Shotgun

Discussion in 'World War 2' started by John, Dec 15, 2008.

  1. John

    John Active Member

    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.
     
  2. war hawk

    war hawk New Member

    I heard that American troops sometimes carried Shotguns in ww2, I can"t find anything about the British, Australians, using Shotguns.:noidea: Good thread
     
  3. John

    John Active Member

    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
     
  4. Kyt

    Kyt Άρης

    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.
     
  5. Kyt

    Kyt Άρης

    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.
     
  6. John

    John Active Member

    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.
     
  7. Kyt

    Kyt Άρης

    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
     
  8. liverpool annie

    liverpool annie New Member


    I found this on the History Channel ! :)

    Was the Shotgun EVER used in WW2? in Wars in History Channel
     
  9. John

    John Active Member

    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.
     
  10. war hawk

    war hawk New Member

    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.
     

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