Now, with apologies for some of these rough-looking images—presented as they were found—let’s look at some very unusual weaponry from the 1940s through the 1950s.

CREDIT: U.S. WAR DEPARTMENT/NATIONAL ARCHIVES/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Atomic Bazooka! Undoubtedly the most spectacular of these oddities is the M28 and M29 man-portable, tactical nuclear weapon system, officially named the “Davy Crockett” after a semi-mythological American patriot of the early frontier days. Developed in the late 1950s Cold War period, in this case, Davy’s job was to quickly move into position to take out Communist enemy concentrations with the watermelon-sized M338 mini-nuke. The inability to kick its atomic warhead to a safe distance from the gun crew was an unfortunate limitation that added to other concerns, and the project was scrapped after very limited deployment. Photo taken at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

CREDIT U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Effect on Target! While we’re exaggerating the Davy Crockett’s nuke blast effect (equivalent of 20 tons of TNT) in this photo of a 14-kiloton test, it is in color and has its characteristic mushroom cloud. The M29 weapon itself used a novel piston-spigot system to propel the 50-plus-pound Mk-54 sub-fission warhead to a maximum range of 2.5 miles. Photo taken October 30, 1951, at Yucca Flat, Nevada.

_________

Now that we’ve set the stage, let’s go back in time to the early 1940s, just two decades after “The War to End All Wars.”

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CREDIT: U.S. ARMY ORDNANCE MUSEUM

Frankengun .45! Despite being nearly perfect in its original M1911 form, John Moses Browning’s superlative .45 ACP semiautomatic handgun was an apparently irresistible candidate for “improvement.” And so, here’s what happens in peacetime when idle hands at Army Ordnance Corps go to work to fit a detachable shoulder stock, extended magazine and slide with long barrel and an eye-catching perforated cooling jacket. Photo taken at Aberdeen Proving Ground, one month before the U.S. entered WWII.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY ORDNANCE MUSEUM

Convertible Chopper! Urgent wartime production demands spurred experimentation in alternatives to America’s heavy and expensive Thompson Submachine Guns. Here’s the UD-1, a novel offering from United Defense that can be quickly converted to fire either standard U.S. .45 ACP ammo or the European-favored 9mm Parabellum. For various reasons, it lost out to the ultra-cheap and simple M3 “Grease Gun.” Photo taken at Aberdeen Proving Ground in April 1943.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY ORDNANCE MUSEUM

A Mortar Rifle? Desperate times for Marines in desperate fights with a fanatical Japanese enemy in early Pacific island-hopping combat inspired this trigger-fired 60mm mortar. Don’t make fun of this clever field-expedient because it’s a very practical solution to the urgent need for Marine mortarmen to move fast and hit hard in close-range jungle fighting. Its tube, carried by a single Marine, has an under-slung rifle stock serving as both a trigger mechanism and its baseplate (seen buried butt-deep into a sandbag); not intended for shoulder firing. While seen here with the heavy and ungainly standard bipod with quick release collar, this was most certainly dispensed, in most cases, with the gunner slamming the butt into the ground, grabbing that broomstick foregrip and using “Kentucky windage” to aim.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY ORDNANCE MUSEUM

Improved One-Marine Mortar! Probably inspired by that rifle stock mortar, Master Gunnery Sergeant Garrett pushes this to the limit with his design for a bipod-mounted, trigger-operated, shoulder-fired 60mm mortar. Yes, Leathernecks are notoriously tough guys, but ouch! Noting the angle of the simple quadrant sight on its left side, that bipod will have to extend pretty far to lob the shell even a short distance. Photo taken at Aberdeen Proving Ground in September 1943.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS, NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Gotta Have a Bayonet! Among the first M1 Carbines delivered to the Army’s Infantry Board at Fort Benning, Georgia, February 1942, this one has been “improved” by taping a trench knife to the barrel. This came at the start of a crash program to put a “pig sticker” on the little rifle. Well, only about 2 years later, the M4 Bayonet was standardized, secured to carbine barrels modified with the T2 lug assembly.

CREDIT U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS, NATIONAL ARCHIVES

First Full-Auto M1 Carbine? While industry and Army Ordnance Corps engineers and technicians back in the U.S. were scrambling to provide full-auto capability to semiauto-only M1 Carbines, some muddy-boots Ordnance GIs in Europe apparently didn’t wait. Photographed in Belgium on November 10, 1944, “Sergeant Harold Schwarz, one of two inventors of an improvement of the Carbine, proves the worth of the piece by firing 15 rounds in less than 2 seconds.” It was apparently not good enough, and Inland Manufacturing’s trip lever mod won, standardized as the M2.

CREDIT U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS, NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Backpack Machine Gun! U.S. Army Technical Sergeant O. P. Peterson demonstrates a clever, field expedient backpack mount for the Browning M1919A4 .30-caliber machine gun with pintle, T&E and a can with 250 rounds of belted ammo. This rig was made by enterprising, close-to-the-front-lines Army Ordnance Corps soldiers in response to the call from “line doggies” for greater portability and faster setup time for this workhorse infantry medium machine gun. Unstrapped and placed on its four, fold-down wire feet, the gun goes immediately into offensive or defensive action.

IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM COLLECTION VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Sticky Grenade! It’s just no good to throw an ordinary grenade at an enemy vehicle because, more often than not, it bounces right back at you. So, early in the second war against the “Hun,” clever Brits fielded the “Sticky Bomb,” a hand grenade coated with a particularly strong and thick adhesive that would cling to its target then explode with maximum effect. This 1943 photo shows how the grenade was packaged in a sheet metal clam shell to protect its inherent stickiness without also gluing it to everything it touches. But it wouldn’t also stick to its shell due to numerous little spikes inside.

U.S. NAVY BUREAU OF ORDNANCE VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Inside the Sticky Grenade. When a suitable target presented itself at close range, the plucky British Tommy would reach into his haversack, firmly grasp the hand bomb by its protruding handle and quickly undo the protective shell. It was a bit complicated to use; pulling one pin armed the fuse striker mechanism so the grenadier could throw or stick it. When the safety spoon lever on the handle was released, the nitroglycerin filler detonated in five seconds. “Sticky wicket lads!”

CREDIT: PHOTOGRAPHED BY DER RIKKK AT WEHRTECHNISCHEN STUDIENSAMMLUNG, KOBLENZ. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Shoot Around the Corner! A WWII German Krummlauf (curved barrel) seen here on an MP 44 select-fire 7.62mm kurz rifle in a display cutaway of a typical armored vehicle mount. This model has a 90-degree bullet deflector barrel clamped on that allows a crewman safely inside to shoot attacking infantrymen as they approach or in the dire situation when they’re climbing aboard. There was also a 30-degree model for dismounted combat in built-up areas, enhanced by a prism sight that allowed somewhat accurate target engagement out to nearly 200m. Oh, and a similar curved barrel was developed for the U.S. M3 “Grease Gun.”

