Which sidearms were use by canadian tankers during WW2?

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dauph197

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Hi Guys,

I'm pretty sure it'll an easy one for some of you but for me, I can't get an answer for sure. I'm wondering which sidearms was in use by the canadian tankers during WW2? If I may, I'll be even more specific in my question, which sidearms may have been used by the Three River Regiment at the beginning of the Italian Campaign in 1943?

Thanks for your input!

Martin
 
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Colt 1911 in .45ACP (and .455 Webley)
Smith & Wesson Tripple Lock in .44 special
Browning Hi-power in 9x19
Smith & Wesson Victory in .38-200
Webley Revolver MK IV in .455 WebleY
Enfield No.2 MK I in .38-200
Colt Police Positive in .38 S&W

Could be any of those... Most likely a revolver because 'tanker' holsters are a revolver pattern.
 
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Well… I have in part this grocery list! Very naively, I was expecting someone answering me with one or two choices! ;-)

Of course, I'm looking for a revolver because the holster I have with the tanker uniform was made for a tanker. I've been mislead because the holster has 6 9mm casings. I was expecting one or two again with 6 shots, they are all six shots revolver…

Will try to find some archives pictures…

Thanks a lot for your input! :)
 
post a pic of the holster , sounds like a webly or enfield .38S&W holster. or call the local legion some one there might be a historian of the regiment.
 
Either the Webley, Enfield, and S&W Victory would be correct. Keep in mind it could be anything considering the shortage of pistols. They just bought what they could. Some were carried over from WWI and some crews/soldiers bought their own.
 
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My grandfather was in the Governor General's Foot Guards and was issued a Browning Hi-Power. As he was an officer he had to pay for a new one when he lost his (threw it at a German actually, when it jammed during a dismounted recce). I have his paybook showing the debit for the replacement. Can't remember the cost though, and the book is in my safe deposit box so I'm not able to look it up the value right now.
 
My late uncle was a RCEME tank fitter who served in Europe from Normandy through VE Day. I have the S&W Pre-Victory revolver which he carried through France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. He was determined to bring it home after VE Day so dismantled it and another one and mailed them home in pieces.
 
BeaverMeat said:
Colt 1911 in .45ACP (and .455 Webley)
Smith & Wesson Tripple Lock in .44 special
Browning Hi-power in 9x19
Smith & Wesson Victory in .38-200
Webley Revolver MK IV in .455 WebleY
Enfield No.2 MK I in .38-200
Colt Police Positive in .38 S&W

Could be any of those... Most likely a revolver because 'tanker' holsters are a revolver pattern.
Click to expand...

IIRC my grandfather said he used an Enfield, so it was likely a No 2 MK1. He drove a Sherman Firefly in Northern Europe (can't remember his regiment offhand).
 
dauph197 said:
Well… I have in part this grocery list! Very naively, I was expecting someone answering me with one or two choices! ;-)

Of course, I'm looking for a revolver because the holster I have with the tanker uniform was made for a tanker. I've been mislead because the holster has 6 9mm casings. I was expecting one or two again with 6 shots, they are all six shots revolver…

Will try to find some archives pictures…

Thanks a lot for your input! :)
Click to expand...

Are you saying you have your grandfathers's holster? If so, if you can match the holster to a gun make, you probably have as good an answer as you can get.

If it was a 38 S&W revolver, it is quite possible he shot 9mm in it. That could explain the 9mm empties. 9mm fits the chamber of a Webley perfectly. Much too hot, but they work in an emergency.

9mmin38SW1.jpg
 
Canadian troops primarily used the S&W M&P / Victory in WW2. Over 118,000 procured. For comparison we bought 3500 Enfields (although they did likely go to armored regiments) and just over 54,000 Hi Powers.

We've never actually issued Webleys, expect possibly to the navy, in
.45 or .38. We did get 5000 1911s in 1914 and 4000 1911A1s in in 1943, but they were issued mainly to paratroopers and only the British ever had them in .455. We certainly did buy about 15,000 S&W Mk.II HEs in 1915-1916 but I doubt they would have been issued to an armored unit in 1943. Similarly Hi Powers weren't issued until 1944 at the earliest as far as I know. We never issued the Colt Police Positive - the Brits had some Official Polices and we bought some Colt .22 revolvers for target shooting.

Long story short, most likely a S&W. 38, maybe an Enfield, almost certainly not anything else.
 
Ganderite said:
Are you saying you have your grandfathers's holster? If so, if you can match the holster to a gun make, you probably have as good an answer as you can get.

