Conflict catalog

Second World War: Weapons and Equipment

Global 1939-1945 conflict between the Allied Powers and Axis Powers.

The Second World War was a global 1939-1945 conflict fought across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Atlantic, and the Pacific between the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers.

This catalog tracks Second World War weapon systems when a source directly documents wartime service, capture, production, or fielding.

Connected entries should retain weapon-specific evidence rather than relying only on broad war histories.

19 weapon systems

Conflict Actors

Allied Powers / Axis Powers

Allied Powers

16 weapon systems in this catalog
  • Allied Powers

Axis Powers

4 weapon systems in this catalog
  • Axis Powers

Context

Status
Published catalog
Location
Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and global maritime theaters
Countries
Multiple countries
Regions
Europe, Asia-Pacific, North Africa, Atlantic, Pacific
Domains
land, air, maritime, artillery

Second World War equipment records should be limited to systems with direct source support for wartime service, capture, production, or fielding. Broad design history alone is not enough for a connected weapon entry.

Map

Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and global maritime theaters

Open map

Map data from OpenStreetMap contributors.

Weapons

Second World War Weapon Systems

Category

Aircraft & UAVs

Crewed aircraft, drones, and loitering munitions.

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C-47 Skytrain, Twin-engine military transport aircraft, Aircraft & UAVsAircraft & UAVsC-47 SkytrainTwin-engine military transport aircraftSide: Allied PowersRole: UnknownBuilt: Douglas Aircraft Company / United StatesThe Douglas C-47 Skytrain is the military transport derivative of the DC-3 airliner, built for cargo, personnel, paratroop, glider-towing, and medical-evacuation work. Allied forces used it heavily in the Second World War, and U.S. and South Vietnamese service later included transport, reconnaissance, psychological-warfare, and AC-47 gunship missions in the Vietnam War.

Category

Armored Vehicles

Troop carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, and protected mobility.

2/2
Daimler Dingo scout car, 4x4 armored scout car, Armored VehiclesArmored VehiclesDaimler Dingo scout car4x4 armored scout carSide: Allied PowersRole: Light reconnaissance, liaison, and protected observation vehicleBuilt: Daimler Company / United KingdomThe Daimler Dingo was a compact British 4x4 armored scout car produced by Daimler during the Second World War. Sources describe it as a lightly armored reconnaissance vehicle with a two-person crew, a rear-mounted 2.5-litre Daimler engine, pre-selector transmission, independent suspension, and the ability to reverse at speed, features that suited liaison, scouting, and battlefield observation roles.
M5 half-track, Half-track armored personnel carrier, Armored VehiclesArmored VehiclesM5 half-trackHalf-track armored personnel carrierSide: Allied PowersRole: UnknownBuilt: International Harvester / United StatesThe M5 half-track was an International Harvester-built U.S. armored personnel carrier family developed as a production counterpart to the M3 half-track for Allied wartime supply. War Department Lend-Lease shipment tables list M5-series personnel half-tracks furnished to Allied recipients during the Second World War, while U.S. armored-vehicle development records and production summaries identify International Harvester as the maker of the M5 and M5A1 personnel carriers.

Category

Artillery

Tube artillery, rocket artillery, and long-range ground fires.

8/11
105 mm Howitzer M3, 105 mm lightweight towed howitzer, ArtilleryArtillery105 mm Howitzer M3105 mm lightweight towed howitzerSide: Allied PowersRole: Light howitzer fire supportBuilt: Rock Island Arsenal / United StatesThe 105 mm Howitzer M3 was a U.S. lightweight towed howitzer built for airborne and infantry cannon-company fire support in the Second World War. Its shortened M2-derived tube, 75 mm pack-howitzer carriage ancestry, and M3A1 reinforced split trails produced an air-portable 105 mm weapon with less range than the standard M2/M101 lineage but documented Allied wartime service in Europe.
12 cm Granatwerfer 42, 120 mm towed heavy mortar, ArtilleryArtillery12 cm Granatwerfer 42120 mm towed heavy mortarSide: Axis PowersRole: Heavy mortar fire supportBuilt: Waffenwerke Brunn / Nazi Germany / German-occupied CzechoslovakiaThe 12 cm Granatwerfer 42 was a German 120 mm heavy mortar copied from the Soviet PM-38 pattern after German forces encountered captured weapons on the Eastern Front. German references and surviving imagery place the GrW 42 in Second World War Axis service, where it gave infantry units heavier indirect fire than smaller 8 cm mortars while using a towable two-wheel carriage.
D-25 122 mm tank gun, 122 mm tank and self-propelled gun family, ArtilleryArtilleryD-25 122 mm tank gun122 mm tank and self-propelled gun familySide: Allied PowersRole: UnknownBuilt: Artillery Plant No. 9 / Soviet UnionThe D-25 was a Soviet 122 mm gun family adapted from A-19-line ballistics for heavy tanks and self-propelled guns. D-25T armed the wartime IS-2 heavy tank and later IS-series vehicles, with directly sourced use on Soviet IS-2s in the Second World War, Egyptian IS-3M tanks in the 1967 Six-Day War, and captured Israeli IS-3 fixed bunkers in the 1969 War of Attrition. D-25S was the semi-automatic self-propelled-gun variant associated with ISU-122S, and the family used separate-loading A-19/D-25 ammunition including OF-471 high-explosive fragmentation and BR-471 armor-piercing projectiles.
A-19 122 mm field gun, 122 mm towed corps gun, ArtilleryArtilleryA-19 122 mm field gun122 mm towed corps gunSide: Allied PowersRole: Soviet corps and reserve artilleryBuilt: Barrikady / No. 172 Plant / Soviet UnionThe A-19 is a Soviet 122 mm towed corps gun developed for long-range artillery fire, combining a high-velocity barrel, separate-loading ammunition, and an approximately 20 km range. This entry tracks direct Soviet Second World War service along with conservative modern conflict evidence: pre-war Yemeni Army inventory available to Yemen battlefield parties and a photo/video-evidenced YPG/SDF A-19 in northern Syria.
160mm PM-43, 160 mm towed heavy mortar, ArtilleryArtillery160mm PM-43160 mm towed heavy mortarSide: Allied PowersRole: Soviet heavy mortar fire supportBuilt: Tulamashzavod / Soviet UnionThe 160mm PM-43, also known as the 160-PM-43 or MT-13, is a Soviet breech-loading heavy mortar developed from the idea of scaling up the 120 mm mortar family. Its hinged barrel let crews load a roughly 40 kg bomb from the rear, giving Soviet forces a short-range but very heavy indirect-fire weapon in the final stages of the Second World War before the longer-ranged M-160 replaced it in postwar Soviet service; open references also place Egyptian 160-PM-43 use in the 1967 and 1973 wars with Israel.
203mm M115, 203 mm towed heavy howitzer, ArtilleryArtillery203mm M115203 mm towed heavy howitzerSide: Allied PowersRole: Allied heavy towed artilleryBuilt: Unknown / United StatesThe 203mm M115 was the U.S. Army's 8 inch towed heavy howitzer lineage that entered wartime service as the M1/M2 family and later received the M115 designation. Official Army and museum material links the weapon to U.S. heavy artillery in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, Republic of China use during the 1958 Taiwan Strait crisis, and a captured Iran-to-Iraq-to-U.S. display example from the Iran-Iraq War and Gulf War.
3 remaining

