost: ‘What?’ Carlyle: ‘Bad memory… Always forgot the password. I knew no “Jerry” would ever carry one. I had to prove I was an Englishman….
@@earlwyss520.... If the bloody people who actually planned and conducted the operation had done their job it would have worked and more so if the Americans had captured their bridge and not left it to XXX Corps to do their job for them
With the polite exeption of the baggy Fallschirmjäger outfit-always makes me horny like Wagners Tannhaüser.... In retrospect Arnhem was the best dressed battle of WWII
Lee enfield No. 4 The bandolier carries the actual chargers for the rifle. The pouches were for grenades and additional Bren gun magazines (like the German Army, the British section was built around the machine gun).
Have you ever been to Europe? It starts getting cool in September (Operation Market Garden took place between 17-27 September 1944). It rains a lot in Europe, and soldiers spend a lot of time outside, potentially in the rain, especially when their fighting a war. All of those layers were absolutely necessary in North Central Europe. BTW I lived for 7 years in Germany as a USAF brat, and spent 18 months in the UK as a USAF Security Policeman.
Um, they actually KINDA did. The setup I use is the Paratrooper Helmet, The Ghost (forest camouflage) and Tommy for the legs. It's certainly not perfect, but at least it still breaks the ice.
That button is a quick-release for the strap buckles. The speed at which it enabled paratroopers to exit their parachute gear saved many lives during emergencies such as landings in water or close-quarters combat drop zones. There are reports of US paratroopers drowning in fields at night that were flooded by the German military-likely due to the time required to disconnect their multiple parachute straps.
My grandfather was a Dutch soldier that went to England in 1940 when the Germans invaded he managed to pass the commandos training and become a British 1st airborne soldier after world war 2 he fought in Korea and India I wish he could tell me his story’s but he died the same day when I was born RIP🕊️
Great video and explains a lot so thanks .My old fella was a Para in WW2…he joined up in Sept 1944 with the 127 field ambulance in the 5th Scottish battalion of the 2nd brigade…he completed 13 jumps in total after his training at ringway Manchester ( which had a grass runway back then ) …his old Para smock used to hang in our garage before being dumped back in the 1970s ( now it’s worth is in the thousands £s) ….as a medic he carried a 9mm browning side arm and was posted until 1947 in Palestine …
@@Beatzmytunez Mauser is a little more accurate but Enfield has a much faster action, 10 rounds vs 5 and much less recoil. So yes, Enfield is a much better battle rifle. Will take the Mauser for deer.
My dad was a US tanker. He got to Normandy, D-Day +90. He told me that because of Monty taking a lot of supplies for Market Garden, he sat out most of September 44.
I'm guessing he was under Patton, who would have starved all the other units if he could have. Market Garden was an approved operation, and Ike decided where the supplies would go.
Told to hold the bridge for 3 days, held for 9 with quater of the men they should of had and surplies, hence the germans gave them the name red devils.
.303 Short Enfield or a Thompson.45 ACP 1928 A1. Other options by the Market Garden Campaign: Sten Submachine Gun or even an American M1 Carbine w/ folding butt stock and if my research (memory) serves some Brit’s even traded American counterparts for M3 Grease Guns chambered in either .45 or a test run of 9mm Luger. When the street to street got hot n heavy in Arnhem some British 1st & Polish Brigade also fought with Wehrmacht MP-40’s (Schmeissers) and of course their Sykes Fairbarne commando daggers. Crew served weapons would likely be Brens or Browning .50 cal’s although Brits did use the ubiquitous air cooled Browning .30’s as well. Oddly we don’t see any pics of Brits engaged with Garands-even though the Browning .30’a provide the ammo option but sans the 8 round clips As a side note who is with me that a Band of Brothers quality remake of A Bridge Too Far would be EPIC?? Both elements of Market Garden are as cinematic as any war story ever gets. Limitless potential for 2023 filmmaking/storytelling. Lord knows our theaters could use some movies with actual stories once again.
Soldati eccizionali purtroppo durante l'operazione market garden ne morirono più di 8000 atterarano sopra una divisione corazzata tedesca di prima scelta ma si difesero come leoni 🫡
Ref the maroon beret... I don't believe it's a rumour. Maroon and sky blue were chosen by her (the author Daphne DuMaurier) as they were the colours of his family's horse racing silks. Believe she also designed the Para Reg cap badge and Airborne Pegasus patch.
Well depends on what type of uniform it is there were all types of weapons the British airborne soldiers used so it just matters on what type of uniform it is.
enfield no4. had the chance of owning one for a while and it is a fantastic weapon. sadly i bought it in extremely bad shape, and only a few rounds made me realise it wasnt safe to shoot. (headspacing and the bullet tumbled so much, keyholed cardboard even as close as 5 yards. ) and also it got sporterized a while back ... Neutralized it , found some reproduction woods that i adapted to the shortened barrel, and its now a hanging piece in a cabin somewhere in northern canada.
Personally the Lee-Enfield MK3, No.4 MK1 in my opinion is a nice gun but looks utterly shit. 💩 I personally prefer the MK3 due to its Sword Bayonet attachment, whilst the No.4 MK1 obtains a shorter bayonet usually referred to as the pig sticker. I know people would argue about this topic but these are just my personal preferences. Thank you.
A bridge too far....a staple film on HBO when i was a young kid....an experimental model of the Sterling Sub machine gun.....and the Spigot mortar(AT gun)......Donut Flamethrower!
(British narrator voice) He would be using the M1-44. Shooting 750 rounds of British 7.52x54k a minute. K is Japanese for "short cherry blossoms". Yes that's a lot of led our commissar boys are shooting at the yanks. That's why the M1 is called the Chicago Typewriter.
Good job. It's time to equip Gen. Maczek's 1st Armored Division with the so-called Black Devils and the 2nd Polish Corps of General Anders, conquerors of Monte Cassino
¿¿¿....¿ a, a,....¿a, c, c,...¿ c ( pmb eb drc, sskc, sbi, cmec, supraja or badruka or b, mohsin or saleemnagar or sun, Swamy or karvy or k, j, at, kmb, pp, gp, pp, upi, Trai)
When they did market garden op.was pure arrogance from mounthy.patton said later "i will never take order from them" he was piss due lots guys died for nothing.i saw movie in canada with cdn ab regt 1977-80 when i left many guys was piss on this fiasco sad.the book is very good too.he was living victoria,bc when book come out.😢
Ex British Airborne thanks for the History Lesson mate Excellent bit about the Maroon Beret ( that is what I heard ) you have earned yourself a cup of tea Mate " top music " ps .303 lee Enfield Rifle AIRBORNE " top video Mate.
Sten but big thing is PARACHUTE singular , no safety like the Americans . In training , if Parachute failed to open cross your legs to make it easier to unscrew you from the soil .
Any weapon available to the British army, but I would want a sten gun as I’m lazy LOL Also the Denison smock was supposed to be worn over the equipment when jumping. But, not many troops did this, but there is evidence to support it though.
A lot of the Paras used the late sten, which had a wooden stock and fore grip. A lot of people don't know that by late 1944, the Germans had copied ( and simplified !!!!) the sten... and issued the weapon.
Well if that's supposed to be British it would most likely be a Lee-Enfield you picked the model I don't know of any other weapon other than the strin gun and the Bren gun of what they would jump with