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY ORDNANCE MUSEUM

Copycat Recoilless Rifle WWII German paratroopers were equipped with the 75mm L.G. 40, a 325-pound highly maneuverable and hard-hitting wheeled recoilless artillery piece first noted in the airborne assault on Crete in 1941. Quickly responding on behalf of America’s brand-new airborne forces, the Army Ordnance Corps developed the T26 Artillery Rocket Launcher, with a 4.5-inch (115mm) bore. Parallel development of what was to become the shoulder-fired 2.36-inch “Bazooka” rocket launcher apparently doomed the T26 and GI paratroopers were stuck with heavy 1400-pound M1A1 75mm pack Howitzers.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS, NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Nazi Death Metal “Music?” In this 1945 photo, a U.S. Army officer examines a pair of gigantic parabolic reflectors that concentrate, and direct intense sound waves generated by pulsed detonation of a methane/oxygen mix. Theoretically, this sonic cannon—intended for defense of static positions—would incapacitate or even kill attacking troops. But don’t laugh, this concept and other “directed energy” weapons are being deployed right now by friend and foe alike.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS, NATIONAL ARCHIVES

German-Based Night Vision. Posed in front of a tank fitted with a large infrared spotlight, this is the U.S. M3 Sniperscope, an early night vision device consisting of an M2 Carbine topped with an infrared light and cathode ray detector sight. It’s based on the WWII German Vampir (vampire) night vision system for vehicles and small arms that gave enhanced tactical capability at night. This set-in motion a crash program of reverse engineering and subsequent enhancements by Army Signal Corps and Ordnance Corps technicians.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY ORDNANCE MUSEUM

Bazooka Revolver! October 14, 1947, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. This Army Ordnance Corps photo is one of several we found documenting progress on Project No. TS4-4007, the “Launcher, Rocket, Repeating, 2.36-inch, T112 (Drum Type).” When a loaded tube is rotated into alignment with the forward end of the M9A1 launcher, moving the black knobbed lever apparently twist-locks it into the coupling for firing. Two more rockets can then be quickly launched and—as empty tubes are rotated around—reloaded.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY ORDNANCE MUSEUM

Magazine-fed Super Bazooka! February 23, 1950, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Another Army Ordnance Corps photo of Bazooka experimentation, this one is from Project No. TS4-4019. It shows the “Launcher, Rocket, Repeating, 3.5-inch, T115.” It looks like its gravity-fed magazine holds at least three of the “Super Bazooka” rockets that drop down into the firing tube in turn. Too bad this wasn’t available at the outbreak of the Korean War when GIs only had puny single-shot 2.36-inch bazookas against the enemy’s heavily armored, Soviet-supplied T-34 tanks.

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Conclusion

While the end of the Cold War came in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union, don’t think that the “peace dividend” that followed would have put a crimp in experimental oddities by newly idle bureaucracies. Many of the developments in weaponry that followed are no less interesting.

The museum was established by Royal Decree in 2007 and was inaugurated on January 29, 2018, by King Abdullah II. It has been built on a specially designed site which consists of a 20,000-square-meter building, an outside display area and a tank driving course.

The museum building is described as an “architectural concept that rises from the old desert fortress of the 1800s and 1900s with four pillars, modernized and made ‘stealthy’ for the 21st century.” It has a spacious interior with all the vehicles being on one level that is set up into 14 separate halls, covering tanks from Leonardo da Vinci’s concept tank to the latest Main Battle tanks. The vehicles in the museum have come from Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF) military stock, sourced from around the world, and generous donations from 16 countries of 24 further tanks.

Each of the separate halls runs in chronological order from the Armouring Origins, World War I, Great Arab Revolt, World War II, Arab Legion, Jerusalem, Jordanian Armoured Forces (1950s–1960s), Al Karameh, Arab Israeli, King Abdullah II, Sectionalized Tank, Operations and Tank Support, Tank in Battle, International and KADDB which have tanks, armoured cars, tracked and wheeled artillery, armoured recovery, soft-skinned vehicles and small arms relevant to that hall.

Among the vehicles on display in the various halls are an Israeli 75mm Super Sherman M50, British Charioteer (a Cold War-era tank, that is fitted with an Ordnance QF 20 pounder gun and uses Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) ammunition out to an effective range of 2,000 metres), French 75mm AMX-13, American 37mm Stuart, Russian 100mm T-54 and an Austrian SK-105 Kürassier. The SK-105 is fitted with a 105mm gun which has a semi-automatic, revolving magazine-type autoloading system with two revolving magazines holding 6 rounds each of Armour Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) rounds.  These are an extremely accurate round out to 2000 metres. There were also the Chinese 100mm Type 59, Polish WZT-1 Armoured Recovery Vehicle and a German 75mm STuG III. The STuG III was mounted with a 75mm KwK L/48 gun which was the main anti-tank gun used by the Germans in WWII.  It fired a High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) round up to 1800 metres with great accuracy.

Small Arms are also on display and include a .30 Browning machine gun, 3-inch mortar, Bazooka, an M15A1 Jeep with a 105mm Recoilless Rifle and a very good example of the M45 Quadmount .50 BMG mounted on an M20 trailer, which is used to enhance the dioramas.

There is also a Huey Cobra helicopter slung from the roof over the King Abdullah II Hall.

There is an upper level where there is a “World of Tanks” gaming area that all visitors to the museum can play for free, experiencing tanks that are on display in realistic computer tank battles.

You can get up close to most of the exhibits, and there is good use of dioramas, sound effects and laser graphics. Many of the vehicles have information boards on them, and there are less well-known examples of vehicles built in the area from the Middle East conflicts.

One unusual exhibit is a “sectionalized” American 105mm M60 Tank, which has been cut through the middle so that you can walk in-between the two sections, giving you an up-close perspective of the interior.

Outside there are six further Tanks/Armoured cars on display. The tank driving course is in its last stages of construction where they will be holding Tank demonstrations and Tank rides for visitors.

There is a large gift shop within the museum. There is no Café, and food/drink is not permitted in the museum.

The location of the museum is very convenient to the main hotels in Amman as it is only a 15-20 minute taxi ride.

Opening Hours: Every day except Tuesday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Entry Fee: 5 Jordanian Dinar ($7 USD) per person

Address: King Abdullah II Park, Amman, Jordan

Telephone: +962 4381881

Website: rtm.jo/en-us

Modern Malaysia is a beautiful country, rich in agriculture and history, with a growing industrial base. It was born from the ashes of the Japanese occupation during World War II- famine, along with the war, killed many and left a void in the country which was filled by Commonwealth (British) organization. The Malaysian Communist Party, supported by the Soviets, worked towards removing the British- who it was felt had not really made life better after the Japanese left. Chaos ruled in many areas and the entire series of skirmishes and wars are worth studying, but beyond the scope of this article. The name “Malaysian Emergency” was bestowed on the wars there because the European landowners/farmers who were insured by Lloyds of London could not be covered if it was a “War.” The name “Emergency” stuck and it is generally considered to have been from 1947 through 1960. The problems reemerged in the 1980s.

