|
The Japanese, like every other nation in WWII, used ammunition with corrosve primers. The Type 99 (7.7) had chrome plated barrel bores so they didn't rust, but with the Type 38 (6.5) there was no need for anyone to do anything to the barrel to make it rust except to leave it uncleaned for a day or so.
The Navy guys got a lot of souvenirs simply because they had a place to put them. In spite of wondrous stories, not many troops captured rifles in combat and then carried them around for a year or more until the war ended. An infantryman has plenty of his own gear to carry without toting rifles, machineguns, helmets, etc. as souvenirs. (Pistols were another story; easy to carry, many were brought home by the men who captured them.)
There was plenty of trade between Marines/soldiers and the Navy. The sailors had money and access to abundant food and other supplies. The ground pounders had souvenirs up the wazoo. The result was to be expected.
The oddest souvenir I know of was brought back by a sailor on a destroyer. It was a 37mm Japanese tank gun. The thing was about 8 feet long and darned heavy. I asked the guy how in heck he managed to get it back. He told me that he just stood it in a corner of the engine room and painted it gray. The only comment he got on it was from an officer who told him to clean "the steam pipe."
Jim
|