I've noticed sometimes during a firefight that Sgt. Saunders ejects his empty Thompson clip and throws it away. Then he quickly reloads and continues on. I always thought these clips can be reloaded by hand later on and should be stored in your ammo belt. Or I'am I wrong????

By Dana Eugene Creasy (Deecee322) on Unrecorded Date:

You are correct, both the 20 and 30-round box-type magazines could be reloaded by hand. In fact, if several war movies, you will see soldiers doing just that, reloading them from loose .45-cal ammo, or even stripping M1911A1 magazines to reload Thompson magazines. However, combat (small "c") being what it is, most soldiers were a little on the lazy side (no slur intended) to carry empty magazines back for REMFs (read: Ordnance soldiers) to reload, put into bandoleers and pass back out. Remember, one of the main reasons the US contributions to winning the war so outpaced all of the other allies was our industrial capacity... there were more than enough loaded magazines around, so why bust your thumbs putting rounds into an empty one? Interestingly, early in the series, Vic was outfitted with all the regularly issued equipment appropriate for his status and arming, ie: M1928 Ammo Pouch, which held five magazines, canteen, canteen cup, canteen cover, first aid pouch, M1911A1 .45-cal semi-automatic handgun with holster, spare magazine case (holding two clips for the handgun), map case, field glasses case, etc. As the series (and apparently the war) went on, most of these were disgarded. In the end, he only wore a bare pistol belt with sidearm, holster and first aid pouch. He carried his extra ammo clips inside his field jacket, in the inner pockets or stuffed inside his fatigue shirt (not wholely uncommon, according to some vets I have talked to, as the ammo case was large and unwieldy). However, to give up your canteen? And extra ammo for the sidearm? It makes me think of Dick Peabody's column and the Rick Jason interview where both commented that Vic was, first, anti-gun to a point and second, that he was basically lazy when it came to lugging all that crap around. Remember, he had the prop men rig up a wooden Thompson which he carried whenever he didn't have to fire it... less weight, plus it wasn't a real gun. Maybe that's why he stripped himself of all the extra gear, and could be why he never retained any empty magazines, also. But in the end, en bloc clips (from M1 .30-cal rifles), empty magazines of all types and other useless junk was found littering all of France, the low countries and into Germany, a trail of which could be followed, just like Hansel and Gretel, to wherever our GIs went.

By Nathaniel Bridger (Nathaniel) on Unrecorded Date:

A great guide to American field equipment can be found at

http://www.dragon-models.com/dday.htm

...it's all made in 1/6 ("Barbie") scale and beautifully detailed. Now before Jo has my poor old gray head, I want to point out that I'm not "selling" any of this stuff, nor do any of my relatives, dependants or ex-wives hold stock in the Company.....!

The entire "Dragon" line of figures, including amazingly detailed German figures and accessories, can be found at

http://www.dragon-models.com

Now you, too, can annoy your friends with comments like "Hey, that guy's toting Mauser clips, for a Schmeisser!!"

By kilroywashere on Unrecorded Date:

FYI:There is a difference between ammo clips and ammo magazines(mags).The M-1 rifle used a 8-round clip,which simply clipped 8 cartridges together.The Thompson M-1 submachine gun and the M-1 carbine both used magazines(20rds for the carbine and 20 or 30 rds for Thompson.)

By Louis Vierne (Louisvierne) (209.172.16.76) on Monday, June 24, 2002 - 12:30 am:

Kilroy:

Dead-on on all your info save the magazine
for the M1 carbine. Standard mag held 15 rounds, not 20. At the very end of the war,a modified carbine that fired full auto was issued, and it had a 30 round "banana" magazine. But I don't believe there was ever a 20 round mag for the
carbine. GI's in everyday jargon called the weapon magazines "clips" offhandedly, but your distinction between "clip" (as for the M1 Garand) and "magazine"(for the others) is correct, strictly speaking.

Louis Vierne