September 17, 2024 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Stephen Ambrose was one of America’s leading biographers and historians. Ambrose passed in 2002, but his epic storytelling accounts can now be heard here at Our American Stories thanks to those who run his estate. Our next story is the story of weapons used in WWII.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
And we continue with our American Stories. Stephen Ambrose was
one of America's leading biographers and historians. He passed in
two thousand and two, but his epic storytelling accounts can
(00:22):
now be heard here on our American Stories, thanks to
those who run his estate. Our next story is the
story of weapons in World War Two. Here's Steven Ambrose.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
There were all kiaways in which people could go about
killing each other in the Second World War, or in
destroying other weapons, or in destroying buildings and factories or bridges.
Some of them were new, some of them were of
World War One venig Some of them went back, although
somewhat improved in design, to the American Civil War. Some
(00:58):
were as old as warfare itself. As a big generalization
on the weaponry of World War Two, for the most part,
the war was fought with the same weapons that were
used in the First World War, although there were significant
improvements in many areas, but very little of.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
The weaponry that we associate with the Second.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
World War in fact originated with that war. Obviously, not
rifles or hand grenades or machine guns, but also tanks
had come along in the First World War. There even
were the variest beginnings of aircraft carriers in the First
World War. There were bombers in the First World War.
There were weapons used in the First World Wars. You'll
(01:45):
see that we're not used in the Second World War.
Having said that, there were some tremendous breakthroughs in the
Second World War.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Perhaps most.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Dramatic were the coming of the intermediate range ballistic missile.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
And the atomic bomb. And there was some.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Awfully big advances in transportation in the Second World War. Well,
the first thing you did in the Second World War
when you took up a defensive position was to get
the barbed wire stretched out in front of you.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Right there you got the simplest.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Er type of weapon of war, not a weapon, really,
but an implement of war that was developed on the
Great Plains of North America because they didn't have any
trees out there on any other way of making fences.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
So the barbed wire was developed not as a.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Implement of war, but as a means of pinning up cattle.
It proved to be ideal, however, to stop the momentum
of a charging enemy, and was used by every side
all over the world in the Second World War, and
put up in front of your posi. Then behind that
position and in front of it, if you could, you
(03:05):
put in those devices of the devil known as land mines.
Millions and millions of these awful things were put in
place in the Second World War.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Hundreds of thousands.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
If not millions, of them are still in place today,
still live in France today. Do you know that they
still lose between twenty five and fifty farmers every year
plowing fields, partly because they go over minds, others because
they go over artillery shells that didn't explode when they
penetrated the earth. They're just all kinds of live ordinates
(03:40):
all around the world. Vietnam, it's a terrible problem, all
the land mines that are left over from that war.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
The land mines.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Came and all types and sizes from small anti personnel,
just gruesome things. The s mine that Rommeel loved so
much and the Germans used so widely, especially in defending
the Atlantic Wall. You stepped on or near water, and
it would trigger a device that would pop the mine
(04:11):
up into the air to just about groin level, and
then it would explode there. It's put a bit of
terror into the hearts of men who saw it. Happened
to others, and it had a big effect, very often
on slowing.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Up the speed of advance.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Other mines were big enough to blow up tank tracks
and stop a tank. These would not respond to the
pressure of a foot going over them. The soldiers stepping
on would and set them off, but the heavier pressure
awaight coming from a tank or a truck would.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Then you'd put your machine gun in place.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
After you had your barbed wire up in your minefield laid,
you'd put your machine gun in place to cover as
broad a field of fire as possible.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
The machine gun was.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
A development of the very the end of the nineteenth century,
and more so the first part of the twentieth century.
Was extensively used in the First World War. Was the
big killer in the First World War, and so too
in the Second World War. It was an improved weapon
in the Second World War it reached its peak. The
best of all the machine guns in the Second World
(05:19):
War was the German MG forty two, which had an
astonishing rate of fire and heavy caliber, a lot of
hitting power to it. Very high velocity, very accurate, very
reliable weapon, but very heavy, heavier than the American machine gun, much.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Higher rate of fire.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Americans complained about the Germans having the better machine gun
except when they were having to lug their machine gun
on an advance or carry it back with him on
a retreat, and the American lighter machine gun was at
that point to be preferred.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
And I make that illustration.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
To point out that in weaponry is with any other manufacturer,
product orright, or with anything, whenever you gain something.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
You lose something.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Germany had a very reliable weapon that could throw out
a hell of a lot of lead, but it was heavy,
it was harder to produce.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
It was a lot.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
More involved in just the weight of the gun too.
