Could someone tell me if shotguns were used by English and Australian troops in WW2. It seems America was the only troops to use the shotgun in WW1 regardless of the complaints from the Turks and Germans.
I heard that American troops sometimes carried Shotguns in ww2, I can"t find anything about the British, Australians, using Shotguns.:noidea: Good thread
Thanks War Hawk. I have been following a shotgun discussion on GWF about it being used in WW1. I got to thinking whether it was used in WW2. I believe shotguns were used by the Aussie's in Vietnam
The US army, navy and marines used shotguns during WW2. The Navy used them for onboard protection and the marines used them as close support against the Japanese. This was especially useful in the same way as in trench warfare, but in this case in hiding places like caves. I have also read that the US Army in Europe for house clearance but haven't seen any mentions of it in actual histories. Winchester Model 1897 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Shotguns Combat shotgun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia As far as I know, the Commonwealth forces preferred the SMG for close combat.
Looking at the Australian Archives, there seems to very few files referring to shotguns, and they all seem to be about the possible introduction or use, rather than actual use. Unfortunately, none of the files have been digitised.
Thanks for your answers Kyt. I have also seen on google where an American soldier cleared a french village of 36 Germans by using a shotgun. I believe some nations used the shotgun for guarding POW's.
Ah, I hadn't thought of that John - yes shotguns would have been excellent in the POW camps. The only problem being that I have only seen pictures of standard arms - rigfles, SMGs, MGs etc. Never one of guards with shotguns
A good article Annie. I also found an article to-day on google that said some guards at Guantanamo at Cuba are using shotguns to guard their Arab prisoners.
Your welcome I searched on the web and I didn"t find anything about the British , Australians using Shotguns. I did find that the Australian used them in Vietnam.