French Soldier with the 3rd French Division taking a break while advancing into Southern Germany in the Rheinland-Pfaltz area - March 1945

 


French Soldier with the 3rd French Division taking a break while advancing into Southern Germany in the Rheinland-Pfaltz area - March 1945

Note Adrian helmet with engineer badge, M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) laying beside him, and Springfield M1903 Mark I rifle.

The M1903 Mark I rifle was a special variant of the Springfield M1903 designed during WW1 to take the “Pedersen Device”, some 150,000 Mark I’s were made between 1918-1920

The M1903 Mark I rifles were stored until 1937 when they were issued alongside standard M1903 Springfield rifles. During depot repairs some of the unique Mark I parts like the stock and other parts were replaced with standard M1903 parts, but the ejection port for the Pedersen device remained in the receiver side wall.

The Pedersen device was designed to be inserted in place of the bolt in a M1903 Mark I rifle that allowed it to fire a .30 caliber/7.62mm pistol type cartridge in semi-automatic mode, however WW1 ended before they were sent to Europe and the contract was cancelled in 1919 after production of some 65,000 devices.

The Petersen devices, magazines, and ammunition were placed in storage until 1931 when the Pedersen devices were ordered destroyed, fewer than 100 escaped destruction to become extremely rare collectors' item today.

LIFE Magazine Archives - Ralph Morse Photographer


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