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| Sd.Kfz. 250 of SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 11 Nordland |
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| MG-42 Gunner of SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 49 De Ruyter |
The Maschinengewehr 42, commonly abbreviated MG 42, was designed in Nazi Germany and used extensively by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during the second half of World War II. It has a proven record of reliability, durability, simplicity, and ease of operation, but is most notable for being able to produce a stunning volume of suppressive fire. The MG 42 has one of the highest average rates of fire of any single-barreled man-portable machine gun, between 1,200 and 1,500 rpm, resulting in a distinctive muzzle report. The quality of design and workmanship meant long and extremely precise manufacturing processes, and eventually five factories were doing nothing but turn out MG 34s/MG 42s as hard as they could. This, the finest general-purpose machine-gun ever produced, is still in service with the German Bundeswehr in only slightly modified form as the 7.62 mm MG 3. Top image: photo taken in the north outskirts of Narva in early 1944. According to various sources, the photo is showing the Dutch SS-Untersturmführer Hermann van der Walle of Panzergruppe Saalbach armed with a MG 42 mounted on a Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track. Van der Walle was promoted to the rank of SS-Obersturmführer on January 30 1945. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: MG 42 gunner of the Dutch 23.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nederland during the Battle of Narva Bridgehead 1944. Commons: Bundesarchiv.
I was a mg-42 gunner in the norwegian army (we still use mg-3 7.62) i fired over 25000 rounds on it over a year and i cant remember it jammed once. Whether called the linoleum ripper by the soviets, the spandau by the british, hitler’s zipper by the americans, or hitlersage or bonesaw by its german users, the mg-42 machine gun proved its combat worth on every european battlefield.
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