World War Two Era Weaponry in the Hands of ISIS in Sinai

Their is currently an insurgency being fought in Northern Sinai between the Egyptian military and security forces with ISIS’ branch “Wilayat Sainaa” (Sinai Province). We have found materials published by Egypt’s Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior that has listed some of the interesting gear and weaponry captured from ISIS. This includes World War Two era weaponry, DIY weapons, and what appears to be a single modified M1 helmet that could possibly have been the property of the Israeli Defense Forces once upon a time (this will be covered in a later article); this brings up the question: how much gear and weaponry were looted from battlefields by the locals during the conflicts between Egypt and Israel. In this article, we will present some of the rather exotic World War Two era weaponry while saving the DIY materials for a future article.

(Note: While World War Two era weaponry is quite a broad term that encompasses firearms still being used by modern-day armies such as the M2 Browning and the DShK heavy machine guns; this article will focus on small arms that are no longer in production, extremely rare to be acquired on the civilian and black markets and are not modern-day replicas.)

In a previous article published in late 2019, an MG-34, along with what could possibly be a French M1892 Berthier carbine and a Parker Hale Enforcer were seized by Egyptian security forces from smugglers in “South Sinai Governate” in 2014. The possibilities of how that MG-34 ended up with smugglers in Sinai are numerous. In the 1948 Arab Israeli war, also known as “War of Independence” or “El Nakba” (The Calamity in Arabic), both sides did what they could to acquire small arms and vehicles. Egypt scavenged the former Battlefields of World War Two within its borders, as well as placed purchase contracts with European countries specifically Italy, while Israel had the backing of the Soviet Union at that time and Czechslovakia played a major role as a training ground for the nascent IDF and supplier of World War Two surplus weaponry especially captured arms from Nazi Germany. The MG-34 7.92×57mm machine gun could have at one point belonged to an Egyptian force (Egypt had massive stockpiles of 7.92×57mm and did use Mauser rifles along with Lee-Enfields bolt action rifles) or possibly Israeli. The weapon might have been supplied to Egypt after the Six-Day War of 1967 but it would be extremely unlikely that it would see any action. Perhaps the MG-34 was acquired by Palestinian Fedayeens since the beginning of their conflict with Israel and was smuggled into Sinai.

Fig 1.1 MG-34s were extremely common in Israel and saw action beyond the war of 1948. (Source: ARES CONMAT)

Fig 1.2-1.5  Screenshots from a video showing weapons captured from ISIS; Egyptian soldiers found a hideout belonging to ISIS with what appears to be either an MG-42 or an M-53/MG3 pattern machine gun along with SA-7 Strela MANPADS (Anti Air Missile Launcher) and other equipment. The video was published 9 May, 2020 but it could be from a much earlier date. (Source: ARES CONMAT)

As of the time of this article’s publishing Silah Report could not find any historical photographic evidence of Egyptian soldiers using the MG-42, but it is highly expected that Egypt could have acquired a large number during the 1948 War or from Warsaw Pact countries after the Six-Day War. There is another theory that Egypt might have acquired Yugoslavian-made MG-42s designated as M-53 but there is no solid evidence for that as of now. The only picture we have for it being used in service is a picture that was probably taken in 2013 at the latest, showing Egyptian troops in the Western Desert with one of them carrying an MG-42/M-53. Some conscript troops do end up with surplus gear such as East German military helmets and West German M40 Stahlhelms (seen exclusively with Republican Guards in official ceremonies mid 20th century). The presence of surplus gear might indicate that Egypt does have surplus Wolrd War Two weaponry as well in its armories.

Fig 1.6 An Egyptian conscript at the right corner of the photo wearing an East German Military helmet (Possibly M1956 variant). The helmet was never spotted in any conflict Egypt participated in or any footage from the 20th century nd while not a World War Two piece of equipment it is interesting.  (Source: Facebook)

Fig 1.7 Conscripts assigned to the Republican guard during 2011’s Revolution that saw Egypt full into almost total anarchy. Notice what appears to be a mixture of Wz67 helmets of Polish origin and also what appears to be M40 West German helmets. (Source: via warrelics.eu)

Fig 1.8  Note in the photo that there are some troops wearing the “Splattered Eggs” camo, which signifies that the photo could possibly be pre-2013. To the left of the crouching soldier lies another in prone position holding an MG-42 / M-53. This is the only picture available (at least digitally) showing the firearm in use by Egyptian troops. (Source: ARES CONMAT)

Fig 1.9 Egyptian Security forces managed to neutralize an ISIS unit and on them, they found a Mauser variant rifle along with a Lanchester 9×19mm submachine gun. The tubular object is very likely an IED. (Source: Egypt’s MOI)

The Lanchester 9×19mm submachine gun and Mauser should not come as a surprise given that both were used extensively by Egypt in the 1940s and 50s. During the 1956 Suez Crisis Egypt was forming local militias and arming its population as it expected that the Anglo-French invasion force would advance towards Cairo. Port Said had small arms caches all over the city, which the British and French troops scoured the city looking for. The Lanchester submachine guns could have also been used by Egyptian or Israeli troops during The 1948 war.

Fig 1.10 Egyptian soldier post-1952 Revolution-Coup holding a Lanchester SMG. (Source: ARES CONMAT)

Fig 1.11. Egyptian Auxiliary Police with a Stalhelm and a British broad-brim helmet (Source: ARES CONMAT)

 

Fig 1.12 In a raid carried out by Egyptian security forces, they managed to capture a DP-27/28. The DP-27, along with the belt-fed variant the RP-46 are somewhat common in the rural south of Egypt, where tribalism and gun ownership mix. (Source: Egypt’s MOI)

There have been claims (and other erroneous statements about weaponry) that the Egyptian army used the 7.62×54Rmm DP-27 light machine gun in its campaign in North Yemen’s Civil War (1962-1970), but there is no solid proof of that. The Russian DP-27, however, was used in an Egyptian War movie about 1967 made in 1970, but that is not an indication of it being issued to troops en masse, given that Egypt had also acquired significant amounts of RPDs prior to the Suez Crisis.

Fig 1. 13. A DP-27 owned by a southern Egyptian. (Source: Youm7 Newspaper)

Fig 1.14 An RP-46 owned by a civilian. (Source: Youm7 Newspaper)

Fig 1.15 A female arms dealer arrest in the governor of Beni Souef. Apparently, she had a DP-27 found with her at the time of the arrest. (Source: Sayedaty Magazine)

Fig 1.16 Last but not least, a still from a video published by Egypt’s MOD showing captured weaponry from ISIS in its ongoing operations, among the F1 grenades lies what appears to be an RG-42. Such grenade was never seen in use by the Egyptian Armed Forces. As of now, no records or reports or even photographs were found. (Source: Egypt’s MOI)

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