Silenced Weapons

[privateryan]

Would like to know if silenced weapons were used in WW2. What were they made out of and exactly what do they do?

Also, in WW2, wouldn't the sound of the bolt probably be louder than the emission of the bullet? The gas release from the bolt would probably not warrant the use of a silencer, but still... i'd be curious to know if they were used in ww2.

Also, how prevalent are silenced weapons in actual modern war? I'd imagine not very... I think silenced weapons are mainly used by street thugs or mafioso hahaha, but correct me if i'm wrong!

[xeoran]

Silenced weapons seem to have only been used on covert missions- that is by commandos and spies. Britain had its Welwyn labs who produced kit like the silenced welrod pistol. They also produced a silenced version of the Sten machine gun that Otto Skorzeny liked so much he tried to get the German army to adapt it (and indeed the Germans did make a copy of the Sten). I believe OSS had a few silenced weapons as well but sadly my knowledge is lacking there. If I remember correctly on Jedbugh missions the British brought the silenced pistols and the Americans brought the bazookas!

[privateryan]

Awesome! That's really cool, so basically the Brits were the brains behind it. Also, what's OSS?! And who's Otto Skorzeny?

[xeoran]

privateryan said:

Awesome! That's really cool, so basically the Brits were the brains behind it. Also, what's OSS?! And who's Otto Skorzeny?

Well Britain certainly had a lot but nobody was really behind it. Its just I know the British aspect better. I wouldn't bet against American, Soviet and German experiments with silenced weapons. The OSS is the Office of Strategic Services, basicly the forerunner of the CIA (though rather more effective!). Otto Skorzeny was Germany's premier special forces soldier of the war. He was the man behind the liberation of Mussolini and the English-speaking German paratroops used in the Battle of the Bulge. He's a fascinating character- Skorzeny (in real life C.L. Werner) who did lots of the AE WW2 backround can tell you more, he loves him as his username shows!

[privateryan]

NOW you have me intriuged. What did the OSS do historically in World War 2??

Also, battle of the Bulge, is that the battle shown in Band of Brothers in the woods and the city following? What did the English-speaking German paras do?

Man, this thread can open up into like 300 different new threads!

[xeoran]

The OSS was an intelligence agency. So aside from counterintelligence they ran spies, resistance groups etc. They were heavily involved with certain outfits (The Mafia, Chinese Communists, French Resistance). In the ETO they worked with the British in Jedbugh teams (small groups of SOE and OSS agents) which provided heavy weapons, equipment and expertise to local resistance groups. They also ran several para military forces around the world. Google should bring up some interesting links.

The German speaking paras were dropped ahead of the German advance to sow confusion and capture vital areas by pretending to be American MP's. They were so effective rumours circulated that they were to kille Eisenhower and Ike spent several days in hiding! Most were captured and shot. The Bulge is the battle of the Ardennes in winter 1944 when the Germans unleashed a surprise attacks on green American units to break the lines between the Commonwealth and American forces with the overall aim of encirclement.

[skorzeny]

Otto Skorzeny was a colonel in the SS, who was instrumental in forming the Sonderkommando, a German equivalent of the exceedingly effective British SAS and commando forces. Among his remarkable career were such highlights as rescuing Mussolini after he was deposed by the Italian republic, seizing the Regent of Hungary, Admiral Horvthy when it was feared Hungary was going to sign a peace accord with the USSR, and very nearly capturing Marshal Tito (he had the right cave, but missed Tito by a few hours). He was so feared that the Allies labeled him 'the most dangerous man in Europe' and a rumor that he was going to try to snatch Eisenhower from his command post in Paris resulted in Ike being kept essentially under house arrest by very worried American forces for some time during the Battle of the Bulge. After the war he escaped from prison in Germany and made his way to Argentina, where he became bodyguard to Juan Peron (and apparently even more intimate with Eva).

He has a fairly black post-war history however. He is credited as the guiding force behind ODESSA and die Spinne, both organizations that functioned to smuggle SS veterans out of Europe, making no distinction between soldiers and war criminals. Die Spinne is also infamous for training many Arab nations' militaries and secret police forces, as well as alot of the 1960's era terrorist groups, particularly pro-Palestinian ones.

I adopted the name because he was clearly the intended character for Peter Cushing's unnamed SS officer in the horror film 'Shock Waves' (see the avatar). Like Skorzeny, Cushing's character is the commander and organizer of an elite special unit of the SS, in the film's case the 'Totenkorps' - a unit of undying, zombie-like creatures. He also bears a scar highly similar to that of the real Skorzeny.

The name has graced several other horror film villains. The vampire in the classic TV-movie 'The Night Stalker' is one Janos Skorzeny, while the chief werewolf villain in the series 'Werewolf' is also named Janos Skorzeny (and played by gravel-voiced Chuck Conners).