Does anyone know if the Germans used captured Browning Automatic Rifles in militrary service during WWII? Because it would be a little silly not to considering they would captured them by the thousands in Poland which used the 7.92 Mauser round and than captured a hell of a lot more in Belgium.
but the mauser round also fitted their MG's which they had rather a lot of as well Which would you rather have providing supporting fire? An MG34/42 or a BAR? FNG
And spares could be an issue, as would training soldiers in their use. At most they could have used the stockpile to equip a few units in a qiet area (Denmark or Norway, for example). In a similar fashion, I always wondered what the British did with any workable mgs / cannons recovered from crashed German aircraft during the BoB. Surely they could have been issued to Home Guard units to boost firepower? Again, spares, training, and in this case ammo would have been a problem, but needs must & all that...
I can't recall ever seeing anything about it. It would be interesting if there were some facts to support their being used.
They were ! The Polish, Browning Wz 1928 ( as the BAR was known in Polish service) was given the designation, leichte Machinengewehr 28(p), by the German army. They were mainly used in second line formations for garrison and anti-partisan duties. The Finnish army also used a number of 7.92mm BAR's which they had purchased pre-war, again mainly for garrison work. ps, The Soviets also used of a number of captured Brownings Wz 1928's which they had taken from the Polish forces in 1939.
Thanks redcoat and it woudn't surprise me that they used it because they used other weapons such as the Polish Vis pistol and some SS units used the Czech wz.38.
