Always curious when you watched movies and see soldiers running out of ammos in the heat of battle. How much ammo did a typical WWII infantry carried (German/British/American/Russian...)? I am sure it differs between a riflemen and one with the submachine gun.
To the best of my knowledge, a German infantryman (whose standard weapon was the Karabiner 98 k) carried a total of six spare clips in two three-compartment pouches. Each clip contained five rounds, so that would be a total of 30 spare rounds, plus five in the rifle. The M.P. 38/40 holder also had six spare magazines, with 32 rounds each, which would give a total of 224 rounds. The same goes for the M.P. 44, however each clip only had 30 rounds, so that would give a total of 210 rounds.
Vow, only 35 rounds for a riflemen, that is barely enough for one fire-fight. 200 rounds for the MP is probably adequate for 30 seconds of trigger time. How many stick grenades can they pack in their boot??
73 actually. I learned that here. The question is, how many of those big drums did they carry, apart from what they had in their weapon?
Hello. On WWII pictures the Russian soldiers with a PPSH 41 had one in the weapon and one in a drum magazine pouch hang on the belt. Patrice
Only one? But then, he wasn't expected to live long enough to use it, was he? What about rifle ammo, what was the standard for the soldier carrying the Mosin Nagant, the Garand M1, the Lee Enfield, the Arisaka?
Hello Roel For a Japanese royal Marine in 1943/45,the equipment of ammuniton was of 5 rounds in the Arizaka mod 38 6,5mm,twice 30 cartridges in two cartridges pouches on the front and 60 cartridges on a cartridge in the back. For a Polish infantryman in Sep 1939 equipped with a Mauser 98A in gauge 7,9mm ,the equipment of cartridges was of 120 Cartridges. Information of Armes Militaria Spécial n°7 Patrice
Is that 120 clips to each man, for the two nations, or 120 rounds? In any case it's a lot more than the Germans carried, obviously. I'd be happier carrying 16 clips than I would carrying only 6. Are you entirely sure of your data, Christian, because that seems like awfully little.
I just re-read my source, and it appears that there were two clips in each pocket, giving a total of 65, not 35, rounds in total.
Dutch infantry carried 120 rounds plus 5 in the rifle of ammo (60 in clipholders on the belt 60 in the backpack) French infantry carried officially 300 rounds in reality less about 150. (depends on the rifle some were 8 shots others 5 and the m36 6 shots)