The Royal Malaysian Police Museum presents the story of the police all through the Emergency with a very factual, even hand. The diorama of the Bukit Kepong Incident, a tragedy on 23 February 1950, provides excellent insight into what the Malaysian Police had to contend with. Early on that morning, approximately 180 heavily armed members of the Malayan Communist Party attacked the Federation of Malaya Police station at Bukit Kepong. The attackers thought this would be a swift victory. Five hours later, the battle still raged. In the end, the communists killed 14 policemen, 5 auxiliary Police, and 6 civilians- including wives and children of the police. While this was a loss for the government, the true story of the bravery of the police and how their wives came and took up arms, and it ended as their building burned and the last 4 policemen charged the communist position. It is compared to the Battle of the Alamo in U.S. legend, and the even energized the people against the communists.

The Royal Malaysian Police Museum was founded in Kuala Lumpur in 1961. It went through a variety of buildings and leadership, built again in 1983, then the current museum was opened to the public on 2 October 1998.

We found the museum to have excellent displays- there were so many varieties of firearms it was intriguing to consider the sources- a melting pot of armies and insurgents. There were many displays indoors and outdoors, and SADJ recommends that while you’re in Kuala Lumpur, if you can find the time, pay the museum a visit.

Royal Malaysia Police Museum

No. 5 Jalan Perdana
50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
www.muziumpolis.com
email: muziumpolis@yahoo.com
Tel: +03-22725689
Admission: Free
Visiting Hours:
Tuesday – Sunday
10:00am – 6:00pm
Friday 10:00am –12:30pm & 2:30pm – 6:00pm
Closed Mondays

An Oerlikon MK4 20x110RB cannon on s2ingle naval mount, with 60 round right hand drum, looks over the museum grounds.

An Oerlikon MK4 20x110RB cannon on s2ingle naval mount, with 60 round right hand drum, looks over the museum grounds.

Ford Lynx Scout Car (BB 8128)- this armored car was introduced in the Police Force on 24 July 1952, and was given to the Kelanian Contingent. It is a two man vehicle, one driver, and one to man the machine gun. During The Emergency this armored car was always used at the head of an escort convoy in every operation. Armored cars of this type were last seen in use at the parade to mark the end of The Emergency on 1 August, 12960.

Top to bottom: 37mm gas launcher; M79 40x46mm grenade launcher with jungle stock and finish; SMLE rifle modified to launch tear gas grenades from the cup (Forend is wire bound); 5 shot 37mm launcher; Steyr AUG (F88) 5.56x45mm; Australian F1 9x19mm submachine gun; Sten MKII 9x19mm submachine gun with loop stock; Ingram M10 9x19mm submachine gun.

Top to bottom: Johnson M1941 light machine gun in 30.06 caliber; HK21E in the HK11E configuration with G3 magazine in 7.62x51mm; British L4A1 Bren light machine gun in 7.62x51mm; US M60 GPMG in 7.62x51mm.

Top to bottom: HK MP5 9x19mm submachine gun with collapsible stock and S-E-F trigger group; Spanish Z-84 9x19mm submachine gun; Beretta PM12S 9x19mm submachine gun.

A variety of assault rifles, featuring FAL variants but on the very top is a Portuguese Model AR-10 rifle in 7.62x51mm (Note bayonet lug on top of grenade launcher on barrel).

Many of the weapons on display were modified and in various stages of repair. The second rifle down appears to be an M2 carbine with added custom pistol grip.

A very popular weapon with insurgents was taking a semi-automatic handgun and embedding it into a rifle stock, while extending a link to the stock trigger. This made for an early “Roni” type system- stabilizing the handgun for longer distance shooting. The displays had a number of examples.

The top firearm shows the pistol mounted into a carbine stock, but the bottom weapon is much more interesting. A 1928A1 Thompson SMG in .45acp with a homemade buttstock.

In this display, the top 3 Derringers are described as “Colt Lady Derringer.” The pistol on the left is not described, but it is clearly a home workshop piece mimicking a Walther P38, with “Carl Walther” engraved on the slide. The bottom piece marked “24” is a cigar lighter made to look like a pistol. One of the most intriguing pieces in the museum was the small boxlike pistol on the right, marked “23.” The description is as follows: King Cobra type based on Pasir Putih- On 24 December 1980 at 0900 hours, acting on information received from the public, a group of policemen under the command of Inspt. Kasdiran Bin Kasban made an ambush at Pasir Putih town in Kelantan. At 0930 hours the police officers arrested two Malay males as they left a taxi. One of them was holding a plastic bag containing 3 pairs of shoes, a pistol “King Cobra” type in the shape of a lighter was found hidden in the heal of his shoe, and 493 sticks of cannabis (ganja) was found under the soles of the shoes. The two males were appropriately punished by the court.

Ten barreled 1881 model Gatling Gun on “Camel” tripod. The Bruce Feed is not installed.

Smooth jacketed British Vickers Mk I water cooled machine gun in .303 caliber, on improvised mount.

Almost lost in a sea of plastic-fantastic new-wave “museums of idea, not objects” resplendent in touch-screens and 3D displays, but lacking substance and exhibits, in Germany there is a besieged island of a good, old time museum close to bursting its seams with the most fascinating hardware; a variety and quality of which is getting harder and harder to find.

If the winds of good fortune should ever sweep you across the pond to Europe, and you love arms of all types, make sure you got a spare day to spend in beautiful and ancient (it used to be a Roman Legions garrison city) Koblenz, a city at the junction of the Rheine and Mosel rivers, in the state of Rhein-Pfalz, about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Frankfurt/Main.

Koblenz is the seat of the German Bundeswehr logistics service, known formerly as the BWB (Federal Office of Military Technology and Procurement), nowadays re-christened into a real mouthful of an acronym: BAAINBw (standing for Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support).  Never mind the name, in 1962 the office started a study collection of war materiel, collecting and researching German and foreign military hardware, teaching Bundeswehr soldiers the ins and outs of foreign (Warsaw Pact) equipment – and of course comparing German equipment with foreign ones with an eye towards what can be copied and/or improved to make the Bundeswehr combat load and hardware better.

The first 1892 prototype of the Bergmann pistol, designed by Louis Schmeisser (father of Hugo of SMG and Sturmgewehr fame). The early repeating and automatic pistols collection of the WTS is something one has to see to believe.

Soon, historical examples started to flow in as well, and in 1982 the combined influx of old and new artifacts made the BWB collection burst at its seams with both paper-pusher’s and collection items.  Thus, a new location was found, and the WTS (Military Technology Study Collection) moved out into a freshly vacated pre-war Langemarck Barracks at Meyenerstrasse 85-87.  There at last, a fixed exhibition was organized, and with the influx of new and old artifacts, the character of the collection steadily started to change course from strictly utilitarian towards more scientific.

The Nepalese hand crank-operated Birendra (Bira) machine gun is a reverse-engineered Gardner Gun fed from a top pannier magazine. Just one of the 50+ non-automatic machine guns on display at WTS.

Though the collection was initially off limits to civilians, that changed with time and at the beginning of the new century everybody could see the collection upon inquiring by telephone 24 hours in advance to make sure the collection was open on the targeted day.  Nowadays you don’t need even that: you just get there, any day of the year, except for Easter and Christmas weeks, between 9.30 AM and 4.30 PM, pay a mere 3 Euro and you’re in.  A practical note: make sure you have and use Euro coins.  This is a minimum-maintenance museum, meaning that you don’t normally meet a single member of the staff during your entire visit and no one is breathing down your neck when you’re lusting over some arcane handgun.  There’s no cashier desk to sell tickets, no credit cards (major or otherwise) are accepted – you just go to a gate with a turnstile and a slot machine.  Deposit your three Euro in coins into the slot, and a turnstile can be pushed out of the way to admit one.  Don’t develop any stupid ideas, though – from the moment you enter the Barracks you’re under constant CCTV surveillance.

