MKb 42(W) - Gents, chapeau bas!

[dect]

Battlefield pickup from Czech Republic - absolutely stunning...

http://www.detektorweb.cz/index.4me?...xb=1&vd=1#topp

[Josef Hahne]

Kameraden,
At first I did not think that was a MK42 (w). At first glance it looked like the Mauser Sturmgewhr 45 (M) StG 45. Supposedly a quantity of 30 were ordered from the factory but were never delivered! This weapon had a roller locking delayed blow back operating system. It is wierd that both the first StG and the last looked so alike!

Either way, what a rare weapon!!

Sepp

[Adrian Stevenson]

A rare find indeed!

Hi Joseph, checkout the front sight. This is a Mkb 42 (W). The Mauser Stg45 prototypes are different.

Cheers, Ade.

[Josef Hahne]

Ade,
Yes, you are correct. After I started typing a reply I broke out a few books to check. The MKb42 (w) has a different sight and the grip angle and shape is different from the StG45. It kinda makes you wonder, how in the earth did that get there!! That and, if only it had been left in a basement or attic!!

Sepp

[dect]

It kinda makes you wonder, how in the earth did that get there!! That and, if only it had been left in a basement or attic!!

Sepp

„That’s the question” - it seems that they were fielded though.

[Heinz Steinkopf]

They may have been used like the German Maus tank - as a last ditch weapon. During the last months of war in Europe every firearm counted. And the terrtory of modern Czech Republic is not so far from Germany and the Walther factory where we believe all those MKb42(W) were kept.

[mkb42h]

i believe both haenel and walther MKb's were given troop trials, numbers being extremely limited in walther's case.

[Heinz Steinkopf]

i believe both haenel and walther MKb's were given troop trials, numbers being extremely limited in walther's case.

IMO if the MKb42(W) was sent to the front in late 1942 or early 1943 it would have been found somewhere much farther from the German borders. For example the MKB42(H) saw combat mainly on Leningrad front and to some limited extent with H.Gr.Mitte in Belorussia and Poland. And judging by the lack of reliability and spare parts it does not seem very plausible that it could survive two years of combat.
My hypothesis about the gun having been issued during the last days of war in Europe can find some proof in the fact that Czechoslovakia was liberated very late. Brno was liberated on April, 26 and Prague was liberated on May, 9 with the local combats lasting until May, 12 1945. Just IMO.

[Napalm]

„That’s the question” - it seems that they were fielded though.

Is that a dried up river bed in the photos?

[Heinz Steinkopf]

Is that a dried up river bed in the photos?

Looks more like some old concrete surface.

[Ingsoc75]

Hey Jacek, you still in the UK?

[mkb42h]

IMO if the MKb42(W) was sent to the front in late 1942 or early 1943 it would have been found somewhere much farther from the German borders. For example the MKB42(H) saw combat mainly on Leningrad front and to some limited extent with H.Gr.Mitte in Belorussia and Poland. And judging by the lack of reliability and spare parts it does not seem very plausible that it could survive two years of combat.
My hypothesis about the gun having been issued during the last days of war in Europe can find some proof in the fact that Czechoslovakia was liberated very late. Brno was liberated on April, 26 and Prague was liberated on May, 9 with the local combats lasting until May, 12 1945. Just IMO.

that is a reasonable hypothesis, however it seems more likely to me that an issued weapon would wind up on the battlefield than one from a factory, there is a famous photo of a OTIT sergeant examining a row of MKb 42(w) s in the walther plant.
if they were issued for troop trials, then withdrawn to a depot and reissued when things got tough.

[dect]

Hey Jacek, you still in the UK?

Hi
No, not anymore. Why?

that is a reasonable hypothesis, however it seems more likely to me that an issued weapon would wind up on the battlefield than one from a factory, there is a famous photo of a OTIT sergeant examining a row of MKb 42(w) s in the walther plant.
if they were issued for troop trials, then withdrawn to a depot and reissued when things got tough.

I think in the last days they either used every available rifle or it was hidden post war by some guerillas. The place it was hidden looked more like the second option.

Jacek

PS More pics here http://stg.online.pl/articles.php?article_id=6

[Heinz Steinkopf]

that is a reasonable hypothesis, however it seems more likely to me that an issued weapon would wind up on the battlefield than one from a factory, there is a famous photo of a OTIT sergeant examining a row of MKb 42(w) s in the walther plant.
if they were issued for troop trials, then withdrawn to a depot and reissued when things got tough.

I just doubt that such a weird weapon could survive two years of combat. It could be stored not only on the Walther factory but in any warehouse of the Reich and reissued by it.
MKb42(H) can be tracked easily. They are found in the battlefields near Leningrad, through Baltic countries, Poland, East Prussia (Kaliningrad region) ending near Berlin - just as the German army was retreating. I do not know whether they were withdrawn and reissued or just left with the troops to meet "natural death" due to the wear and losses.
May be Dieter Handrich knows anything.