If it was a 38 S&W revolver, it is quite possible he shot 9mm in it. That could explain the 9mm empties. 9mm fits the chamber of a Webley perfectly. Much too hot, but they work in an emergency.
Click to expand...

A bit of a tangent to the original question, but.... my father carried a revolver in a Polish unit under British command. He mentioned that 9mm rounds fit....

I'd always assumed he had an SW- now I know it could've been an Enfield.

Thanks for the insight.


Oh, and at one point they were also issued 1911's- he found them too heavy.
 
Nyles said:
Canadian troops primarily used the S&W M&P / Victory in WW2. Over 118,000 procured. For comparison we bought 3500 Enfields (although they did likely go to armored regiments) and just over 54,000 Hi Powers.

We've never actually issued Webleys, expect possibly to the navy, in
.45 or .38. We did get 5000 1911s in 1914 and 4000 1911A1s in in 1943, but they were issued mainly to paratroopers and only the British ever had them in .455. We certainly did buy about 15,000 S&W Mk.II HEs in 1915-1916 but I doubt they would have been issued to an armored unit in 1943. Similarly Hi Powers weren't issued until 1944 at the earliest as far as I know. We never issued the Colt Police Positive - the Brits had some Official Polices and we bought some Colt .22 revolvers for target shooting.

Long story short, most likely a S&W. 38, maybe an Enfield, almost certainly not anything else.
Click to expand...

What he said... Judging by the Facebook pic it looks to be an Enfield because you can see the remains of the lanyard stud.
 
Ganderite said:
Are you saying you have your grandfathers's holster? If so, if you can match the holster to a gun make, you probably have as good an answer as you can get.

If it was a 38 S&W revolver, it is quite possible he shot 9mm in it. That could explain the 9mm empties. 9mm fits the chamber of a Webley perfectly. Much too hot, but they work in an emergency.

9mmin38SW1.jpg
Click to expand...



Your pic brings back a funny/scary memory. Back over 45 years ago, even though surplus 38/200 ammo and the later lighter bullet version were plentiful and cheap I decided I should hand load 38 S&W brass, which was also in good supply on the surplus market both as components and even surplus ball. The US dumped tractor trailer loads of it off at International Firearms in Montreal in 1969. It came in 3 different types of packaging. the best stuff was in sealed green cans which we called Sardine Cans because they were approximately the same shape and used a similar system to open. Back in those days they came with a T wrench used to roll back the sealed lid.

Anyway, I didn't have a reloading manual yet. They were hard to find where I lived and quite honestly money was tight. I had a 10 pound cardboard carton of 450 (HS6) and used that along with a bunch of surplus lead round nose I had picked up. I pulled the bullets out of some 9mm Luger because they were about the same proportion and dumped the powder out of the cases which were Axis manufactured and corrosive primed. I knew better than to use that "black stuff' as I had ripped the extractor out of a nice P38 with it because it was to hot and a friend had bulged the bbl on a nice P35 High Power.

Anyway the powder "looked" like the HS6 I had on hand so I weighed it and used that charge as a starting point.

I loaded up a hundred rounds and in a "fools bliss" shot them out of a MkI Enfield that I paid a grand total of $15 for new in a brown presspaper box wrapped in oily brown wax paper. The recoil was very stout indeed but the sturdy little pistol was a testament to its design. It stood up to the overpressure loads for about a thousand rounds. Then, it started to feel a bit loose and sloppy. I took it in to Les Viel and showed it to him as I had purchased it through him. He asked me what I had done and I think he wanted to slap me up the side of my pointed head. I received a stern warning about not using a loading manual and he immediately put in an order for a first edition of the Hornady Manual of Cartridge Reloading from 1967. Then he took the very sloppy pistol and cut it in half with a torch. He went into the back room and came out with another brand new in box MKI Enfield pistol and told me I owed him $20. That was almost two days pay back then. I grudgingly paid him and a week later my reloading manual showed up. By that time the paperwork for the new pistol was well underway. Back then, no internet. The registration process had to be completed by going to the police stn, getting a STATT to bring the pistol from the store to the police station and then after doing all the paperwork, if there was an available officer, you could take it home. If there wasn't an officer available, the pistol was left in the station, in one of the filing cabinets until they got around to it and sent you a registered letter to come in and pick it up.

Thanks for sparking that old lesson of a fool's luck. I should have worn the original pistol.
 
My dad rode a bren carrier. The issue Enfield pistol was carefully oiled and stored in the bottom of the tool box. The holster caught on the hatch both coming and going; leaving bruises and overly long exposure to danger either inside the can or out. His whole crew carried captured smg's for close.
 
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