| You might be thinking "What the hell?" right about now. That little tracked thing with the crank on the top is called a Goliath. It was a radio-controlled mini-tank with quite a lot of explosives in it. The controller would drive it into an enemy position (controlling it from a good vantage point) and then blow it up. However, while you may find that interesting, the best part of this photo is rather subtle. The soldier with his back to the camera in the foreground has, slung over his back, a G41(M)! It's amazing to see one of these rifles in the field. You may know what the G41(W) is, it lead to the development of the G43 rifle. However, during the trials for a semi-automatic rifle, the Germans contracted two companies, Walther and Mauser, to design rifles. The one pictured here is a G41 made by Mauser. It is an extremely complex rifle, with 18 springs and all sorts of moving parts. The neatest part is the charging handle, which can be seen at the rear of the receiver. To work it, you have to turn it up 90 degrees like a bolt action rifle. This came from the requirement that the rifles still be able to function if the gas system failed. Oh, and the rifle also uses a gas trap gas system (the G41(W) did as well). |
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