"BAR Teams US infantry" Topic

Trying to find info on how the second member of the team would be armed if at all. I'm using the warlord plastics so will use the BAR ammo pouches. Not sure what other equipment would of been carried ? My rule books and google have failed me.

Thank pinky.

I'm thinking he was just another rifleman assigned to carry extra ammo so give the guy an M1 Garand.

Sorry. I'll add, 29th d-day onwards

Thank you phlox

The assistant gunner for the BAR would have either a M1 Garand or the M1 Carbine. I think giving him extra BAR ammo pouches is fine.

Yeah, it's just a grunt. I'd be tempted to give him a Carbine to make him stand out visually a little bit more.

M1 rifle for the assistant BAR gunner (the only carbine in a standard infantry rifle platoon was with the platoon leader). The ammo bearer was also armed with an M1 rifle.

US Army Ground Forces Tables of Organization and Equipment: World War II, The Infantry Division 1940-1945 Volume 1/II, 2007 revised edition by J.J. Hays, pages 121-128.

Good point re: visual, though, Weasel.

By D Day + 1 I think guys were already exchanging the M1 for carbines or even Thompson's so I don't think it would be a problem with the carbine – IMO – but if you are doing a 'clean' unit it should be the rifle.
Cheers
BTW my BAR seconds have a mix of weapons and it doesn't effect their play.

so it ends up as open BAR

Late war Marine organization (On Paper ) would be a 13 man squad with 3, 4 man fire teams. each team with a Bar. The 13th guy is a sergeant. Wether it is the Marines or the army it isn't out of the realm of probability to have squads down to 7 guys and a Corporal in charge of all of them. Some Late war Ranger units also started adding a second BAR. The carbine gives an artistic difference to your guys. just like adding soft covers or berets in a unit. Trust me when artillery is flying around and you have a helmet, everyone wears one even while bitching about it. In the Infantry everyone carries ammo for Machine guns and mortars . Because they are your firepower. I think you can pretty much justify however you want to do your figures. There is some really great information on these pages and then just when you think your question is answered someone will chip in with the exception to the rule.

In of May 1944 the Army changed the TO&E and dropped the second BAR belt for the assistant. From then on the BAR assistant would be equipped just like all the other riflemen in the squad, M1 Garand, 10 pocket ammo belt and bandoliers with extra ammo.

No M1 carbines were authorized issue to rifle squads and were not popular with them either.

Most guys would be trading carbines (if they had them) for M1s, not the other way around. The Thompson were nowhere near as prevalent as the movies make them out to be. My Dad was a First Lt., when they got to France he swapped his carbine for an M1. Carbines were generally issued to guys who didn't shoot for a living, or radio operators and the like who were already lugging a lot of weight but even then a lot of guys preferred the M1 Garand.

The BAR was not a crew served weapon, assistants were there to help carry magazines but otherwise were riflemen. It was much like the British squad, where just about everyone carried some Bren mags.

Audie Murphy ( who was infantry ) used a carbine by preference.
But then most shooting of any real effect was at such short range the carbine had significant advantages. The stopping power (at short range) and mag capacity are higher.
It's a better gun for decisive combat.

In many squads there was no BAR team as such – the BAR man operated without an "assistant". The bipod was frequently removed and the weapon used more like a rifle than a machine gun. An automatic rifle ( gosh ).

Due to the fixed barrel you can't really equate BAR to a Bren gun. It was never intended to be a light machine gun.