The Colt 1911 Pistol by Leroy Thompson

Author:Leroy Thompson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The Colt 1911 Pistol
ISBN: 9781849088367
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Published: 2011-04-22T16:00:00+00:00

Training with the 1911 pistol at the US Naval Academy during 1943. (LOC LC-USW3-034949-D)

In September 1943, Lt Nels Lofgren, the copilot of a B-24 Liberator based in Alaska, shows how he fired his 1911 pistol at Japanese Zeros. (NARA 111-SC-337879)

Prior to jumping on the far side of the Rhine in March 1945, US paratroopers of the 17th Airborne Division show various methods of carrying the 1911 pistol. The kneeling soldier on the left has his pistol in a hip holster while the two standing officers in the center carry theirs in shoulder holsters. (NARA SC205688)

The M1911 played a key role in a number of engagements leading to awards of the Congressional Medal of Honor. In one case, Cpl Henry Warner of the Antitank Company, 2nd Battalion, 26th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, US Army, used his .45 to drive off a tank. On December 20–21, 1944, near Butgenbach, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge, Warner helped stop an attack by German panzers, knocking out two with his 57mm antitank gun. When the latter gun jammed a German tank came to within 5yd of Warner’s position, at which point the corporal drew his .45 auto and exchanged fire with the tank commander, driving the tank off. Warner was killed the next day after knocking out another German tank. He was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Another Medal of Honor winner, LtCol William O’Brien of the 1st Battalion, 105th Infantry, 27th Infantry Division, climbed aboard a US tank under fire to direct its assault on Japanese defenders who had his troops pinned down on Saipan. During the period June 20–July 7, 1944, O’Brien constantly exposed himself to danger by leading from the front, often amid heavy sniper fire. On July 7 O’Brien’s battalion and another US Army battalion were attacked by between 3,000 and 5,000 Japanese. To keep the morale of his troops up, O’Brien moved up and down the line, a .45 pistol in each hand, engaging the Japanese and shouting encouragement. Though seriously wounded and out of .45 ammunition, O’Brien continued to fight by manning a .50cal jeep-mounted machine gun. O’Brien was eventually overrun and killed, but by this time enemy bodies were heaped around him.

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