In 1970 the Rheinmetall company tried to put its foot into the German individual rifle door, then as now, firmly stocked with HK weapons. The company tried to introduce the 5.56mm weapon, and decided to make it advanced enough for the Bundeswehr to be unable to overlook it. However, they were unsuccessful because the rifle was deemed too modern – guess the plastic receiver and optically-sighted bull-pups were not yet all the rage...

The WTS is an overwhelming mega-museum.  It displays a stupefying amount of everything a soldier would ever touch during his/her stint in the military: from underwear and uniform, to mess kit, to service piece, to tanks, artillery, jet aircraft – all the way to a midget submarine.  And all this had to be crammed into the display area – even though there’s 75,000+ sq ft of it.  Practical note #2: To secure maximum viewing pleasure, one is well-advised to not have any accompanying personnel who are not inclined to truly appreciate the hardware.  Just leave said personnel at a hotel to see the city, or if your credit card would survive such extremes, at a local mall, and take a day off from your vacation.  There’s enough there for a true military technology aficionado to spend an entire day 09:30 to 16:30 at the museum without a single moment of boredom.  But people not bitten by a hardware bug would find little for entertainment, would be terribly bored, and would spoil your delightful technical vacation.

A prototype Walther G43 model chambered for the 7.9mm Kurzpatrone fed from a Sturmgewehr magazine.

The ground floor has halls with tanks, vehicles, field artillery, flak artillery, heavy artillery (up to and including Hitler’s 240mm K3 supergun), radars, searchlights, noise-locating gear, engines, helicopters, aircraft, torpedoes, sea mines, depth charges, generators, bridge-building pontoons – just about everything that’s heavy and military.  The engine collection is really fascinating, including e.g., Jumo 205 aerial counter-stroking diesel engine that powered the Junkers Ju-86 bomber, or the masterpiece of Soviet engine design, a radial maritime 503A diesel engine comprising 7 banks of 6 cylinders each, numbering 42 cylinders in all.  It is hard to imagine the shape of the crankshaft that thing needed…

The first working model of the caseless HK G11 automatic rifle.

The second floor has halls upon halls of uniforms and personal equipment.  At the time of my visit there was a very interesting temporary exhibit of soldier pocket knives from the 19th century onwards showing examples starting from pen knives through the Swiss Army Knife from its humble beginnings until present day multitool “pocket tool boxes.”

9mm Walther AP (Armeepistole), a P.38 predecessor with internal hammer. This is the semi-compact size with the shortest (3 in.) barrel.

Then there’s light and anti-tank artillery, machine guns, machine cannons, Gatlings galore, from camel-gun to the GAU-8/A, including a very interesting selection of Soviet Gatlings, both engine-driven and automatic – and they had automatic multi-barrel guns, mostly aerial, starting at 7.62mm to .50 cal. (YakB-12.7 as mounted under the front cockpit of the Hind-D helicopter gunship), to 23 and 30mm (AK-630 maritime anti-aircraft 30mm water-cooled Gatling: the 6-30 in this designation stands for 6-bbl, 30-mm).  Apparently the Soviets wanted their Gatlings independent of electric power and instead they opted for gas-operated guns.  The GShG-762 on display in WTS is actually a cross-over between the power-driven and automatic: it uses an electric motor to load belt and fire first shot – and then powder gases take over.  This was meant to be an improvement over the YakB-12.7, using electric-primed pyrotechnical propulsion cartridges to propel the gun for the first shot.  The gun was loaded with a six-shot cylinder (actually an in-line harmonica-shaped magazine) of propelling rounds, and the pilot had to use his ammo supply in six bursts – or else he was unable to shoot it all out.  So afterwards, in the smaller caliber gun, the pyro starter was replaced with an electric motor – hence the cog wheel around the barrel cluster.  At the opposite end of the spectrum the WTS has acquired one of the late 1800s Nepalese Birendra (Bira) twin-barrel pannier-fed hand-cranked guns utilizing a copy of the Gardner Gun system.

A rarely seen weapon: the HK P11 five-shot underwater pistol for combat scuba divers.

The machine gun hall houses a most comprehensive collection of machine guns.  There are regular service models, their prototypes, never adopted test pieces and more.  Things like the 100-Shiki rifle-stripper clip fed aircraft (!) gas-operated machine gun.  There are a lot of Japanese aerial armaments there, things like the Ho-301, a 1940 caseless 40mm engine cannon for fighter aircraft, the 20mm cannon series based on .50 cal. Browning design, the 92-Shiki and 98-Shiki aerial flexible guns.  From the Germans’ unique designs, you can see the TuF-MG, which is the world’s first HMG, a 13mm Maxim chambered for the T-Gewehr ammo.  There are also two Knorr-Bremse prototype MGs, as well as Krieghoff’s prototype aerial MG and Krieghoff’s prototype contender for the FG-42 paratrooper’s rifle.

Blooper Tube with a difference – a three-shot repeating China Lake variant of the M79 grenade launcher.

The third floor houses the military communications gear and an interesting exhibition of aircraft instruments, and then you get into the attic and you think you came to heaven: the attic holds a knock-out exhibition of individual small arms, from double shot-single barreled flintlocks all the way to the HK XM8 and underwater P11 pistol.

Japanese 40mm caseless aerial cannon Ho-301.

Mars pistol?  Check – and not only one, but two different models: the 1900 Webley Mars and 1906 Consortium Mars.  And Whittman’s Webley & Scott 1903 pistol for better measure.  Bergmann pistol?  Check – with at least a dozen models from the 1892 prototype of the No. 1 pistol up until the Danish 10/21 Bergmann.  A Colt Model 1900 sight-safety Parallel Ruler?  You bet – USN s/n 85.  The repeating pistols – anyone ever seen a repeating pistol?  And I don’t mean the Remington XP-100 sawed-off rifle, but 1880s and 1890s military prototype repeating pistols, mostly Austrian and German.  They have them all, Volcanics, Bittners, Laumanns, Schillings, Schoenbergers, Schulhoffs – you name it.  Trivial stuff like Broomhandles, Lugers, Tokarevs, or P38s hardly deserve a notice and a photo.

A 7.75mm Vollmer A.35/III automatic rifle: Germany’s first assault rifle of 1935.

Unfortunately, the photography conditions are the only thing that truly detracts from an otherwise 100 percent enjoyable visit at the WTS Wonderland.  The exhibits are either too cramped or set behind greasy fingered glass, which reflects either the fluorescent tube lights, or your flash, or (most times) both, and then the attic section has glass panels with security wire molded in, and they also blink in your flash.  However, if you’re not making photos, but just using your Mk I eyeball, you can see anything and everything quite well. This museum is not only an excellent value for the price of admission, but is exceptional in its variety, rarity and comprehensiveness of its collection.  For people interested in this sort of thing, there will probably be a strong urge to return at the first possible occasion.

