TO & E for US .50 Cal Browning M2HB heavy machine gun

Despite my best efforts at sites like bayonetstrength150.com, I am still unclear on the allotment of the M2 HB .50 caliber HMG to US Army and USMC infantry units. I believe the USMC battalion began the war with two guns in an 'anti-tank and anti-aircraft' platoon, but the post-42 permuations of the USMC TO & E for the .50 are not clear to me. The army picture is even murkier. I think the rifle company weapons platoon had one .50 mounted on one of its vehicles and I think another gun may have been held in reserve by battalion HQ or HQ company, but I sense that I am missing the rest of the picture. Also, I don't know how many men were in the standard crew for the gun. Can anyone help?

Thanks, TTH

 

A lot of questions at a time. And even more answers. To start with:

Army
Infantry Battalion(, Rifle) (T/O 7/15):
01.10.1940 (dd.mm.yyyy)
4 in the Heavy Weapons Company (T/O 7-18)
- 2 Sections, each 2 Squads (each Squad: 1 Corporal, 4 ammo carriers, 1 chauffeur, 1 gunner, 1 assistant gunner): on truck, 1/2 ton Weapons

01.04.1942
none

01.03.1943
1 in HQ Company (T/O 7-16)
- Commo Platoon, Wireless Section (Sgt. + 4 linemen), on truck, 1 1/2 ton cargo with HMG on ring mount
1 in each Rifle Company (T/O 7-17)
- Weapons Platoon HQ, on truck, 1 1/2 ton cargo with HMG on ring mount
3 in Heavy Weapons Company (T/O 7-18)
- 1 in each of 2 Machinegun Platoon HQs, on truck 1/4 ton on pedestal mount
- 1 in Mortar Platoon HQ, on truck 1/4 ton on pedestal mount

Infantry Battalion (T/O & E 7-15)
15.07.1943
2 in HQ Company (T/O & E 7-16)
- 1 in Company HQ, on truck 1/4 ton on pedestal mount,
- 1 in Antitank Platoon HQ, on truck 1/4 ton on pedestal mount
1 in each Rifle Company (T/O & E 7-17)
- Weapons Platoon HQ, on truck, 1/4 ton cargo with HMG on pedestal mount, towing trailer, 1/4 ton
1 in Heavy Weapons Company (T/O & E 7-18)
- in Company HQ, on truck 1/4 ton on M48 pedestal mount

26.02.1944
2 in HQ Company (T/O & E 7-16),
- 1 in (Ammo and) Pioneer Platoon HQ on truck, 1 1/2 ton, with HMG on ring mount, towing trailer, 1 ton Cargo,
- 1 in Antitank Platoon HQ, on truck 1/4 ton on pedestal mount
1 in each Rifle Company (T/O & E 7-17)
- Weapons Platoon HQ, on truck, 1/4 ton cargo with HMG on pedestal mount
1 in Heavy Weapons Company (T/O & E 7-18)
- 1 in Company HQ, on truck 1/4 ton on M48 pedestal mount


01.06.1945
1 in HQ Company (T/O & E 7-16)
- 1 in Ammo and Pioneer Platoon HQ on truck, 1 1/2 ton, with HMG on ring mount, towing trailer, 1 ton Cargo,
1 in each Rifle Company (T/O & E 7-17)
- Weapons Platoon HQ, on truck, 1/4 ton cargo with HMG on pedestal mount,towing trailer, 1/4 ton
2 in Heavy Weapons Company (T/O & E 7-18)
- 1 in Company HQ, on truck 1/4 ton on M48 pedestal mount
- 1 in Gun Platoon HQ, mounted on one of the squad trucks (truck 1 1/2 ton, towing trailer, 1 ton)

All according Hays, J.J.: United States Army Ground Forces, Tables of Organization and Equipment, World War II, volume 1/II: The Infantry Division 1940 - 1945

to be continued ...

Cheers
Aixman

 

Let's see if I can beat him with the USMC info!

D-Series T/O Jul42 - officially 8 M2s per Mar Inf Regt, all in the Regtl Wpns Coy. One for Coy HQ, one for the 75-mm Atk Pl (halftracks) and two per AA/Atk Pl. Guns in Platoons noted under Pl HQ. No other details in T/O and no specific machine gunners identified. No M2s officially down to the Inf Bns, however note to the Bn Wpns Coy T/O states that either 37-mm atk guns or .50-cals could be issued in lieu of the slated 20-mm AA/Atk weapons. The AA/Atk Pl was supposed to have two 20-mm guns, each with an eight-man detachment.

