What do you think was the most effective weapon of all of world war II, considering all the facts about them? I think it was the karabiner 98k, it wasn't the best weapon in terms of rate of fire, but it was a reliable weapon that was accurate, and cheap to manufacture. It is amazing how they produced nearly 15 million karabiner 98k rifles.
Assuming you're not counting *THE* bomb (which everyone would answer, so I'm sure you're not ) then I'd say either the Thompson Submachine Gun or ... maybe the use of grenades... they were more deadly than any "regular" gun.
By weapon I meant an infantry carried weapon, not bombs or rockets or planes or anything, just infantry carried weapons such as rifles and grenades and such. Sorry for not clarifying that in the original post, I would edit it, but I can't edit it for some reason.
Lee Enfield, yes the British Lee Enfield No4 Mrk1, that produced by over 1 milion, been used well by the Allied from '41 to the end of WW2. This nice time tested and battle hardened Enfield generation bolt action rifle didn't changed much in between the reign of Queen Victoria and the end of the Korean War, some 25 variants been used. No4 Mrk1 saw the entire War since '41. Rate of fire was enviable, 1 round/sec Max or 20 rounds/min standard with high muzzle velocity along with accuracy was not a matter of joke at the battle field! WW2 photo lovers may oftenly found photos like a bren gunner or a machine gunner at his pit acompanied by a couple of infantry men with Lee Enfields. A 60 degree right hand bolt rotation and a 10 rounds mag gave a superior rate of fire for the multiple targets. Shock wave that produced by a .303 is even deadly if you just miss the target center. No4 Mrk 2, best known for its sniping accuracies with No 35, 3.5X scopes. It thus regarded as the best sniper rifle of WW2. Many of us are coming with other famous infantry machines like Germans Mouser (8mm) or Stg 44, American Garand M1 or of the Red Army's Tokarev or famous Mosin Nagant, all but admits that the overall performer was the No4!
Instead of saying the bomb or an actual military weapon I will the most effective weapon was the work Turing and others did to crack Enigma and the other cyphers. At that point the Germans should have just sent their messages and relays in plaintext because they were telegraphing every single move to their opponents. The battles still had to be fought but what a strategic advantage it is to know exactly when and where your enemy is coming from.
Now that I think of it, the cracking of the ciphers was an extremely important strategic advantage. Being able to listen in on your enemies communications is a much more powerful weapon than any rifle or grenade. Thanks for showing your opinion, it really is a clever thought.
Well .. obviously cracking of cyphers kept the potentiality of its own, in the field of military technical strategy, but here for This thread I'm in a dilemma from the mechanical points of view .. !! ..
One that likely requires mentioning is likely the PPSh-41. It had a 71-round drum or 35-round magazine. It fired a relatively flat-shooting and powerful cartridge. Most importantly, it could be, and was, produced in massive quantities. The MP-40 also is worth some mention as it sort of was the first of its kind; mass-produced, second generation submachine-gun. It was also produced in large numbers and was an effective piece for the type of war waged by the Germans.
I think the bombings were one of the most significant things. It affected larger portions of the population, civilians, and did all kinds of destruction that lasted long after the war and required a lot to rebuild and repair.
When I read the question the first thing that popped into my head was "the servicemen." I know that's a history buff, love the military, military family answer. But, I'm often told that at some point during the war the Allied armies simply took out certain air forces because there was a lack of skilled and trained pilots etc on the axis side towards the end of the war. Does this apply elsewhere? I'm sure i does on some level.