In the beautiful countryside of northern England just a few miles from York, is the Yorkshire Air Museum.  Based on the former World War II Bomber Command Station of RAF Elvington, the Museum retains the authentic atmosphere of the period, with many fascinating exhibits housed in restored wartime buildings.

The Museum is a memorial to all the Allied aircrews of Bomber Command, including French, Canadian, Australian and other nationalities that served in the Elvington area.

The unique aspect of this Museum is that the entire facility is the Museum with 17 preserved buildings of a World War II base that operated bombing runs across the channel to the heart of Germany.  Each of the buildings contain exhibits pertaining to the people and operations that was home at Elvington.  Originally the home of 77 Squadron of Number 4 Bomber Group, the first operational aircraft were Handley Page Halifax four-engine bombers and took part in the Battle of the Ruhr and many other battles aimed at the destruction of German industry.

Turrets used by Air Gunners and Wireless Operator/Air Gunners in the RAF Bomber Command line one wall of the Air Gunners Memorial in Building 3 at the Yorkshire Air Museum.

During 1943, 77 Squadron alone suffered heavy losses, particularly against heavily defended Berlin.  By the end of the hostilities, the squadron had lost almost eighty Halifaxes, with over five hundred aircrew killed, missing or taken prisoner.  (The normal squadron strength was approximately twenty aircraft.)  In all, more than one hundred Halifaxes left on missions from Elvington during World War II, never to return.  Almost 900 air and ground crew members were killed or missing due to enemy action or accidents.

In 1944, 77 Squadron moved to another station and in May 1944, Elvington became host to the only base to be operated entirely by French personnel with the arrival of No. 346 (Guyennne) and No. 347 (Tunisie) Squadrons operating within No. 4 Group.

In October 1945, the French Squadrons left and in 1952 RAF Elvington was part of an expansion program with the US Strategic Air Command that included a new control tower and lengthening the main runway to accept the latest jet aircraft.  The base never became operational and was vacated in 1958 and in March 1992, RAF Elvington was closed.  The original air traffic control tower and adjacent buildings were derelict and overgrown.  The land and buildings were privately purchased and a band of devoted volunteers set to work to clear 40 years of undergrowth and to restore and upgrade the buildings to the way they were in 1944.  The Museum is privately financed and supported with no government, state or local authority funding.

Lewis Mk III Light Machine Gun. Introduced in 1918, it was the improved version of the standard infantry gun with a lightened and faster firing mechanism. This gun proved to be a useful stopgap until the introduction of the Vickers Gas Operated “K” gun and Browning machine guns in the mid 1930s.

RAF Elvington served as a base well past World War II and the present collection of aircraft at the museum encompasses pre-Second World War (9 aircraft), Second World War (9 aircraft) and post-World War II (24 aircraft).  The crown jewel in their collection includes an operational Handley Page Halifax II (III) (named Friday the 13th) as well as a De Havilland Mosquito NF.II.

Air Gunners Memorial
A truly unique aspect of the Yorkshire Air Museum is in building number 3.  This building is devoted to air gunners from the early World War I rear open cockpit planes that were armed with a Lewis gun with a 97-round drum magazine mounted on a Scarf Ring mount through the powered turret gunners of World War II.

The Air Gunners’ Collection is believed to be the only one of its type in the world and is dedicated to the memory of the tens of thousands of Air Gunners who lost their lives in World War II.

Nash and Thompson FN 150 Turret. Used on the Lancaster in the mid-upper position, it was operated by hydraulics. It was armed with two .303 cal. Browning Mk IIs and carried four 500-round boxes of ammunition within the turret. The gunsight used was the Mk IIIA or Mk IIIN reflector sight. The wood-capped arms extending beneath each gun are depression restrictors.

The Air Gunner’s tasks were complicated and hazardous and his life expectancy was appallingly short.  It could be as little as two weeks before a rear gunner on bomber operations could be expected to be shot down or killed.

The display at the Yorkshire Air Museum shows an array of weapons, turrets and air gunnery techniques used by these aircrew who played such an important part in the achievements of the RAF effort.

In the years prior to World War II, the Air Ministry wanted a more purpose designed gun and the Vickers Gas Operated “K” gun using a 100-round drum magazine was adopted and became standard issue for air gunners in the early years of the war.

With the introduction of enclosed turrets that were being developed by Boulton Paul, Frazer Nash and Bristol Aircraft, powered by hydraulic or electrical power supplied by the engines that enabled them to be rotated, the first of these power-operated turrets were fitted with a single .303 Lewis gun and installed in Boulton Paul Overstrand medium bombers and used between 1935 and 1938 by 101 Squadron.

Recovered from crash sites, these Brownings show the affects of their destiny. The fatality rate of Air Gunners and Wireless Operator/Air Gunners was extremely high.

As World War II began in 1939, mid-upper turrets were fitted to aircraft such as the Boulton Paul Defiant, Bristol Blenheim and Avro Anson.  Not long after, the twin-engined Whitley, Wellington and Hamdens were not only fitted with mid-upper turrets, but a rear turret and often a nose turret.  They were fitted with Browning Mk II machine guns in .303 caliber and installed in either banks of two or four guns.  The number of air gunner stations on aircraft increased as the fleet of four-engined bombers increased in 1942, initially again with the .303 caliber Mk II Brownings.  However, the .303 Mk II Browning’s weakness was its lack of range and German fighters, usually equipped with cannon, could easily outrange the Browning air gunners who had to wait until the enemy plane was within 400 yards before returning fire – a deadly time indeed as they would have been under fire from the German guns for several seconds before being able to respond.  Later in the war they were replaced with the much more effective .50 caliber Brownings.

The job of the air gunner required a highly trained and skilled individual.  Not only was he to defend his aircraft from enemy fighter attack but it required excellent night vision (as Bomber Command conducted bombing raids at night) and he had to be proficient with bullet trail, drift, range finding and harmonization in order to maximize fire power as well as be proficient in correcting stoppages (particularly while manning the turret and under fire) and understand fully how the turret functioned.

Nash and Thompson FN 121 Turret. Used on the Lancaster in the tail position, it was operated by hydraulics. Armed with four .303 cal. Browning Mk IIs, it carried a total of 10,000 rounds of ammunition with four 1,900 rounds carried in boxes in the fuselage and servo-fed to the guns.

Air Gunners (AG) and Wireless Operator/Air Gunners (WOP/AG) made up approximately half of the crew of an aircraft.  Bomber Command estimates that 125,000 aircrew served in the squadrons and the operational training and conversion units and approximately 73,000 were casualties of which 55,500 were fatalities.  The losses of AGs and WOP/AGs within this group would be 20-25,000.  It is also important to note that the RAF crew losses noted above apply only to Bomber Command in the European theater and do not include losses of Coastal Command, Transport Command, 2nd TAF, SEAC and the Mediterranean.  Thus, the loss figures would be substantially higher.  This Air Gunners Memorial in Building 3 pays homage to those intrepid gunners, the risks they took and the losses they incurred.

