Shooting Illustrated by Wiley Clapp - Monday, June 17, 2019
There’s an oft-repeated proverb which solemnly advises us “necessity is the mother of invention.†We cannot be certain this is invariably true, but there are plenty of examples that suggest a great deal of credibility in the saying. Where weapons are concerned, more than a few warriors have come up with some innovative weapon or technique in order to go about their deadly work more efficiently. From the Molotov cocktail to COL Bob Howard’s det cord and steel washers ambush-breaker, clever soldiers have found innovative ways to get it done. Rule books tend to be discarded when they start issuing ball ammo and live hand grenades. Let’s take a look at some really effective improvised weapons or improvised means of deploying existing weapons.
In the 1930s, America ramped up for the possibility of another war. World War I saw the widespread use of armored vehicles, some of them tracked. Such vehicles could raise havoc in a formation of infantry, so we developed an anti-tank gun for the foot soldiers. In 1940, American infantry units—both Army and Marines—got the first 37 mm anti-tank guns. They looked similar to existing artillery howitzers, with split trails, recoil mechanism, rubber tires and a manually operated, breech-loading mechanism. Intended to be used for direct fire, the gun was a size and weight that allowed the crew to move it by hand and it could be towed by a jeep.
The 37 mm bore was just under an inch and a half and there were several kinds of shells made for it. As soon as World War II got going, it became obvious that the 37 mm wasn’t enough gun for its assigned role, at least in the European Theater of operations. The 37 mm shells just sort of bounced off the monster German tanks. Out in the Pacific, the Japanese seldom deployed their light tanks, so the Marines used their 37s against various kinds of fortifications. The canister round, literally a giant buckshot load, was quite effective when a proper target came along.
In the early years of World War II, the Solomon Islands archipelago saw a hard-fought campaign that is best known for the battle on and around Guadalcanal. There were many islands in the chain and many had Japanese Army and Navy bases. It became as much a naval campaign as an amphibious one. Light fighting vessels were used and the PT boats were absolutely perfect for the fighting. Made of wood and equipped with powerful diesel engines, the boats were capable of 40-knot speed. Indeed, speed and maneuverability were their defenses, while torpedoes were their main armament. The PT boats came with turret-mounted .50-caliber machine guns.
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