To keep feeding that gun, you had to have almost
continuous belts of ammunition make you had to carry an
awful lot more ammunition with you, and you tend to be.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Far more wasteful.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
In firing the weapon than you were with American machine guns.
Once that machine gun was put in place with sandbags
around it or whatever protection you could get, and the
field of fire was cleared out, then you put your
infantry into the ground doug holes or a trench. Their
primary job was to defend that machine gun, who was
(06:58):
the primary weapon for defending the idiate position. Small arms
in the Second World War were not much improved from
those of the First World War. The American M one
was a much better rifle than the Springfield nineteen oh three,
but not all.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
That much better.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
It was a semi automatic. The Springfield was bold action.
The M one was a very reliable weapon. You could
take it through a swamp, you could take it across
the sand of a beach like Omaha, you could immerse
it in salt water. You could punish that weapon in
every way. Imagine mole when it would come up firing.
(07:34):
Wonderfully reliable weapon.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
But the German.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Rifles were also very good, so the Russians, just about
everybody had good small arms. Artillery in the Second World
War was very similar to it in many cases, identical
with the artillery of the First World War. The most
(07:58):
basic artillery piece of the First World War was also
the most basically the second. It was the seventy five
milimeter cannon and had a.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Reek that went up into the.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Four or five six kilometers and more in some cases.
The most feared artillery piece of the Second World War,
the most respected, was the German eighty eight millimeter.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
It had a dual function.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
It was both Germany's number one anti aircraft weapon and
their number one field artillery piece. The velosophy of the
eighty eight was such that you could lay those maybe
you just flat out and fire straight across the field,
and the veloscity was such that the power of gravity
wouldn't begin affecting it until it had gotten a long
(08:44):
way out there, a lot further off than the seventy
five did.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
And we have more of these stories from Steven Ambrose,
and a terrific job on this storytelling editing by our
own Greg Hangler, and a special thanks to the Ambrose
estate for allowing us to hear these terrific stories. He
put it, there were all kinds of ways people went
about killing each other in World War Two. Some were
new and some were as old as warfare itself. But
(09:09):
the improvements in these weapons staggering, and but the same
old deal. You needed the barbed wire. Then there was
of course the machine gun, and then there were the
holes you dig in the ground to protect that machine gun.
The story of the weapons of World War Two with
Steven Ambrose here on our American Stories
And we continue with our American Stories. Stephen Ambrose was
one of America's leading biographers and historians. He passed in
two thousand and two, but his epic storytelling accounts can
(00:22):
now be heard here on our American Stories, thanks to
those who run his estate. Our next story is the
story of weapons in World War Two. Here's Steven Ambrose.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
There were all kiaways in which people could go about
killing each other in the Second World War, or in
destroying other weapons, or in destroying buildings and factories or bridges.
Some of them were new, some of them were of
World War One venig Some of them went back, although
somewhat improved in design, to the American Civil War. Some
(00:58):
were as old as warfare itself. As a big generalization
on the weaponry of World War Two, for the most part,
the war was fought with the same weapons that were
used in the First World War, although there were significant
improvements in many areas, but very little of.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
The weaponry that we associate with the Second.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
World War in fact originated with that war. Obviously, not
rifles or hand grenades or machine guns, but also tanks
had come along in the First World War. There even
were the variest beginnings of aircraft carriers in the First
World War. There were bombers in the First World War.
There were weapons used in the First World Wars. You'll
(01:45):
see that we're not used in the Second World War.
Having said that, there were some tremendous breakthroughs in the
Second World War.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Perhaps most.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Dramatic were the coming of the intermediate range ballistic missile.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
And the atomic bomb. And there was some.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Awfully big advances in transportation in the Second World War. Well,
the first thing you did in the Second World War
when you took up a defensive position was to get
the barbed wire stretched out in front of you.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Right there you got the simplest.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Er type of weapon of war, not a weapon, really,
but an implement of war that was developed on the
Great Plains of North America because they didn't have any
trees out there on any other way of making fences.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
So the barbed wire was developed not as a.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Implement of war, but as a means of pinning up cattle.
It proved to be ideal, however, to stop the momentum
of a charging enemy, and was used by every side
all over the world in the Second World War, and
put up in front of your posi. Then behind that
position and in front of it, if you could, you
(03:05):
put in those devices of the devil known as land mines.
