My Springfield Armory M1 Garand...built in November of 1944. It is shown with an original M1942 16" bayonet and a M7 grenade launcher with fragmentation grenade holder and frag grenade. The M1 Garand is officially designated as United States Rifle, Caliber .30, M1 and was the first gas-operated semi-automatic "en-bloc" clip-fed rifle to be generally issued to the infantry of any nation. Called "the greatest battle implement ever devised" by General George S. Patton, the Garand officially replaced the bolt-action M1903 Springfield as the standard service rifle of the United States Armed Forces in 1936 and was subsequently replaced by the selective fire M14 in 1957. .
Here's the Garand my Pop has had for years... The serial number tracks the date of manufacture to somewhere between June/July 1942...
Awesome SNIPER...!! Here's a timeline of what was happening in June / July 1942, when your M1 was manufactured June 1942 Date 18: Manhattan Project is started, the beginning of a scientific approach to nuclear weapons. : Winston Churchill arrives in Washington for meetings with Roosevelt. : The siege of Tobruk intensifies; some defending forces are pulled back to Egypt. 21: Afrika Korps recaptures Tobruk, with 35,000 men captured; the road to Egypt is now open as the British retreat deep into Egypt. Tobruk's loss is a grievous blow to British morale. German land forces have been assisted by Luftwaffe attacks. 23: Marsa Matruh, Egypt falls to Rommel, about 140 miles from Alexandria. 24: British fall back to El Alamein, 60 miles from Alexandria, for a "final stand". 25: General Eisenhower arrives in London ready to assume the post of Commander of American forces in Europe. : Another massive "Thousand Bomber" raid, this time on Bremen; the raiders suffer grievous losses. 26: The Germans drive toward Rostov. 27: Doomed convoy PQ17 sets sail from Iceland; only 11 of 37 ships will survive. 28: Operation Blue, the German plan to capture Stalingrad and the Soviet Union oil fields in the Caucasus, begins. Generally, forces are shifted to the South. 30: Rommel reaches El Alamein. : United States of America deploys II Corps to the European Theater. July 1942 Date 1: First Battle of El Alamein begins as Rommel begins first assault on British defences. : Sevastopol falls to the Germans; the end of Red Army resistance in the Crimea. 2: Churchill survives a censure motion in the House of Commons. : Allies experience heavy June losses of shipping to U-boats, including those of PQ17. 3: Guadalcanal is now firmly in the hands of the Japanese. 4: First air missions by American Air Force in Europe. 11: Rommel's forces are now stalemated before El Alamein, largely because of a lack of ammunition. 17: Battle of Stalingrad begins ===========================================================
OK... Do you know the manufacturer...? ( Springfield...Winchester...International Harvester...Harrington & Richardson ) Do you know the date it was made....? ( pre WWII...WWII...Post WWII )
Well...if you would PM me a picture of the receiver near the buttstock where the info such as manufacturer and serial number are located... I could look it up for you...it's a piece of history that should be documented !!
