Smuggled MG-34 Seized in a Raid by Egyptian Security Forces in Sinai

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While reviewing old articles on smuggled weapons and munitions to Egypt and to Sinai specifically, I came across an article on ”ONewsAgency” published on the 16th December, 2014, about the seizure of five hundred kilograms of Bango (a type of marijuana) and a variety of small arms in “South Sinai Governate”. One of the weapons photographed was the Second World War-vintage MG-34, 7.92 × 57 mm, general purpose machine gun.

Figure 1.1 The MG-34 (far left) along with what appears to be a Lee-actioned bolt-action rifle, with a .303 magazine – possible a Parker Hale Enforcer, a selection of hand grenades, a French M1892 Berthier carbine (7.5 × 54 mm) and an AKM-pattern rifle with a side-folding stock. It also appears two tank shells were also smuggled into Sinai (Source: ONews Agency)

The Maschinengewehr 34 was produced by Rheinmetall , in Germany, it first saw combat during the Spanish Civil War and remained in German use throughout the Second World War. Chambered in 7.92 × 57 mm it became Germany’s primary machine gun fulfilling both light and medium machine gun roles. The weapon was light with good accuracy, reliability and a high rate of fire it proved to be an effective support weapon. It was supposed to be replaced by the less complex and easier to manufacture MG-42, nevertheless, it remained in service until the very end of the war.

Following the war the weapon saw action again during the first Arab-Israeli War, Chinese Civil War, First Indochina War, the Vietnam War, and even during the early days of the Syrian Civil War – which goes someway to explaining its presence in the photograph above. It remained in service with a number of countries through to the end of the 20th century, with Norway issuing their Heimevernet (Home Guard) with a MG34s rechambered in 7.62 × 51 mm and remained in service into the mid-1990s. The MG-34  seized in Sinai, pictured above, was potentially used by the German Afrika Korps during the North African campaign or possibly entered the region in the late 1940s from Czechoslovakia via Israel.

Figure 1.2 German Afrika Korps soldiers in a foxhole using a fixed “MG-34” with a optic (Source: Historicalsocietyofgermanmilitaryhistory.com)

The most likely scenario, just as with what happened in Syria during the early days of the civil war. Libyan revolutionaries stormed military warehouses and found a number of dusty caches full of World War Two-era weaponry. Finding no use for them after their ammunition became scarce in their region, the sold the weapons and some ended up being smuggled into Egypt. Regionally 7.92 × 57 mm is increasingly rare and not easy to find. Had ISIS or a militant group got their hands on the MG-34, it would likely either have been rechambered to a more readily available calibre, if the facilities and technical skills were available, or scrapped.

Sources:

  1. Shift, Night. “بالصور .. ضبط اسلحة متعددة و500 كيلومخدرات فى حملة امنية بجنوب سيناء.” ONA – ONews Agency – وكالة أنباء أونا, <onaeg.com/?p=2092128>
  2. MG34 And MG42 in Norway, Post WW2, Small Arms Review, <www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=1451>

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