Greatest battle implement ever devised - SVT-40? Stg44? .. or M1 Garand

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steelgray

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There is this guy named George C. Patton who is supposed to have declared that the M1 Garand was the "greatest battle implement ever devised". People who know of Patton doubt he said this since - if he made this statement - it would certainly have been the only sentence he ever spoke without a swear word in it.

Anyway, for the sake of argument, let's say he did utter this phase. Is it true? Did he - Patton - ever have occasion to handle and try-out an f*ing SVT-40 - or a G*D* Stg44?

Would he have made such praising remarks about the Garand, if he had realized that it had been developed by a C*-S*ing Canadian?

In a fair test, which of these is (was) the "Greatest battle implement ever devised?"
 
If we're talking about battle rifles as the greatest implement, it would be a toss up between the Lee Enfield designs and the Mauser designs.

Easily maintained and operated by uneducated individuals and between the two of them, more successful service time than all of the rest put together.
 
You might think you'd have the edge with a Mauser but, IMO, the guy in post #9 - with the toilet paper - could probably wipe your butt.

bearhunter said:
If we're talking about battle rifles as the greatest implement, it would be a toss up between the Lee Enfield designs and the Mauser designs.

Easily maintained and operated by uneducated individuals and between the two of them, more successful service time than all of the rest put together.
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Given that the Garand seen service all around the globe, successfully, and the others didn't speaks volumes as does the fact that some armies around the world used the Garand as a front line battle rifle until the '70's.
 
Garand said:
Given that the Garand seen service all around the globe, successfully, and the others didn't speaks volumes as does the fact that some armies around the world used the Garand as a front line battle rifle until the '70's.
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Germany was not permitted to manufacture weapons after the war. Tough to sell what you can't make.
 
My guess is that quote pre dates his awareness of the Atomic Bomb.

2 Garands wasnt able to make the head strong nation of Japan surrender.
 
Patton was a general leading an American army of course he would promote the arms and equipment of his nation.....in comparision to the average equipped soldier of the time a semiautomatic rifle with 8 or 10rd either a SVT or Garand were a devastating advantage when considering volume of fire that could be fired down range.
 
The good General was referring to the infantryman's basic weapon - the rifle.

Yes, the Garand was the best battle rifle of the Western Allies during WWII (as opposed to the SVT-40 or StG44) and it's highly unlikely he would have had the chance to try out a SVT-40 or StG44 (both better weapons than the Garand IMHO - for the basic grunt anyway).
 
steelgray said:
There is this guy named George C. Patton who is supposed to have declared that the M1 Garand was the "greatest battle implement ever devised". People who know of Patton doubt he said this since - if he made this statement - it would certainly have been the only sentence he ever spoke without a swear word in it.

Anyway, for the sake of argument, let's say he did utter this phase. Is it true? Did he - Patton - ever have occasion to handle and try-out an f*ing SVT-40 - or a G*D* Stg44?

Would he have made such praising remarks about the Garand, if he had realized that it had been developed by a C*-S*ing Canadian?

In a fair test, which of these is (was) the "Greatest battle implement ever devised?"
Click to expand...


You obviously don't know much about Patton.

In point of fact, Patton did make that comment, it was in a letter to the War Department dated 26 January, 1945; a copy of which is in the Springfield Armoury Museum..

Whether he actually used the SVT 40 or the STG 44 isn't known, but probably not. Not many generals get to use a rifle, especially one of their enemies. Given the circumstances, I suspect no one, including Patton, would sing the praises of the weapons of enemy countries, and especially Patton who hated the Russians more then he hated the Nazis.

In any event, Patton was a strong proponent of superior firepower, as he noted in a letter to the War department on 03 April, 1944; his philosophy then fitting perfectly with the accepted infantry practices and tactics we have today.

In light of this, I suspect that Patton would be fully behind any weapon that gave US troops an advantage in combat.

Also, bear in mind that the Garand was developed in 1936, long before the STG and the SVT, and was the FIRST standard issue semi-auto rifle adopted by any major military force; which made it far superior to any other rifle then out there, so Patton's praise for the rifle was not misplaced. It also served the US military from 1936 to 1959, and a number of other military's even longer., and was used in approx 28 different conflicts.

And it's still being produced today.

It was simply a case that technology eventually surpassed the M1 Garand, and the STG 44 was the start of that trend.
 
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