List of World War II weapons used in Ireland
This is a list of World War II weapons of Ireland. Throughout World War II, Ireland held a policy of neutrality. Ireland prepared for invasions from both Britain and Nazi Germany. Some cooperation with the Allies did occur such as Plan W as well as allowing allied aircraft over Irish airspace through the Donegal Corridor and providing access to weather reports from the Atlantic Ocean which were used to help decide when D-day would occur. The IRA allied itself with Nazi Germany in pursuit of Irish republicanism as seen from Operation Dove. However they were not part of the Irish army and were not supported by the Irish government and so will be left out of this list. Of note is that Ireland got a lot of British WWI weapons due to conflicts with the United Kingdom just after WWI such as the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War when a lot of these weapons would have been captured by Irish forces in the fighting.
Small arms
[edit]Rifles
[edit]- Short Magazine Lee–Enfield No. 1 MKIII[1] - Standard issue
- Springfield M1903 - Local Defence Force and Local Security Force
- M1917 Enfield - Local Defence Force
Sidearms
[edit]- Webley MK IV Revolver - Standard issue
- Mauser C96 - 295 in Army stockpiles
Machine guns
[edit]- Vickers machine gun[3]
- Lewis gun[4]
- Bren gun
- Madsen Machine Gun - vehicle use
- Hotchkiss M1909 - vehicle use
- Vickers.50 Machine Gun - vehicle use
Grenade
[edit]- Mills bomb[5]
- MK3 Rifle Grenade
- Molotov Cocktail/Petrol Bomb (made and used during exercises)
Submachine Guns
[edit]- M1921 Thompson -Army stockpiles left over from the Revolutionary period
- Bergmann MP-18 - Army stockpiles put into commission
Sniper Rifles
[edit]- Pattern 1914 (Scoped variant)
Shotguns
[edit]- Winchester 1897
- Unidentified 12 Bore Shotgun
Melee Weapons
[edit]Anti-Tank Weapons
[edit]- Boys Anti-Tank Rifle
- Vickers QF 2-Pounder Anti-Tank Gun
- 25 lb Anti-Tank mine (Irish made)
- The 'De Valera' mine (Irish made)
Artillery
[edit]Mortars
[edit]Field artillery
[edit]Anti-Aircraft Guns
[edit]- Bofors 40mm
- QF 3-Inch 20-cwt
- QF 3.7-Inch
- QF 12-Pounder 12-cwt (modified for anti-aircraft purposes)
Coastal Defence Guns
[edit]Armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs)
[edit]Armoured cars
[edit]- Rolls-Royce Armoured Car[8]
- Landsverk L180[9]
- Leyland Armoured Car[10]
- Beaverette
- Universal 'Bren' Carrier
- Ford MK V
- Ford MK VI
- Ford MK IV
- Dodge MK VII
- Dodge MK VIII
- GSR Morris MK IV
Tanks
[edit]AFV Armaments (not including small arms used as armaments)
[edit]Marine Service vessels
[edit]- MTB-6
- Various port control pilot boats
Other vehicles
[edit]- Morris Commercial C8 FAT
- BSA M20 500cc Motorbike
- Morris Commercial CDSW
- Leyland Retriever Machinery Lorry
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Rifle, Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield (Smle) » Military Heritage of Ireland Trust CLG". Military Heritage of Ireland Trust CLG. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
- ^ "WE Browning Hi-Power (BAP)". Hobby Airsoft. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
- ^ Pathé, British. "On Guard In The Outposts Of Peace Aka Outposts Of Peace - Irish Army Manoeuvres". www.britishpathe.com. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
- ^ "Lewis Gun". www.militaryfactory.com. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
- ^ "Ireland Infantry Arms List (Current and Former Types)". www.militaryfactory.com. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
- ^ Norris, John (2016-03-30). Mortars in World War II. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4738-7920-1.
- ^ "Ordnance QF 18-pounder field gun Mk IV". www.historyofwar.org. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
- ^ "Sliabh na mBan". www.military.ie. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
- ^ "Landsverk L180, M38 Armoured Car: introduction". www.landsverk-m38.nl. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
- ^ Tank Chats # 101 | Irish Leyland Armoured Car | The Tank Museum, retrieved 2021-05-05
- ^ "L60 tridsvagn M38/39/40 (1936)". www.tanks-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
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