This World War II airfield with all its restored buildings and displays is a unique experience and well worth a visit should you be traveling in Northern England or visiting the Royal Armouries in nearby Leeds.  Also located on the grounds is a beautifully maintained Memorial Garden in memory of all the aircrew of the many nationalities that flew out of Elvington.  There is a small restaurant on premises as well as a gift shop.  Admission is £5 for adults, £4 for seniors and £3 for children (5-15).  Parking is free.  They are open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (in winter, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) and closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day (the day after Christmas).  Directions to find the Yorkshire Air Museum are to take the York by-pass, take the Hull exit (A1079) and then an immediate right to Elvington (B1228).  The Museum is sign-posted on the right.

Armstrong Whitworth Turret. Manually operated, it was used on the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, Avro Anson, Airspeed Oxford, AW29 and DH Don aircraft. It was armed with a single Lewis Mk II or Vickers “K” gun.

Yorkshire Air Museum
Halifax Way
Elvington, York  YO41 4AU
Phone: (01904) 608595
Fax: (01904) 608246
www.yorkshireairmuseum.co.uk

There is one absolute “Must-See” military museum in the Jakarta area in regard to small arms.  It has amazing dioramas on the first floor, but once you find the basement full of small arms, and the back yard full of cannon, mortar, recoilless, vehicles and aircraft, it will be worth the trip.  The upper floor of carefully made dioramas showing important events in Indonesian military history is carefully displayed and well crafted.  The downstairs held a lot of surprises in that hundreds of small arms were on display.  We found examples of most of the common small arms of the pre- and World War II era, but there were many treasures of local origin or adaptation that have never been shown outside of Indonesia.  Heading back outside, there is a large cannon display with many historic pieces, and an aviation display as well.  If you are in Jakarta, it’s definitely worth a side trip to spend time in this museum.  The next IndoDefence Jakarta is scheduled for 10-13 November, 2010.  We at SADJ urge you to take some extra time and visit the museum.

Museum Satria Mandala 
(Armed Forces Museum)

14-16 Jalan Gatot Subroto
Kuningan Timur Village
Jakarta Pusat, 12710
Phone: +62 21 522 7949

A good photo review of this museum can be found at: www.aroengbinang.blogspot.com/2007/02/satria-mandala-museum.html.

In the basement of the museum were several rooms full of firearms. In this room, the tripod and wheel mounted 20mm and larger weapons were displayed. Note the Oerlikon 20mm on naval mount and the B-10 82mm recoilless in the center of the photo.

Part of the “assault rifle” section, left to right: Indonesian SP-2 in 7.62x51mm, HK G3 (Model 58 with collapsible stock) called a Popor Lipat, HK G3 (Model 58 with fixed stock) called a Popor Kayu, U.S. Model of 1918A2 BAR (no bipod) made by NE Small Arms, serial number 563945.

A Russian DShK 38/46 on wheeled mount with the armor sits next to a Yugoslav M55AB3 triple 20mm Hispano setup.

Russian DShK 38 on AA tripod in high position, showing the “humped” receiver top indicating the rotary drum feed. This is not the later DShK 38/46 or DShK M with the side-to-side feed shuttle action, and it uses a much earlier non-disintegrating metallic belt for feeding. The early twin circle sight, a crude yet very effective “computer” that allowed the assistant gunner to keep the gunner’s aim leading the target, is center.

Soviet era B-11 107mm recoilless rifle. This is the big brother to the more common B-10 82mm recoilless.

Very rare Italian Scotti .50 caliber machine gun on even rarer ground tripod.

Left to right: U.S. Model of 1928A1 Thompson submachine gun in .45 ACP, Australian Owen MK2 in 9x19mm with shortened solid wood buttstock, Australian Austen MK2 in 9x19mm with modified foregrip, U.S. Reising Model 50 submachine gun in .45 ACP.

Type 100 Japanese Aircraft twin barreled 7.7mm machine gun from 1940 series. (Could be in 7.92x57 – 8mm.)

Several vintage airplanes are exhibited outside the museum, including this well-armed B-25 medium bomber.

The Royal Thai Army Museum (short name) was designed to cover the history of the army, the wars, the leaders and the weapons.  By 1996, the museum was a reality, but shortly thereafter it was closed to the public.  SADJ was invited in for a private tour, and allowed to photograph the exhibits for this special article.  We of course concentrated on the small arms displays.  No exterior pictures were allowed of the building for security reasons.

The Museum consists of eight exhibit halls, each dedicated to a different part of the Thai Army history.  One room has has war dioramas that are quite well done, another has uniforms and medals, yet another section has the portraits of the Generals of the Army and other historical figures that are prominent in Thai history.  If you attend, you should not miss these other exhibits; the displays will bring a true appreciation of Thailand’s battles and warriors.

The Royal Thai Army Museum is not open to the public.  Special arrangements can be made for political visitors and military visitors, and if you can show that you are legitimately connected with the military, a tour might be arranged, depending on the Curator’s schedules.  Attendees at the Defense & Security Thailand exhibition in November of 2009 should contact Major Pornpun Kwan to request a visit.

History
The Army museum originated in 1882 during the reign of King Rama V.  It was located on the third floor of the Ministry of Defense building and the museum’s first official name was the “Military Museum of the Ministry of Defense.”  When the ministry needed the museum site for its newly established military unit, the weapons, military equipment as well as a wide range of other military-related collections, which had been on display there, were given to the National Museum.  Several top Army commanders had tried unsuccessfully to re-start the defunct Royal Thai Army Museum for a lack of an appropriate location.  Thus, the museum project had been put on hold indefinitely.  When the former compound of the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy became the new location for the Royal Thai Army Headquarters, the Administrative and Ordnance buildings were kept intact.  The military authorities deemed it appropriate to renovate and equip the two historic buildings built during the reign of King Rama V as the Army museum.  On June 9, 1996, the Army museum was officially opened to commemorate the golden jubilee of His Majesty the King’s accession to the throne.  The museum has since become known as “The Royal Thai Army Museum in Honor of His Majesty the King.

60mm light mortar with support legs in forward position.

Water-cooled 1917 Browning machine gun serial number C-100725 in caliber 8mm, as used in the suppression of the Bovorndet Rebellion, The Indochina Conflict, and the Great East Asian War. This example was in service in Thailand in 1923. The markings indicated a Colt manufacturing Model of 1919.

Water-cooled 1917 Browning machine gun: the markings indicated a Colt manufacturing Model of 1919.

British Vickers water cooled machine gun with fluted jacket in 8mm on Vickers Type LB anti-aircraft mount.

Two US Browning M1919A4s in 8mm on M2 tripods.

What many readers may not be fully aware of is the Knight commitment to preserving the history of modern small arms.  Mr. Knight has been involved not only in the design of many modern weapon systems, but he has devoted a significant amount of time, money, and energy into the study of these systems and expanding a reference library of these weapons and their development.

The Hall of Modern Arms started as a reference library of Stoner family weapons; AR-10, AR-15/M16 series, AR-18, Stoner 63, etc., but after 30-plus years of growth, it has become one of the finest collections in the world chronicling the weapons used by modern armies, and the development phases of these weapons. Here the crowd is guided through a section of WWI and WWII US weapons.