E-Series T/O Apr43 - officially 16 M2s per Mar Inf Regt. 10 in the Regtl Wpns Coy, all held by its Coy HQ, and 2 per Inf Bn, held by the Bn's own Wpns Coy HQ. The Regtl Wpns Coy T/O specified six of the M2s would have ground mounts and the remaining four vehicular mounts. Coy HQ included six Cpls and 12 Ptes, all specified as being machine gunners. There's no indication as to how the vehicle mounted weapons were distributed (there were also six M1919s held by Coy HQ, again for vehicle mounts). In the Inf Bn Wpns Coy, there were two Cpls and four Ptes specified as machine gunners, and the two .50s are described as being for atk use.

F-Series T/O Mar44 - officially 10 M2s per Mar Inf Regt, all in the Regtl Wpns Coy, held by its HQ. Same details as for E-Series re Regtl Wpns Coy.

G-Series T/O May45 (not used in combat) - no details in T/Os for how crew served weapons were held by subunits. General summaries refer to ten M2s for the Regt as previously, however there are no gunners specified for the Regtl Wpns Coy.

Gary

 

Great information, gentlemen, thanks very much.

The US Army guns appear to be exclusively vehicular (ring and pedestal mounts). This is a bit puzzling, since photos of the M2 HB on the ground tripod are relatively common. Can one assume that this tripod was issued with the vehicular guns for ground use as needed?

 

1/4 ton cargo is a jeep. I didn't know so many of them mounted 50s. I'm suprised we don't see more pictures of them, except in the Rat Patrol

 

I stand to be corrected, but I believe that tripods for both the .30 and .50 calibre were supplied to vehicles fitted with them.

Both weapons were able to be quickly demounted from the pedestal and ring and set up on a tripod if required.

I am pretty sure that I have seen photographs showing .50 cal tripods folded up on the rear decking of Shermans.

Regards
Tom

 

The best I can offer comes from Yves Bellanger's book on the US Inf Div 1943-45, which includes the equipment issued as well as personnel and transport. For the Jeeps carrying .50-cals there is an M31 pedestal mount, a quick search for which indicates it was only used with a vehicle, and not in the ground role. Larger trucks armed with the .50 don't have a mount mentioned, presumably because it was a fixture of the vehicle? The ground mount on its own weighed about 20kg I think.

Gary

 

Smudger:

Yes, I know ground tripods for the M1919A4 and the M2HB were standard issue for tanks and armored vehicles carrying them. I just wondered if the same applied to guns mounted on 'soft' vehicles like jeeps and trucks. Given the equipment scales above, I don't see how else US infantry units could have gotten M2HBs into ground service if they didn't dismount them from vehicles.

 

Gary:

Yes, the M3 tripod weighed 20 kg (44 lbs). The gun itself weighed 84 lbs for a total weight of 128 lbs without ammunition. That's an awfully heavy combination, more than a Vickers or an M1917A1. I don't envy anyone who would have to manpack something like that. The USMC 1942 organization you cited gives a crew of eight men, which sounds fair if you imagine that in the Pacific these guns would almost always have been hand-carried. The USMC inf bn in the E series has two guns in the weapons company HQ but only six designated machine gunners, which only sounds like enough to move and operate one gun at a time. A useful weapon obviously (it's still in service), but an absolute bitch to move and service.

 

The E-Series Wpns Coy T/O did include a Jeep and trailer for Coy HQ, so they may have used that to heft the .50-cals. I suspect everyone in HQ though found themselves carrying something, and there were 11 men listed as 'other duty' who could easily have been volunteered.

There some interesting comments in the 4th Marines report from Okinawa on the use of the MGs by the Regtl Wpns Coy. It recommended that the Coy HQ MG pers be increased from six to ten Cpls, and from 12 to 20 Pvts, which would give crews for all ten .50-cal guns. It also mentions that the 50s were normally operated alongside the 37-mm Atk Gun Pls, so pers from these could be used to assist in ammn supply for the 50s. The report argues that if sufficient crews were provided for the 50s then the Regt would gain ten extra atk wpns. That suggestion doesn't seem to have been taken on board, as the MG crews were deleted from the May45 version of the Regtl Wpns Coy!

Re the use of ground mounts in the Inf Bn, the best I could find was from Yves Bellanger's book on the 1943-45 US Inf Div, which includes other items of equipment issued. Where the .50-cal was used on a Jeep he lists an M31 pedestal mount as being issued, but not for one on a larger truck. A quick search suggests the M31 couldn't be used in the ground role, and was strictly for the vehicle. Yves doesn't list a ground mount being carried as well as the vehicle mount.

Gary