Category

Infantry Weapons

Portable weapons used by soldiers and small units.

2/2
MG 34, 7.92 mm general-purpose machine gun, Infantry WeaponsInfantry WeaponsMG 347.92 mm general-purpose machine gunSide: Axis PowersRole: German general-purpose and vehicle machine gunBuilt: Waffenwerke Brunn / Nazi Germany / German-occupied CzechoslovakiaThe MG 34 was a German 7.92 mm general-purpose machine gun developed in the early 1930s and adopted as a standard infantry weapon before the Second World War. U.S. War Department manuals treated it as Germany's original standard dual-purpose machine gun, usable from bipods, tripods, antiaircraft mounts, and armored-vehicle installations; a 1968 Fleet Marine Force Pacific guide also listed the German MG 34 among enemy weapons captured in South Vietnam.
Webley Mk VI revolver, Service revolver, Infantry WeaponsInfantry WeaponsWebley Mk VI revolverService revolverSide: Allied PowersRole: Reserve service sidearmBuilt: Webley & Scott / United KingdomThe Webley Mk VI was Britain's definitive .455 top-break service revolver of the later First World War: adopted in 1915, built by Webley & Scott before Enfield No. 1 Mk VI production, and carried by British and Commonwealth officers, crews, airmen, and raiding parties. Museum sources tie Mk VI examples to First World War service, while NRA Museums notes continuing British troop use through the Second World War.

Category

Naval Systems

Warships, submarines, unmanned surface vessels, naval craft, and maritime combat systems.

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Morskoy Okhotnik (MO-type) submarine chaser, Small submarine chaser / patrol boat, Naval SystemsNaval SystemsMorskoy Okhotnik (MO-type) submarine chaserSmall submarine chaser / patrol boatSide: Allied PowersRole: Coastal anti-submarine, escort, patrol, landing-support, and mine-warfare boat in Soviet service.Built: Shipyard named after Kirov, Astrakhan / Soviet UnionMorskoy Okhotnik was a Soviet small submarine-chaser and patrol-boat family built for coastal anti-submarine warfare but used more broadly during the Second World War for convoy escort, patrol, landing support, mine-related work, and small-boat combat. The wooden-hulled MO-4 was the main wartime type, built at several yards including Astrakhan, and individual boats such as MO-103 were documented in Baltic anti-submarine actions.

Category

Support Equipment

Transport, logistics, recovery, command, engineering, and other enabling equipment.

1/1

Category

Tanks

Heavy armor built around direct fire, protection, and battlefield shock.

1/1
M4 Sherman, Second World War medium tank family, TanksTanksM4 ShermanSecond World War medium tank familySide: Allied PowersRole: Allied medium tank family used for armored maneuver, infantry support, defensive holding, and anti-armor fighting across Second World War theaters.Built: Fisher Tank Arsenal; Detroit Tank Arsenal / United StatesThe M4 Sherman was the principal U.S. medium tank family of the Second World War, built around mass production, mechanical reliability, and a turreted gun tank layout adaptable to multiple engines, hulls, guns, and specialist conversions. Allied armies used Shermans in every major theater, while U.S. industrial plants turned the design into a high-volume armored-vehicle standard.

Conflict Sources

This historical conflict record exists to support directly sourced weapon entries; it should not become a broad catch-all for systems without exact Second World War evidence.