In recent years, what had been a personal passion that Mr. Knight shared with a few other like-minded individuals and used in his daily research, turned into a quest to put together what many are now calling the finest and most inclusive military small arms and vehicle collection in the United States.

Mr. Knight has always shared the knowledge and learning experiences with others, but in recent years the ability to acquire more collections of small arms, vehicles, tanks, and cannon had created such an overflow situation that the KAC facility was beginning to fill.  This inspired a new commitment to building the collection into a usable and sustainable museum, and in typical Knight fashion this would not be done in a half-hearted manner.

The Hall of Modern Arms is mutely guarded by 17th century suits of armor at its entrance.

Over the years it had become harder and harder to find qualified, trained people who would work in small arms because the US doesn’t really have any educational focus on these things.  It became increasingly evident to Mr. Knight that in order to fulfill his destiny of sharing the knowledge and pushing others to excel in theirs, he must form an educational entity.  Thus, the idea of the Institute of Military Technology was born.  The Institute had to be formed with open ends on the knowledge pool to work with, and the collection was honed to fill those requirements.  (For more information on the Institute, and how you can participate in this new American think-tank or make donations to help support this massive endeavor, go to www.instmiltech.com.

Once the final form of the Institute was put together, the ideas started to gel as to what the displays of the collection might look like.  Approximately six months before the SHOT Show of 2009 in Orlando Florida, Mr. Knight realized that this was the perfect opportunity to launch the Institute, and to share his vision with the small arms community.

Guests gather round to hear the presentation on the tank part of the collection.

Mr. Knight’s son, C. Reed Knight, III, “Trey” to his friends, was tasked with putting the vision of the Knight Museum together and making it a reality.  To add to the pressure, the SHOT Show was scheduled in nearby Orlando, Florida, for 2009.  In recent years, during the infrequent appearance of SHOT at Orlando, KAC would sponsor a wonderful party at their facility in Titusville and bus the invited attendees to and from the facility as well as feeding them a local Florida type meal, and giving them the grand tour of the collection.  What was becoming a tradition for Knight’s, now offered the opportunity to launch the public perception of the collection to a new level and it was up to Trey to oversee the new displays and expansion.

In all, over 30,000 square feet of display space was put into place in less than six months.  Friends and employees worked for months to get the tank and cannon displays organized, and the entire organization was in a frenzy to put their best foot forward in time for the SHOT Show attendees.

Guests in the Hall view the backlit section of US weapons from the World War II era. Visible immediately on the right (top to bottom): US M1A1 Thompson, US M1928A1 Thompson, US 1928 Colt Thompson with 100-round “C” drum, US M3A1 “Greasegun,” US M3 Greasegun, and US Model 55 Reising submachine gun.

When the launch day occurred, KAC and the new Institute of Military Technology had approximately 2,500 people show up.  They registered on-line and if pre-accepted by Knight’s, were organized into custom bus coaches that departed from the SHOT show to the facility, and they proceeded to show the collections and serve up a wonderful BBQ and had live music for entertainment.  The event was a tremendous success and will be talked about for years in the small arms community.  Of course, that was the point.  The Knight legacy is fast moving into place: a legacy of quality merchandise, responsiveness to the customer, support of the community, and the sharing and furtherance of knowledge in our small but essential community.  The Institute and the collection will help our martial history live on and to help new generations understand where their freedom came from.

A Knight Armament Company volunteer gives a guided tour of the collection to the guests.

The people who put this outstanding Florida shin-dig together were C. Reed Knight, Jr., C. Reed Knight, III, June Wetherbee (replacing Ginger Vossen Roberge during this time, as she was out on medical leave) as well as Bonnie Werner (who did a big part of coordinating and scheduling volunteers, etc.) plus a host of other people – approximately 100 volunteers (KAC personnel) that helped make this event a success.  Mr. Knight would like to thank them all for helping to make the event such a success.  There are some others who helped put this production on that deserve thanks: Joe McClain of the Historical Military Armor Museum who helped tremendously with the shipping in and organizing the tanks along with Gary Perry, VP of Quality for KAC.  Mr. Knight would also like to thank Daniel Mattozzi and Dave Hoerig for helping Joe McClain in getting the tanks moved in and ready for the Open House.

The museum was founded by Marshal Jozef Pilsudski in 1920.  In World War II, Hitler’s forces took control of the museum regarding it as a military institution and removed most of the contents.  The Waffen SS used the building as a warehouse.  In 1944 and 1945 the museum building suffered major damage from aerial bombing.

The Polish Army took possession of the plundered, partially ruined museum in 1945.  About three quarters of the exhibits taken by the Germans were restored to the collection.  Other contributions came from soldiers, private collectors, and from the donation of a major collection of weapons, uniforms and relics owned by the Polish Institute & Sikorski Museum in Great Britain.

Some of the larger crew served weapons on display in the outdoor exhibit area.

The two floors of the museum are divided into sixteen rooms with the first floor containing seven rooms.  These first floor rooms detail the history of:

Polish Soldiers in the Middle Ages 966-1497.  Exhibits of note include a cone-shaped gilded helmet from the 10th or 11th Century which probably belonged to a sovereign from the period of the first Polish rulers, a Gothic reliquary made in 1388 for the Teutonic district chief in Elblag, taken as a spoil of war during the battle of Grunwald in 1410 and a Gothic suit of armor of the 15th Century.

The Polish Army in Renaissance 1497-1576.  Exhibits of note include 16th Century two-handed swords, armor for rider and horse, parade shields and helmets.

The Period of the First Elected Kings.  Exhibits of note include a portrait and saber belonging to King Stephan Batory in the second half of the 16th Century and armor and equipment of the Husaria in the mid 17th Century.

Rare Vickers .50 caliber machine gun.

The Swedish Invasion of 1655 and the Wars with the Ottoman Empire 1648-1697.  Exhibits of note include the collection of late 17th century Husaria armor, the roof of the Turkish tent taken during the battle of Vienna in 1683 and equipment of “Pancerini” Polish cavalry of the late 17th Century.

The Saxon Era 1697-1763.  Exhibits of note include the Order of the White Eagle, founded in 1705, the first and the supreme Polish state order, oriental-style saddle used by Stanislaw Leszcynski during his election as the King of Poland and parade sabers of the first half of the 18th Century.

The Revival of the Nation and the Downfall of the State.  Exhibits of note include Polish uniforms from the second half of the 18th Century, Virtuti Militari Order, established in 1792, the supreme military order in Poland and a portrait and souvenirs of Tadeusz Kosciuszko.

The Napoleonic Era.  Exhibits of note are a saddle which may have belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte used during the Egyptian campaign, uniform of General Jan Henryk Dabrowski, commander of the Polish Legions in Italy (1797-1803) and uniforms of the First Regiment of Chevau Legers of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon.

A surprising find in the museum was this beautifully preserved 25-shot manually operated volley gun.

The November Insurrection 1830-1831.  Exhibits of note include the Polish General’s uniform belonging to Tsar Alexander I, painting of the Battle of Olszynka Grochowska and uniforms of the army of Congress Kingdom of Poland.

