FN Browning Hi Power issued to German soldiers?
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FN Browning Hi Power issued to German soldiers?
I've just recently learned that when German forces successfully invaded Belgium, they were then controlling FN factories that manufactured small arms including the Browning 9mm Hi Power. However I am unaware of and would like to know the extend that the German military used their captured FN manufactured Hi Power pistols.
Re: FN Browning Hi Power issued to German soldiers?
The Germans were very interested in the FN factory and occupied it the day they marched into Liège. The managers proved uncooperative and were replaced by staff sent by DWM (Deutsche Waffen-und Munitionsfabrik) which took over the FN works.
The Germans, through forced labor and imported German technicians, increased the overall number to 12,000 staff from about 10,000. Production was slow at first with around 8,500 Browning Hi-Powers produced in 1940; however the following years saw a major increase in production (1941 – 65,700; 1942 – 80,600; 1943 – 101,200). By 1944 production was halted at 63,000 pistols due to the liberation of the factory by the Allied forces. Considerable numbers of FN Model 1910 and Model 1922 pistols were produced as well. Quality dropped somewhat in the course of the war, due to various factors, but there does not seem to be much evidence of deliberate sabotage by Belgian workers, as is sometimes claimed.
There is that famous picture of an SS soldier during the Battle of the Bulge holding a Hi-Power or "Pistole 640(b)" but they were used all through the Wehrmacht.
The Germans, through forced labor and imported German technicians, increased the overall number to 12,000 staff from about 10,000. Production was slow at first with around 8,500 Browning Hi-Powers produced in 1940; however the following years saw a major increase in production (1941 – 65,700; 1942 – 80,600; 1943 – 101,200). By 1944 production was halted at 63,000 pistols due to the liberation of the factory by the Allied forces. Considerable numbers of FN Model 1910 and Model 1922 pistols were produced as well. Quality dropped somewhat in the course of the war, due to various factors, but there does not seem to be much evidence of deliberate sabotage by Belgian workers, as is sometimes claimed.
There is that famous picture of an SS soldier during the Battle of the Bulge holding a Hi-Power or "Pistole 640(b)" but they were used all through the Wehrmacht.
"The true spirit of conversation consists in building on another man's observation, not overturning it." Edward George Bulwer-Lytton
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Re: FN Browning Hi Power issued to German soldiers?
Oh my god thank you!!!!!
Re: FN Browning Hi Power issued to German soldiers?
The Hi-Power with adjustable sight held by Soviet partisans in the last picture is most likely captured from the Germans, but it may be from another source. Lithuania for example bought 7,000 in 1937, which presumably ended up in Soviet hands in 1940:
https://cjsanford5.wixsite.com/hppatrio ... y-Contract
https://cjsanford5.wixsite.com/hppatrio ... y-Contract
"The true spirit of conversation consists in building on another man's observation, not overturning it." Edward George Bulwer-Lytton
Re: FN Browning Hi Power issued to German soldiers?
That would be just one of the possible sources. Also Estonia acquired for its Army and Kaitseliit (National Guard) about 5,300 of these pistols in year 1937 and with Soviet occupation presumably most of them fell into Soviet hands in year 1940. Yet another possible source for early FN HP with tangent rear sight would be Finland, which also bought about 2,400 pistols for its military. Finnish pistols were delivered in February - March of 1940 and got issued to Army and Air Force.
Jarkko
Re: FN Browning Hi Power issued to German soldiers?
And here's a picture by famous photographer Robert Doisneau showing some French resistance fighters in Paris in August 1944. The man far left is holding what appears to be a Hi-Power with adjustable sight.
"The true spirit of conversation consists in building on another man's observation, not overturning it." Edward George Bulwer-Lytton