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During World War One and Two, most of the European armies viewed handguns, primarily as badges of rank for officers. The U.S. military viewed the handgun as a valuable weapon in its own right and issued pistols and revolvers in greater numbers than most other nations of this period.

This is not to suggest that all, or even most, of the servicemen of World War Two were armed with handguns. In the U.S. Army handguns were widely issued to officers, non-commissioned officers, members of crew served weapons, aviators, tankers as well as a variety of other types of personnel.

The various Tables of Organization and Equipment did not call for the wide-spread issue of handguns. The basic theory being that the primary weapon was the rifle or carbine. In real life, most infantrymen felt otherwise and it was not unusual for many GIs to obtain (by fair means or foul) a handgun of some type. Officially the tolerance to this practice varied depending on the attitude of the commanding officer. During training or when stateside, the regulations were strictly enforced. In combat situations, it was left to the officer in charge. As one combat veteran stated, “We were too busy trying to stay alive to worry about whether or not somebody was supposed to be carrying a pistol.” Another veteran stated, “The attitude has always been, ‘If I get in a jam bad enough to need my pistol, I can always worry about regulations after I have survived.”

Not all of the handguns used unofficially were government issue weapons. A number of privately procured pistols and revolvers, as well as battlefield captures found their way into the combat zones regardless of the regulations are were put to good use.

Not all handguns found themselves used in anger, many soldiers carried a pistol for a much needed measure of security. As stated by Colonel John George in his Book “Shots Fired in Anger.”

“My own pistol was a constant source of comfort to me after dark and I always had it in my hands. There is no room in a foxhole to wield a rifle against an assailant who is inside the hole with you. The only answer is a pistol.”

The need for handguns in modern warfare has been the subject of hot debate over the years. People in and out of the military have argued that a handgun is not a valid weapon for a infantrymen. Most combat veterans have an entirely different opinion…

“Theorists have been knocking down handgun usefulness for centuries, and staff officers, officially armed with handguns, have been taking them away from GIs for just as long, and the ever practical fighting soldier has continued to beg, borrow, or steal a handgun for his personnel protection right up to this day…The remarkable thing is just how often you can turn a soldier upside down, and---WHOOPS!---a loaded pistol falls out before the loaded dice, both being carried to glean some slight advantage from a not too munificent fate.”

“The bayonet has been reduced to the size of a heavy hunting knife, and bayonet practice is kept on the training schedule as a morale-building factor. Now I ask you: throw a bayonet, scabbard, and the front stud from the end of your rifle on a scale and balance it against…a handgun, loaded mind you---and I’ll eat my hat if the handgun doesn’t weigh less!”

Without question, the most famous United States military handgun of the 20th Century is the Model of 1911 .45 pistol and its variants. Produced by the legendary John M. Browning and developed by the Colt Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, the M1911 is known to several generations of Americans as the “.45 Automatic” or simply, the “.45.”

The M1911 was developed in response to serious problems encountered with the .38 caliber revolvers used in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War and in the subsequent Philippines Insurrection. The .38 Long Colt cartridge failed miserably in combat, and the situation was so bad that the antique .45 caliber Model of 1873 Single Action Army revolver was recalled from storage, refurbished and reissued for use. The old black powder .45 Colt cartridge was a formidable man-stopper, although the antiquated single action design left much to be desired.

With the end of the Philippines Insurrection, the War Department requested a replacement for the unsatisfactory .38 caliber revolvers. The government actually wanted to get away from revolvers in general and sought a semiautomatic pistol chambered for the .45 caliber cartridge. After extensive trails, the Model of 1911 Pistol, chambered for the .45 Automatic Colt Pistol (ACP) cartridge was adopted.

The M1911 pistol was manufactured by Colt from 1911 onwards and by the Springfield Armory in 1914 and 1915. By the time of the American entry into World War One, the small pre-war Army and Navy had been equipped with the M1911 and production had slowed to a trickle. With the rapid expansions of the American military machine, the demands for pistol production soon overwhelmed the available supply. Colt stepped up production of its pistol, but the Springfield Armory was overloaded with production of the M1903 rifle. Plans were quickly made to produce the M1911 by other firms. However, the only other company to turn out the M1911 in any real numbers was Remington-UMC, which produced 21,000 M1911s during WWI.

By the time of the Armistice of November 11, 1918, 60% of the Doughboys in France were armed with the M1911. The Colt proved to be an outstanding military handgun, where its potent short range stopping power and reliability proved invaluable. After the war, many M1911s found their ways stateside in the duffle bags of the AEF, but there remained adequate numbers in inventory to meet the needs of the postwar U.S. military.

During the inter-war years the decision was made to modify the original Colt design by changing the configuration of the trigger, hammer and grip as well as slight modifications to the frame of the M1911. The M-1911A1 was adopted into service in June of 1926.

Upon the entry of the U.S. into World War Two, Colt stepped up its production of the M1911A1 as well as awarding contracts to several other companies to produce the M1911A1 in bulk, these were:

Remington-Rand 900,000
Colt 400,000
Ithaca Gun Company 400,000
Union Switch & Signal 50,000
Singer Company 500

In addition many M1911s were pulled out of storage and were rebuilt or overhauled by the Ordnance Department (this consisted of replacing worn parts and refinishing the pistol with the standard Parkerizing finish).

A leather hip holster, the Model of 1912, was adopted soon after the introduction of the M1911. This had a full flap and was made with either the standard grommet or a swivel attachment. The swivel attachment was soon removed from service (following WWI). Altogether some 3,000,000 M1912 holsters were made during WWII. Another holster issued with the M1911 was the M-7 Shoulder Holster. This was used by aviators, tank crewmen and by many officers. The last accessory issued with the M1911A1 was the magazine pouch. This canvas webbing pouch held two spare magazines under either a double fastener flap (the 1918 issue) or a single fastener flap (WWII issue). Both saw service in WWII.

The M1911 and M1911A1 have often been criticized as being heavy, awkward and inaccurate, these comments are true, to a certain extent. The M1911 is also very reliable and possessed of a great deal of stopping power and, in the end, that was what the GI was looking for.

After World War Two, the M-1911A1 served with the post-war U.S. military into the 1980s. It is interesting to note that no M-1911A1 has been manufactured since 1945. The ones in service have been extensively rebuilt, multiple times.