Peleliu Palau Islands

[Rifleman]

This is one of the better videos I have seen of the M1 launching grenades in combat. I have never noticed in a video the sight being used much less installed. Anyone have a video showing otherwise?

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65...at-canned-food

[Rifleman]

And another, also getting at them with molotov cocktails. @ 2:05 Like that expression.
http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65...ee_machine-gun

[CPC]

nice, I like the mix of early (yellow) and late grenades. I believe that may be the first time I've noticed an adapter being used in combat. I have seen clips most likely from the same source of grenades being fired into buildings in the ETO.. I believe maybe an Aachen clip as well as some others. The proximity of the enemy was close in the film you posted, did you notice the trajectory as well as the soldier throwing grenades. thanks for sharing.

[Richard H Brown Jr]

Rifleman:

re Grenade launching with out the installed sight. Practice, Lots and Lots of Loverly Practice.

It was said that the M-79 grenadiers in Vietnam could eyeball a target and metally figure the angle for the shot and hit 9/10ths of the time on the first "THUMP".

R. Brown

[Rifleman]

Yea the guy throwing all the grenades made me nervous, I kept waiting for him to bounce one off as tree and into his buddies lap.... Lots of practice here, they where really getting into the japs for sure. notice the bar gunner working @ 2:15 in the second video.


13 Marines Use Fists And Rocks In All-Night Fight For Hill
By TSgt. Joseph L. Alii,
PELELIU (Delayed)— This is the story of Hill 154 and of 13 heroic Marines who fought, with rocks, grenades, boxes and bare fists to defend their strategic hill position against repeated attacks by numerically superior enemy forces the night of Sept. 19. Hill 154, a steep, barren coral peak protruding from the face of Suicide Ridge, fell to a Marine assault unit at dusk on the 19th, after hours of bloody fighting. The Japs' attempt to recapture it failed. The battle for Hill 154 started just about dawn. Supported by machine gun and mortar fire, a company commanded by Capt. Everett P. Pope of Wollaston, Mass., launched its initial attack. It was unsuccessful. "We tried to make it through a swamp," Capt. Pope related, "but couldn't get through." Capt. Pope's company had suffered 30% casualties during four days of fighting following, the landing. It lost more in that first attack on Hill 154. But that afternoon the Marines tried again. JAP FIRE HEAVY Jap mortars and field guns opened up on them from adjoining peaks, and after a fierce encounter, Capt. Pope and the remnants of his company reached their objective. But the victory had been costly, and the hard - won position was precarious. Because supporting units were pinned down by enemy fire, Capt. Pope had to bend his lines to protect the flanks. Hill 154 was exposed on three sides and only two officers and 11 men remained to defend the hilltop. The Japs started attacking shortly after dark. At first they tried to infiltrate Marine positions. Then they stormed the hill in groups ranging from 20 to 25. "There were Japs all around us," Capt. Pope said, "and every time a flare went up they opened up on us with small arms fire. It was after midnight when they started their real attacks." Some tried frontal attacks; others attempted to scale the clifflike sides. Each time the Marines opened up with everything they had —one light machine gun, several Tommy-guns and rifles and a limited supply of hand grenades. When the grenade supply threatened to run out, the Marines threw rocks at the attacking Japs. KEPT JAPS GUESSING "We would throw three or four rocks, then a grenade. The Japs didn't know which were which," one Marine said. Once, during the night, two Japs appeared suddenly at one side of the hill defended by 2dLt. Francis T. Burke of Scranton, Pa., and PlSgt. James P. McAlarnis of Hardburly, Ky. One of them bayoneted Lt. Burke in the leg. Infuriated, the officer resorted to the American style of fisticuffs and pounded the Jap into unconsciousness. Sgt. McAlarnis, meanwhile, went to work on the other with the butt of his rifle. They tossed the bodies over the embankment. Just before dawn, Sgt. McAlarnis noticed two Japs climbing the side of the hill. Out of hand grenades, he picked up a grenade box and threw it at the attackers. Then he opened up with his rifle. He later was wounded and evacuated. One of the most persistent of the tiny Marine contingent was PFC. John J. Maguire of Melrose, Mass. He was assistant machine gunner until the gunner was wounded.
Combat Correspondent
From then on he manned the gun himself. "The gun jammed after a couple hours of firing," said PFC. John S. DeLee of Dallas, Tex., "and after each burst Maguire had to eject by hand. In order to do that he had to expose himself to the Japs. Every time he went up, tbey threw grenades. The gun finally was blown off the tripod. "But that didn't stop Maguire. He merely placed the gun back into position, fired another burst, ejected the spent shells and waited for the Jap grenade to explode. He repeated that three times before he was wounded." Capt. Pope told how FFC. Philip A. Collins of Gardiner, Me., picked up Jap grenades before they exploded and threw them back. "He did that until one exploded in his hand. Then he picked up a rifle and used that until he was too weak to load the weapon." When dawn came on Hill 154, nearly every Marine had been wounded. But the Leathernecks had held their ground. Scores of dead Japs littered - the hillside, some only a few feet from the crest. Other Marines who helped defend the hill included: PFCs. George W. Batchelor, Buchanan, Mich.; Gene E. Schwein of Ulysses, Kans.; Harold B. Grieff of New York City; Edward August of Oakland, Cal., and William E. Gordon of Johnstown, Pa.

[Major Tom]

I've watched clips of GIs shooting rifle grenades from their shoulder. I was told that was painful because of the recoil.

[Ken The Kanuck]

Great videos, thanks for sharing.

KTK

[togor]

In the old BBC The World at War series there was an episode dedicated to the Pacific War and they used US footage from island combat. In one short clip an infantryman is firing a burst from his M1. A field mod that would get any of us a visit from the BATFE.