The second floor contains the remaining rooms of exhibits and displays and includes:

The Springtime of Nations (1848-1849) and the January Insurrection (1863-1864).  Exhibits of note are flags of partisans units from 1863 with arms of Poland, Lithuania and Ruthenia, dress of a Polish partisan from the 1863 January uprising and patriotic jewelry worn by Polish women.

Struggle for independence 1914-21.  Exhibits include a portrait of Pilsudski, uniforms of the Polish Legionaries and the uniform of General Haller, Commander of the Polish Army in France, and various weapons of the period.

Fights for Frontiers (1918-22).  Exhibits of note include the uniform of General Dowbór-Muśnicki, Commander of the Wielkopolska Army, badges from the Silesian uprising and the Bolsheviks’ standard from the battle of Warsaw.

Armed Forces of the Second Republic of Poland (1921-1939).  Exhibits include presentation sabers of the Polish Army, portrait and Marshal’s baton of Rydz-Śmigly, Polish weapons including the semiautomatic rifle M1936, Mors submachine gun M1939, Ur anti-tank gun and an Enigma enciphering machine.

Com-bloc 12.7mm DShK 38; note the rotary style feed cover.

Poland’s Military Contribution to the allied Victory in the Second World War.  The Polish Army in France exhibits include a portrait of General Sikorski, Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces France in the West and uniforms of the Polish Army created in France; The Polish Air Force 1940-1945 with exhibits that include the flying suit and uniforms of Col. Falkowski, Commander of the Polish 303 Squadron; The Polish Navy 1939-1945 with exhibits of uniforms of the Polish Navy and equipment from Polish ships; 1st Polish Corps in Scotland with exhibits of the uniform of General Sikorski and uniforms of soldiers of the 1st Polish Corps; The Polish Army in the USSR with exhibits of a greatcoat and fur cap used by General Sikorski during his visit to the USSR and the first uniforms for Polish soldiers given by the Russian authorities; The 2nd Polish Corps with exhibits of uniforms of the Polish 10th Commandos Company, a uniform of a soldier of the 5th Kresowa Infantry Division and pieces of equipment recovered from the battlefield of Monte Cassino; Battles Involving Polish Soldiers in Western Europe 1944-1945 has uniforms of the 1st Armored Division commanded by General Maczek and a portrait and uniform of General Sosabowski; The Polish Army in the East has exhibits of uniforms and equipment of the 1st and 2nd Polish Armies in the USSR and captured German banners.

Polish BAR Model wz28, second model w/ MG08/15 style oversized buttstock.

The Polish Resistance Movement (1939-1945 and the Warsaw Uprising (1944).  Exhibits of note include the Sten and “Blyskawica” submachine guns made in an underground workshop in Warsaw, a catapult made from a car spring used during the Warsaw uprising, uniforms of insurgents and German Goliath.

The Museum of the Polish Army is one of the great military museums of the world making intellectual sense of their convoluted history.  Their logical display of Polish military historical artifacts as well as their collection of original artwork is stunning in its thoroughness.  Students of military history and devotees of all kinds of small arms will not be disappointed and is a wonderful way to discover Poland’s history through its military victories and defeats.  A visit to this museum while visiting Warsaw is a must.  Plan on spending a good part of the day there to fully absorb its content: it is well worth your while.  Unfortunately, while there is a color tour book available for purchase and all the displays have descriptive placards, none is in English.

The Museum is open on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Thursday through Sunday the hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  The museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.  Admission is about five US dollars but you must pay in Polish Zlotys; it will cost an additional three dollars to shoot photographs inside the museum.  Admission is free on Saturdays.

The Museum of the Polish Army
Aleje Jerozolimskie 3
Warsaw, Poland
Tel: 629 52 71
Email: muzeumwp@wp.mil.pl

Located in the center of Athens just several hundred yards from the Athens Hilton hotel is the Greek Ministry of Defense War Museum.  Opened in 1975, the museum’s mission is to gather, safeguard and display military artifacts and memorabilia of Greek history to reinforce the national memory and highlight the historic continuity and unity of Hellenism.

The outdoor exhibits feature a fine display of a number of howitzer light field guns, anti-aircraft and mountain artillery pieces from different periods used by the Greeks, or their war booty.  These include a French 47mm M1937 Puteaux, Bofors Mk I Rapid Fire 40mm AA gun, Hotchkiss 25mm M1938 light AA gun and two unique armored metal horse drawn carriages each armed with a Krupp-Schuman Model 1899 57mm gun.  These carriages were used by the Central Powers during World War I and are spoils of the Hellenic army from the Bulgarian army in 1918.  Also on display are some aircraft used by the Hellenic Air Force that include a replica 1912 H. Harman, Bell helicopter OH-13S, F-5A, F-104, F-84F, T6-G Harvard and F-86D.  Guarding the entrance to the museum building is a British 40mm Model 1940 Pom-Pom gun used by the Greek Navy in World War II.

Inside the museum, the first floor is dedicated in twelve specially laid out halls devoted to antiquity, the Alexander Years, Byzantium, Latin and Turkish rule, the National Uprising, the Greek War of Independence in 1821 and the New Hellenic State.  The exhibits display the arms and armor of these periods and include pikes, spears, swords, cross bows, daggers, armor and early European rifles and pistols.

The mezzanine level is dedicated to the action and contribution of the Greeks to the success of allied operations against the Axis forces during World War II including Sacred Company, El Alamein, Rimini in North Africa and Middle East, Italy, the Aegean Islands and the coast of Normandy.  The Occupation, Resistance and Liberation of Greece complete the section on World War II.  There is a separate section on the mezzanine that highlights the contributions of Greece to the United Nations mission to Korea.

Weapons on exhibit on the mezzanine level are displayed both openly and in enclosed glass display cases with placards identifying the weapons in both Greek and English.  Mannequins in various uniforms add to the well thought-out displays.  While the display of heavy machine guns, light machine guns, submachine guns, rifles, bayonets, pistols, grenades and mortars are highlighted, they of the common WWII variants; but they are well represented by the United States, Britain, French, Italian, Czech and German origins as used and encountered during World War II.

The museum is housed in a purpose built building and is well thought out in its layout and displays.  If visiting Athens, it is time well spent to visit this museum.  The museum is located at the corner of Vassilissis Sophias Avenue and 2 Rizari streets in the center of Athens.  The museum is open weekdays except Monday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Admission is free.

Be sure to make arrangements to visit the museum during the next Defendory International show in Athens, Greece, October 2010.

A nice representation of selected artillery pieces embellish the terrace level of the Greek war museum.

A Russian DP, Browning M1919A6 and M191A4 surround a flame thrower – all used by the Greek army.

Along the mezzanine level hallway are two examples of early French machine guns used by the Greek army: the Hotchkiss Model 1914 and St. Etienne Model 1907.

British 40mm Model 1940 Pom-Pom gun used by the Greek Navy in World War II stands guard at the entrance to the Ministry of Defense War Museum.

Armored metal horse drawn carriage armed with a Krupp-Schuman Model 1899 57mm gun. Used by the Central Powers during World War I, they are spoils of the Hellenic army from the Bulgarian army in 1918.