Lessons from the not so distant past

[GunnyGene]

Folks might be doing this again some day.

Richardson Industries M5 Philippine guerrilla gun: A gun to get a gun

http://www.guns.com/2017/05/14/richardsons-philippine-guerrilla-gun-a-gun-to-get-a-gun/

 

[Colonialgirl]

Whatever it takes to defeat an enemy !!

 

[SAJohn]

I never saw the movie but, as a kid, did read his book. It was really interesting. Ammunition and firearms were so scarce that the Filipino gorillas often set up sharpened bamboo stakes to the sides a jungle trail. When Japanese soldiers passed by, one shot was fired and the Japs would dive into the trap only to be finished off with michettes. The gorillas also had a sort of Joan the the Arc who was a deadly killer.

One of my shipmates was a participant in the Bataan death march, he escaped to the jungle and spent most of the war fighting with the gorillas. He had many similar stories to tell. After the liberation, he was promoted from Seaman to Warrant Officer.

 

[GunnyGene]

I never saw the movie but, as a kid, did read his book. It was really interesting. Ammunition and firearms were so scarce that the Filipino gorillas often set up sharpened bamboo stakes to the sides a jungle trail. When Japanese soldiers passed by, one shot was fired and the Japs would dive into the trap only to be finished off with michettes. The gorillas also had a sort of Joan the the Arc who was a deadly killer.

One of my shipmates was a participant in the Bataan death march, he escaped to the jungle and spent most of the war fighting with the gorillas. He had many similar stories to tell. After the liberation, he was promoted from Seaman to Warrant Officer.

Vietnam had it's share of traps like that and variations of it also. Lot's of things to learn in a jungle war. :wink:

 

[kmoore]

How about the US made liberator pistols. WE dropped over Europe during ww2. I do not do cut and paste, you will need to look them up.

 

[exavid]

A friend of mine and I converted a couple cap guns to fire .22 shorts back in my very early teen years. Single shot break action weren't hard to convert. If you can get by with a single shot a simple gun is a pretty easy thing to make.

 

[SamV]

I never saw the movie but, as a kid, did read his book. It was really interesting. Ammunition and firearms were so scarce that the Filipino gorillas often set up sharpened bamboo stakes to the sides a jungle trail. When Japanese soldiers passed by, one shot was fired and the Japs would dive into the trap only to be finished off with michettes. The gorillas also had a sort of Joan the the Arc who was a deadly killer.

One of my shipmates was a participant in the Bataan death march, he escaped to the jungle and spent most of the war fighting with the gorillas. He had many similar stories to tell. After the liberation, he was promoted from Seaman to Warrant Officer.

OK, I know that most of those errors are auto correct errors. I know you mean guerillas, not gorillas, but I like the mental image of large primates being involved in the war. Someone is going to have to explain the gorilla and Joan of Arc thing though.

 

[Don Lovel]

my dad was in the 9th Armored Div with the Military Governor's group in the spring of 1945. He said they found all kinds of resistance guns in France. Home made zip guns and such, useful at close range to take out a German soldier so they could take his weapons. When you have to fight the good fight, pretty don't matter, but deadly does.

 

[Selena]

People with nothing left to lose can do damage much in order to get it back.

I remember once my uncle was asked if he really thought he could stop a tank with a knife...

The old man gave his characteristic one sided grin and answered that all that was needed was to hide in the bushes until the tank crew needed to relieve themselves. After the guard was neutralized with the knife he would have a knife an a rifle. With luck and audacity after using the rifle he would have a knife, a rifle and a tank. Not a likely scenario but the message is clear, the crudest weapon is effective in the hands of a skilled operator.

 

[Paul B]

I have the book. I believe the book THEY WERE EXPENDABLE is also based on Richardson. I have the movie they were expendable with John Wayne. Only roughly followed the book as I recall. I had that book too but someone "borrowed" is and never returned it. :x I do wish I could find a copy of American Guerrilla in the Philippines on DVD.
Funny thing. I did a term paper in high school on guerrilla warfare in the Philippines and used the book as a big part of the report. Even took a Jap rifle as one of the exhibits. God help me if I did that today. :shock:
There is one other book from that period and time frame, ODYSSEY OF A PHILIPPINE SCOUT by Arthur Kendal Whitehead. Kind of an interesting read. He decided to avoid the Japs and eventually got a boat and sailed to Australia. He did have some interesting times but saw no combat. He wrote about his experiences but passed on before publishing. His daughter had it published and I have a copy signed by her. She also gave me a good deal on a 5.5" Ruger Redhawk. :mrgreen:
Paul B.

 

[SAJohn]

Live and learn, I never noticed the two spellings of guerrilla.

The Philippines have several ladies who where given the title of Joan of Arc for leading men in combat. I was referring to Nieves Fernandez who led a band of about 100 guerrillas all through the war. She was an expert in hand-to-hand combat, especially with a bolo knife.