M1 carbine use on Guadalcanal?

[Tuna]

"...The Marines were treated as second best..." More by the Navy Dept. and their own higher-ups than anybody else. M1 Rifle wasn't adopted by the USMC until the Fall of '42.
"...in gas trap configuration..." Gone before The Rifle was in full production.

They would have adopted the M1 Garand sooner IF they had been given the chance to have it and it wasn't the higher ups in the Navy. It was the Army refusing to release it to them. That is why they had to use the Johnson rifle and were very surprised by it being as good as it was. If it had been a better bayonet platform they very well may have kept the Johnson but the thin barrel didn't support use of a bayonet very well.

[firstflabn]

They would have adopted the M1 Garand sooner IF they had been given the chance to have it and it wasn't the higher ups in the Navy. It was the Army refusing to release it to them.

That requires a little support.

[kb466]

Well, here is a little circumstantial support for the idea that the Seabees might have had carbines on Guadalcanal. I own an early Inland carbine-- 20951 with a 7-42 barrel excellent original condition. It came from the estate of either a "Marine officer" or a "Seabee officer". I believe that he was a Seabee officer because the estate also had a M1911A1 with clear plexiglass grips where the officer had placed photos of his wife-- I figured it was more likely a Seabee who would do this rather than a Marine. Anyway, here is evidence of an early carbine in the hands of a Seabee officer out in the Pacific. I can't say this is direct evidence of use on Guadalcanal, but it is possible date-wise-- just saying for what it's worth....
Bill M.

[Tuna]

No it is not. The man could have had that issued anytime after the Army landed on the island or later on when the Navy finally got the new weapons released to them. The weapons came from distribution points in the country and when an order came in the weapons were shipped out. There are no records of when a certain carbine came in and when it was finally shipped out to a unit. Early carbines very well could have been sitting on the bottom of the pile for quite awhile before being shipped out and that does make sense as a large order from the Navy could have emptied a distribution center of all their carbines as they would have taken many thousands at a time.

[emmagee1917]

Well , there WERE carbines on Guadalcanal , but the question was if they were issued to the Seabees . My good friend , Jim , was there and he says a FEW officers in the Marines had them for field trials . When they were pulled of of the island , the carbines were sent back in for examination . So I don't think any would have been CB issued at that time . This is why I thought maybe Reising Model 60s.
Chris

[tmark]

I know they were used on Okinawa. I have a pic of my Uncle in a foxhole in Okinawa during WWII posing with a carbine. He worked on B-29s as a mechanic.

[Southron]

Inland delivered their first production M-1 Carbines in June of 1942-so it is theoretically possible some carbines were used on Guadalcanal. If any were used on the island, there should be pictures in the National Archives of some of the troops (or Seabees) armed with carbines.

[Johnny P]

The 164th Infantry received M1 rifles while training at Camp Claiborne, LA in 1941 prior to Pearl Harbor. I've always wondered if any were in gas trap configuration.

I have a photo of Company K, 159th Infantry, California National Guard at the 4th Army maneuvers, Grand Mound, Washington, in 1940. Every man armed with a rifle has a gas trap Garand.

[jsaviano]

My Dad's Seabee unit (90th NCB) was issued carbines in 1943 I believe

[Tuna]

Inlands total production through June of 1942 was 382 carbines. Total through August 1942 when the battle for Guadalcanal started was 11708. All of these were taken under control of the Army. These would have been used by them with none left for any other branch.