gebhk wrote: ↑06 Mar 2021, 20:54
allowed for a clean slate beginning without being lumbered with old gear.
Dear Gebhk,
Even that in itself wasn't the case. The German Army of 1939 and 1940 was equipped with a mishmash of modern and old weapons, aswell as Czech and Austrian weapons. Out of the 26,600 reported submachineguns in Wehrmacht service by the Invasion of Poland, 17,828 were older variants (MP18/28, MP34(ö)) and only 8,772 of them were of the MP-38 type. This is not counting other more exotic variants such as the EMP, MP35, etc.
Germany also had a shortage of machineguns, which meant older types (MG13, MG08/15 and MG08) were retained in service, and issued to certain units during certain mobilization waves. Weapons captured from annexations were utilized aswell. For example, divisions of the 5th and 6th wave were exclusively given ZB-26s as their primary light machinegun, and only were issued enough MG-34s to equip the heavy machinegun units.
Rifle-wise, the Heer (read: not SS) did manage to equip the majority of their troops with the K98k model, older rifle variants (G98m, K98b, K98a) still show up in photographs of units engaged in the polish and french campaigns. The 2. Gebirgsjaeger division, during the invasion of Norway, had some Austrian M95/30s in inventory, as indirect evidence seems to suggest
This shortage also extends to artillery aswell. Guns from the Weimar and First World War era were retained, and augmented by trophy weapons (especially Czech ones). The aforementioned divisions of the 5th and 6th wave were given such guns and it seems they have kept them well up to 1942.
In regards to Panzer units, the situation vehicle wise speaks for itself.
So essentially, the Germans were in the same predicament as everyone else. The only difference is the political and economic situation of the Allies meant they could not afford to invest as much money, manpower, and resources into rebuilding their military as the Germans did.
-Warmest Regards
Maks
