Question: Band of Brothers equipment query

[etlamatey]

I am watching B-O-B Part II when they have just jumped into France.

After Lt Winters finds some of his men in the night, they bring out a map and a flashlight and Lt Winters pulls out some circular glassy thing from his pant fly and keeps it on the map. What is the thing?

[a deadly fart]

A small compass?

I was watching part 3 I believe where the germans were retreating from the town through a field. A mg is set up in the window and the guy behind him fires a rifle grenade. I was wondering on the availability and distribution of them. Were they easy to come by?

[Seraphim]

A small compass?

No...it was a magic 8ball, DUH!

[Twombles375]

pfft n00bz, it was a glass eye ball. Gah. you guys know jack****

[etlamatey]

no it is not a compass. because APART from the glass thing, he has a regular compass too.

what is that thing?

[ogukuo72]

It was a compass. As to why he chooses to use the small compass rather than the GI compass, who knows? For dramatic effect?

I've always wondered about the MG firing from the window scene - how the heck did the guy keep control of his MG?

[Death.]

I always thought it was his button with a drop of water in it to act as a magnifying glass...lol

[scrybe]

It's a compass. Why he didn't use his regular one? I don't know. Maybe that blew off with his rifle, so he used his backup compass which he had hidden in case he was captured. I'd have to watch the show again to see if he has his full size compass still on him.

[Buckeye67]

Officers (and apparently some enlisted personnel) were issued an escape kit that consisted of a cloth map of France, a small hacksaw blade and "button" compass and some french currency. Winters had stowed nearly all of his gear in one of those british "leg-bags", which he lost on the drop (as did many). The only items that he had when he landed, if I remember correctly, were his M3 trench knife and a hand grenade... and, of course - the escape kit.

Here's a couple pictures of some of the escape kit items, courtesy of Mark Bando's WW2 101st Airborne site, Trigger Time:

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/8459/3ekcompasses1dh.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img470.imageshack.us/img470/6067/hacksaw7zo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The 2nd pic shows the hacksaw blade and compass and are, according to TT, a bit larger than actual size.

[James]

^ What Buckeye67 said is correct.

[scrybe]

*fistpump*

[etlamatey]

thanks guys :)

[James]

I've always wondered about the MG firing from the window scene - how the heck did the guy keep control of his MG?

Machineguns back then were much heavier than they are now. The gun itself weighed more than 30 pounds. I don't know how much shooting you've done or what you know about firearms, so don't think I'm talking down to you. Basically, more weight in the weapon means less felt recoil by the shooter. A 30 pound weapon resting on a window sill wouldn't be too difficult to control.

[thatguy96]

I've always wondered about the MG firing from the window scene - how the heck did the guy keep control of his MG?
If you've ever seen an MG-42 up close or in pictures you'll note that the bipod has triangluar spikes on the bottom of the feet, specifically to help it grip whatever its on.

[marine.skin]

button compass.

[Royal]

no it is not a compass. because APART from the glass thing, he has a regular compass too.

Since when do you only carry one compass? I carry 4:

A button compass in my E&E kit
A sliva compass in my smock/shirt pocket
A silva compass in my vest or webbing

and a prismatic compass for sighting and accuracy in my vest and webbing.

Oh, and an electronic on in my GPS... (I don't trust electronics).

[nickless]

Machineguns back then were much heavier than they are now. The gun itself weighed more than 30 pounds. I don't know how much shooting you've done or what you know about firearms, so don't think I'm talking down to you. Basically, more weight in the weapon means less felt recoil by the shooter. A 30 pound weapon resting on a window sill wouldn't be too difficult to control.

Well, that's not exactly right... ;)

The MG42 used in that scene is not heavier than the MG3 still used today in a number of armies (or the FN MAG / M240), but has a higher rate of fire and fires a slighty more powerful cartridge.
I already found the MG3 to be hardly controllable in anything but very short bursts, especially when fired not from a ****e but a standing supported position, so I would assume the MG42 is even harder to control.

[Royal]

The MG42 used in that scene is not heavier than the MG3 still used today in a number of armies (or the FN MAG / M240), but has a higher rate of fire and fires a slighty more powerful cartridge.
I already found the MG3 to be hardly controllable in anything but very short bursts, especially when fired not from a ****e but a standing supported position, so I would assume the MG42 is even harder to control.

I've fired the MG3 and the M53 (the Yugoslav rip-off of the original MG42, with the same ammo) as well as a WWII vintage MG42 (in poor repair) and didn't notice any appreciable difference between them. They were pretty hard to control on the bipod with bursts of more than 5 rounds, but no worse than a GPMG/MAG or an M60.

[Stuffz a. D.]

I´ve fired a 100 round burst with the MG3 in a standing unsupported position and i have to say that it´s nearly impossible to hit a target in this way. rofl

It was just for fun and it was fun. The recoil is incredible. But nevertheless, the MG3 is a very powerful weapon and with the support of the bipod an easy to control machinegun.

I like it a lot and wouldn´t go into battle without it.

Just my 2 Cents.

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/5483/mgschieenmayenii0sr.jpghttp://img223.imageshack.us/img223/5672/mg3zw.jpg