Oh, definitely a PPHS, not an early thompson
but what the hell ? in iraq?

(but explain your title about the germans)

I think they are german troops in northern Afghanistan.

Im not surprised. A lot of Soviet gear ended up in the Middle East and Africa. For countries that can't afford nice new weapons like the AK-101 or M-16A4, old Soviet weapons, sometimes used, are the perfect and cheaper solution. And remember, Soviet gear wasnt exactly the best at accuracy or weight, but you could that stuff through mud and it would still fire.

The title is in referance to WWII. There are many accounts of German infantry abandoning their weapons for the more reliable Soviet weapons, with the Ppsh being a favorite because of its reliability, and large magazine.

Ive read in quite a few different books that ion the Eastern front, the Germans preferred the PPsh to their own weapons, because they didn't freeze up like their weapons did. Hence the subject title.

i've seen the pic before (or similar) refered to as 'ss in iraq' due to the shape of the helmet worn by american troops. i hasten to add not on this site but on some standard photgrapic site.



[quote]The next thing you know is one of the troops will be carrying a British Long Land Pattern Brown Bess Musket- 75 cal. smooth bore Flintlock ! The PPSH-41 was not a bad weapon ! Cheers !


i happen to own a brown bess, and it's difficult enough to swing out doors for house clearing i'd just burn the bugger down rather than try going in with a bess, it's a dammed unwieldy thing and even more so with the bayonet attached, made me smile though

and after all, who hasen't seen photos of allied troops with mp40's, german troops with the russian smg's and italian troops with none at all

Interestingly, while the Germans favoured the Russian ppsh 41 over their own SMG's the Russian troops themselves where quite fond of the German MP 40, both being held in high regard by the opposing side.
A case of the grass is always greener on the other side?

James

I've read a lot of US troops carry AK-47s in their vehicles - IIRC it has a high rate of fire and is preffered if the vehicle is ambushed as something to fire back with a lot of lead.

And of course, AKs are ten a penny in Iraq.

Really!?! I never knew that. I cant recall where I read it, but supposedly at Stalingrad the Germans like Soviet weapons because their gun oil was cut with petrol to keep the action from freezing up. I want to say it was in Anthony beevors book on Stalingrad, but I've read so much on Stalingrad lately (Im on an Eastern front kick)that i cant be 100% certain it was Beevor.

The AKs are favoured by troops in iraq as they pack more punch in close combat, remember the AK is the weapon of guerilla warfare, it was designed to be more effective at close range.

And for the ppsh, maybe he just favoured it, maybe he ran out of ammo? Who knows.

With the MP-40 and Ppsh, I think it was a case of "the grass is greener....". I have read (I can't recall the exact source), that the Germans liked the reliability and ammo capacity of the Ppsh, while the Russians liked the comparably light MP-40, especially since they had a ton of captured magazines to use up.

As for comparing the AK47
and the M16, there is an interesting show that pops up every once in a while, "Worlds Greatest Military Clashes". It compares 2 weapons/systems used on each side of a conflict. The Sherman and Tiger, the Spitfire and Bf-109, The British 18 pounder and a German Howitzer, and the M16 against the AK.
They were very different weapons, even as designed. The M16 was built as more of a rifle, with a lighter but faster round, and the selctor switch was in this order: safe, semi, full. It was very sensitive, but also very accurate.
The AK was built as more of a machine gun, with a heavier round that will peice a concrete wall and maintain killing power. The selctor switch was ordered: safe, full, semi, with the semi-auto position being more difficult to engage. It had worse accuracy, and perfomed much better when cleaned, but it was designed to be reliable. It could be dirty, go wekks or months without cleaning, and it would still fire. Accuracy and speed would suffer, but it still fired. Also, the wood butt on the rifle was better for melee last-resort situations than the shattering fiberglass of the M16.

:-) :-) :-)
I almost fell off my chair laughing at that one