Training to shoot with both hands? (ambidextrous)

Discussions on the equipment used by the Axis forces, apart from the things covered in the other sections. Hosted by Juha Tompuri
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Henri Winkelman
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Training to shoot with both hands? (ambidextrous)

#1

Post by Henri Winkelman » 18 Feb 2017, 00:01

Hello guys,

Maybe a stupid question, but it came to my mind today. When a soldier gets wounded on his good arm, he is basically useless for military service. But if he is ambidextrous (something not many people are, but which is trainable to a certain degree) he can still use his other hand to fire small weapons.

During the last 2 years of WW2, the Germans needed every available man on the front. Did they ever train soldiers to fire guns with both hands so that they were still able to fight after they got wounded? Or are there any cases of soldiers (either Axis or allied) who trained themselves to shoot with both hands?

Of course, problems come to mind. Most weapens have to be used with two hands, like handguns. But it's still an interesting subject to think about.

Greetings,

Henri

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Hama
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Re: Training to shoot with both hands? (ambidextrous)

#2

Post by Hama » 18 Feb 2017, 02:46

Hi Henri,

Unfortunately I don't know the answer to your specific question, but your comment about being wounded and needing to use your other hand to shoot reminded me of Morris 'Two Gun' Cohen. He was a Jewish adventurer who went to China during the Warlord era and served with Sun Yat Sen's forces. In one battle he was injured and after nearly being killed because of it he trained himself to shoot with both his right and left hand (and carried a gun for each) so that if he was wounded again he could still defend himself. This gave him his nickname, "Two Gun" Cohen.

Sorry my example isn't regarding your question on Germans and WW2, but it does show that there were at least a few individuals fighting in early to mid 20th century wars who considered the possibility of losing the use of their dominant hand and so trained to be ambidextrous shooters.


Henri Winkelman
Member
Posts: 95
Joined: 21 Jan 2017, 13:59
Location: Netherlands

Re: Training to shoot with both hands? (ambidextrous)

#3

Post by Henri Winkelman » 18 Feb 2017, 17:52

Hama wrote:Hi Henri,

Unfortunately I don't know the answer to your specific question, but your comment about being wounded and needing to use your other hand to shoot reminded me of Morris 'Two Gun' Cohen. He was a Jewish adventurer who went to China during the Warlord era and served with Sun Yat Sen's forces. In one battle he was injured and after nearly being killed because of it he trained himself to shoot with both his right and left hand (and carried a gun for each) so that if he was wounded again he could still defend himself. This gave him his nickname, "Two Gun" Cohen.

Sorry my example isn't regarding your question on Germans and WW2, but it does show that there were at least a few individuals fighting in early to mid 20th century wars who considered the possibility of losing the use of their dominant hand and so trained to be ambidextrous shooters.
These are indeed the stories I am looking for! I don't know how many soldiers served with Sun Yat Sen's forces, but I am sure a lot more soldiers fought during World War 2. So you would expect a lot more of these stories, especially among encircled and exhausted (German and Russian) troops. During World War I wounded soldiers were just replaced by new 'Cannon fodder', so I doubt if it happened frequently during that war.

As far as I know, Billy the Kid was also ambidextrous. (although the sources are not very reliable)

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