Millions and millions of these awful things were put in
place in the Second World War.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Hundreds of thousands.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
If not millions, of them are still in place today,
still live in France today. Do you know that they
still lose between twenty five and fifty farmers every year
plowing fields, partly because they go over minds, others because
they go over artillery shells that didn't explode when they
penetrated the earth. They're just all kinds of live ordinates
(03:40):
all around the world. Vietnam, it's a terrible problem, all
the land mines that are left over from that war.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
The land mines.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Came and all types and sizes from small anti personnel,
just gruesome things. The s mine that Rommeel loved so
much and the Germans used so widely, especially in defending
the Atlantic Wall. You stepped on or near water, and
it would trigger a device that would pop the mine
(04:11):
up into the air to just about groin level, and
then it would explode there. It's put a bit of
terror into the hearts of men who saw it. Happened
to others, and it had a big effect, very often
on slowing.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Up the speed of advance.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Other mines were big enough to blow up tank tracks
and stop a tank. These would not respond to the
pressure of a foot going over them. The soldiers stepping
on would and set them off, but the heavier pressure
awaight coming from a tank or a truck would.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Then you'd put your machine gun in place.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
After you had your barbed wire up in your minefield laid,
you'd put your machine gun in place to cover as
broad a field of fire as possible.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
The machine gun was.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
A development of the very the end of the nineteenth century,
and more so the first part of the twentieth century.
Was extensively used in the First World War. Was the
big killer in the First World War, and so too
in the Second World War. It was an improved weapon
in the Second World War it reached its peak. The
best of all the machine guns in the Second World
(05:19):
War was the German MG forty two, which had an
astonishing rate of fire and heavy caliber, a lot of
hitting power to it. Very high velocity, very accurate, very
reliable weapon, but very heavy, heavier than the American machine gun, much.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Higher rate of fire.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Americans complained about the Germans having the better machine gun
except when they were having to lug their machine gun
on an advance or carry it back with him on
a retreat, and the American lighter machine gun was at
that point to be preferred.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
And I make that illustration.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
To point out that in weaponry is with any other manufacturer,
product orright, or with anything, whenever you gain something.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
You lose something.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Germany had a very reliable weapon that could throw out
a hell of a lot of lead, but it was heavy,
it was harder to produce.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
It was a lot.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
More involved in just the weight of the gun too.
To keep feeding that gun, you had to have almost
continuous belts of ammunition make you had to carry an
awful lot more ammunition with you, and you tend to be.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Far more wasteful.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
In firing the weapon than you were with American machine guns.
Once that machine gun was put in place with sandbags
around it or whatever protection you could get, and the
field of fire was cleared out, then you put your
infantry into the ground doug holes or a trench. Their
primary job was to defend that machine gun, who was
(06:58):
the primary weapon for defending the idiate position. Small arms
in the Second World War were not much improved from
those of the First World War. The American M one
was a much better rifle than the Springfield nineteen oh three,
but not all.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
That much better.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
It was a semi automatic. The Springfield was bold action.
The M one was a very reliable weapon. You could
take it through a swamp, you could take it across
the sand of a beach like Omaha, you could immerse
it in salt water. You could punish that weapon in
every way. Imagine mole when it would come up firing.
(07:34):
Wonderfully reliable weapon.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
But the German.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Rifles were also very good, so the Russians, just about
everybody had good small arms. Artillery in the Second World
War was very similar to it in many cases, identical
with the artillery of the First World War. The most
(07:58):
basic artillery piece of the First World War was also
the most basically the second. It was the seventy five
milimeter cannon and had a.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Reek that went up into the.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Four or five six kilometers and more in some cases.
The most feared artillery piece of the Second World War,
the most respected, was the German eighty eight millimeter.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
It had a dual function.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
It was both Germany's number one anti aircraft weapon and
their number one field artillery piece. The velosophy of the
eighty eight was such that you could lay those maybe
you just flat out and fire straight across the field,
and the veloscity was such that the power of gravity
wouldn't begin affecting it until it had gotten a long
(08:44):
way out there, a lot further off than the seventy
five did.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
And we have more of these stories from Steven Ambrose,
and a terrific job on this storytelling editing by our
own Greg Hangler, and a special thanks to the Ambrose
estate for allowing us to hear these terrific stories. He
put it, there were all kinds of ways people went
about killing each other in World War Two. Some were
new and some were as old as warfare itself. But
(09:09):
the improvements in these weapons staggering, and but the same
old deal. You needed the barbed wire. Then there was
of course the machine gun, and then there were the
holes you dig in the ground to protect that machine gun.
The story of the weapons of World War Two with
Steven Ambrose here on our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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