20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

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steve manley
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20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

#1

Post by steve manley » 24 May 2008, 20:32

Does anyone know if there was any instances of the Solothurn 20mm Anti tank rifle/gun being used by the fallschirmjager ( if yes i would presume early war 1940/1941) if so how many crew would be used and would it be be airdropped or even fit in a dfs230 glider.
Any ideas welcome.
steve

Ypenburg
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Re: 20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

#2

Post by Ypenburg » 25 May 2008, 00:59

For as far as I know not. They used the Pz. Büchse39 'till Crete. After Crete it was taken out of use and replaced by the 2,8 cm Schwere Panzerbüchse 41.


steve manley
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Re: 20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

#3

Post by steve manley » 25 May 2008, 11:57

There is apicture of the solothun 20mm Anti tank rifle with fallschirmjager in holland 1940 with the rifle(s18/1000) was this a one off then, or were they issued with sPZB39
http://www.ww2incolour.com/forum/showthread.php.html


thanks
steve

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Re: 20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

#4

Post by Ypenburg » 25 May 2008, 20:49

The picture is not visable to me, so I can't command on it.
However, former Olt. von Roon (3./Fjr1) claims in Holland the only AT-weapon used by the FJ's was the Pz.Büchse 39, and that every company had 1. The first claim could be correct, but severall other sources indicate there were more then 1 per company. So 'till some proves otherwise I'll stick with PzB.39.

steve manley
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Re: 20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

#5

Post by steve manley » 26 May 2008, 14:48

s189mt.gif
s189mt.gif (68.89 KiB) Viewed 8134 times
this picture apparently is a slothurn s18/1000 rifle do you think this was just a one off or more perhaps were issued any thoughts
steve

Ypenburg
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Re: 20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

#6

Post by Ypenburg » 27 May 2008, 20:52

steve manley wrote:
s189mt.gif
this picture apparently is a slothurn s18/1000 rifle do you think this was just a one off or more perhaps were issued any thoughts
steve
OK, this is the picture from his (Von Roon) book "Die Bildchronik der Fallschirmtruppe". Page 76, top. This book is in both Englisch en German and lets see what the text beneath the picture states: The Panzerbüchse 39 (A/T weapon), calibre 7,92 mm with inner belted bullets....blablabla.....In Holland, it was the only A/T weapon on the hands of the paratroops. Each company had one of them.

And now comes the fun part, which you have to remind in your topics about how the Kp. looked like. 3./Fjr2 (may '40) had 3 platoons. According to (then) Oblt. Genz his zug (II.zug 3./Fjr2) was flown in with 3 JU-52's:
1st JU: Zugführer(Genz) and Zugtrupp ( 1 Granatwerfertrupp (5cm mortar), 4 men and 1 Panzerbüchsentrupp (PzB. 38 ) 2 men.
2nd and 3rd JU: each 1 Jägergruppe (so 12 men each).

Now you see, both were there, Von Roon claimes PzB. 39 and shows a picture with a 20mm Solothurn, and Genz claims his Zug (obvious a schwre Zug) had a PzB. 38.

I quess now you know why the answer don't come that quickly and why it is so much fun studying this :D

steve manley
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Re: 20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

#7

Post by steve manley » 28 May 2008, 11:34

thanks for the info, so do we think some solothurn anti tank rifles were issued instead of sPZB39 or was this picture just a one off, also could one fit in aglider or would they just be airdropped, in containers ?
thanks
steve

Panzer_knacker
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Re: 20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

#8

Post by Panzer_knacker » 03 Mar 2009, 19:49

The Solothurn anti tank rifle was used during by the WW2 by Germany, Italy, Finland adn Hungary. Solothurn owned by a German firm, Rheinmetall. It was tested by the US Army but never adopted.
But officially, it's a Swiss rifle, so did the Germans give a official designation for this rifle, like they did for captured arms ?
Do you have some more pics of these rifle in use during the WW2 ?
Cheers and sorry if my english is not good ;)

narwan
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Re: 20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

#9

Post by narwan » 26 Mar 2009, 19:48

I seem to recall the dutch having a limited supply of solothurns too. If I'm not mistaken they were issued to elements of the light division which fought mainly against the german paratroopers. Could well explain the picture, it's not issued but captured.

I'll see if I can dig up something concrete.


Narwan

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Re: 20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

#10

Post by narwan » 26 Mar 2009, 20:04

Same debate it seems on another forum:

http://www.grebbeberg.nl/forum/forum_do ... 5&view=all

Gives more info on the use of the solothurn int he dutch army. Also:

"Besides the AT guns the need was seen for AT rifles for light mobile and reconnaissance units. The Dutch tested a number of rifles, mainly from the German / Swiss Rheinmetall company. In the end the Dutch selected the 2 cm Rheinmetall AT rifle. Orders were placed and quite some batches were ready for delivery before the war broke out but the main part was hit by several export or transit blockades. Only 36 AT guns made it to Holland with a limited number of rounds. They were distributed amongst the troops in Limburg and Brabant as well as the special guard unit at the General Headquarters in The Hague."

from
http://www.waroverholland.nl/index.php?page=rearmament

Narwan

Ypenburg
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Re: 20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

#11

Post by Ypenburg » 28 Mar 2009, 02:49

narwan wrote:If I'm not mistaken they were issued to elements of the light division which fought mainly against the german paratroopers. Could well explain the picture, it's not issued but captured.
Could be, but the text under a picture saying it's Holland doesn't mean it was taken in Holland. That said, if you take a look on which Divisions moved through Limburg and Brabant (no para's) and the fact the light Division also fought 9. Pz., elements of 22. ID and several Divions moved through the Dordrecht area before turning south changes are real small the FJ's took hold of them. :D Not to mention the fact they got it issued real soon, so as the picture looks more like a training changes are big they are just using the issued one.

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Re: 20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

#12

Post by gwh7007 » 13 Dec 2009, 08:06

I'm new to this sight.
I've got a Solothurn 20mm Registered from my dad bought in the 50's from California. Spare parts kit, several mags. Original crate though damaged. There is a (takedown lever) on the left of the gun that I pulled out when I was in high school in the 70's that still won't allow me to put the gun back in functioning order. Is there a English manual available for this Rifle?
Thanks,
KLH

gwh7007
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Re: 20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

#13

Post by gwh7007 » 12 Feb 2010, 06:21

Is an English version of the Solothurn anywhere to be found?
Thanks

jbaum
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Re: 20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

#14

Post by jbaum » 14 Feb 2010, 03:17

Even a manual in German would be good....
John@German<remove this>Manuals.com

http://www.GermanManuals.com

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Fj Researcher
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Re: 20mm Solothurn Anti tank rifle/gun

#15

Post by Fj Researcher » 16 May 2010, 09:58

Well, i don't know about Fallschirmjäger, but the Royal Hungarian "vitez Bertalan Arpad" 1. Paratrooper Battalion (Magyar Királyi "vitéz Bertalan Árpád" 1. Honvéd Ejtőernyős Zászlóalj) had Solothurn anti-tank rifles.

Here you can see a (probably propaganda) picture of hungarian paratroopers with MP-28 and Solothurn anti-tank rifle:

http://www.vorosmeteor.hu/szakirodalom/03/003-index.php

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