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View Full Version : Well, when it came to USMC small arm "The Pacific" Mini Series Almost Got It Right!!!



Southron
01-03-2015, 05:06
I have "The Pacific" DVD set and I did note that in the 1st disc that covers the fighting on Guadalcanal, some of the Marines do have regular M1903's while a few have O3A3's (which weren't available) until several months later, after the Guadalcanal Campaign was over.

What took my breath away was that one Marine had a Reising Submachine Gun. This is the FIRST time I have ever seen A Reising in any movie. That took my breath away because someone really knew what arms the Marines had on Guadalcanal. My understanding is that the Marines on Guadalcanal were so dissatisfied with their Reisings, they threw most of them away.

Then when the Marines are on the train, resuming their training in Australia after they have been pulled off of Guadalcanal, they are discussing the merits of the '03 Springfield vs their newly acquired M-1 Garand. According to the dialogue tht goes something like: "the Springfield is more accurate while the Garand has 8 instead of five rounds."

I did note that the Marines on Guadalcanal did have M1928 Thompson SMG's with the drum magazines while while the actor portraying Pvt. Robert Leckie had an M1A1 Thompson on Peleiu. Again, this is historically correct.

So, except for the O3A3's boner, the Mini series armorer and director(s)r did a pretty good job of portraying the arms used by the Marines in "The Pacific."

Although the actor portraying Eugene Sledge says in the Mini Series that he "will never put on a uniform again after the war" the real Eugene Sledge was a member of the 6th Alabama of the North-South Skirmish Association, and he shot Civil War rifle-muskets in competition for many years!

www.n-ssa.org

He often attended Skirmishes held in Brierfield State Park, not too far from his home:

http://www.brierfieldironworks.com/

Rick the Librarian
01-03-2015, 05:44
All I saw in the Guadalcanal segment were M903A3s, but maybe I should take another look.

louis
01-04-2015, 02:40
Watch the old B&W movie "Guadalcanal Diary" you'll see the Reising sub machine gun in a few scenes

Southron
01-04-2015, 04:12
Well, I had forgotten about the "Guadalcanal Diary" diary movie-haven't seen it in 40 years. I will definitely get a DVD from Amazon and view it again. I remember that William Bendix was in it.

Rick the Librarian
01-04-2015, 06:11
Also, a very young Richard Jaeckel, as well.

rayg
01-04-2015, 11:53
Guadalcanal Diary, 1943