T-26 Garand

[RedWest]

I am involved with the history of a parachute unit and this involves a lot of correspondence with the men who were at the "sharp end" during WWII. In one recent correspondence, I raised some personal observations made by Lt. Col. Robert Alexander mentioned, in the context of a report of one of their operations.

Here's what William T. Calhoun, a platoon leader in the 503d Parachute Regimental Combat Team on Noemfoor replied:

"When I first met Alexander he was a major. He came to Noemfoor with a sawed off M1 Garand. The weapon was being considered for paratroopers and tankers. He was quite sure he was presenting the perfect weapon. The Noemfoor operation was over. All nine of our regimental rifle platoon leaders were put on a test assignment to evaluate the weapon as a handier weapon to use in parachute jumping and tight quarters, and it used the regular M1 30-06 ammo. We learned as quick as we started testing, even in dark rain forrest, the muzzle blast was like a blow torch (it emitted about six inches of flame illuminating the position. All of us gave it a thumbs down. Major Alexander was very displeased with our report. I know it was tested by armored troops, but I do not know the results. "

So I googled a while to find out what the results were and came upon the hisory of the T-26 Tanker. The following text is from a defunct website (wapahani.com), reproduced at securityarms.com and the photo is from their great collection of reference photos.

The "Tanker Garand" is a "misnomer." During WWII two separate prototypes were developed for paratroop use. The first was the M1E5. The M1E5 had a short barrel and a folding metal stock. It was developed and tested in the Summer of 1944, but then abandoned because of the loud report and large muzzle flash from the short barrel.In the fall of 1944 the Pacific Warfare Board ordered a test quantity of 150 M1 Rifles to be shortened and tested for jungle and paratroop use. These conversions were rather crudely done in the Pacific Theatre of Operations, either in Australia or the Phillippines. A request was made that Springfield Armory manufacture these shortened M1s, and two were sent by air to the USA for testing.

When the Springfield Armory staff saw the improvised short Garands, they recognized that they were the same as the M1E5 but with a normal wood stock. Thereupon they assembled their own version, designated T26. After testing the same conclusions were drawn as before; the barrel was just too short to be practical. Thus only one T26 was ever made in the USA.

Of the two test rifles sent from the Pacific, one is in the Springfield Armory Museum. The location of the other, if it still exists, is unknown. The lone T26 was reported destroyed in testing at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland.

In the 1950's several entrepreneurs, including Robert E. Penney, Jr., acquired a great deal of Garand scrap including cut-in-half receivers and parts sets. They built perhaps ten or twenty thousand rifles by welding receiver halves together. This was crude, but it was the only way at that time to get a Garand outside of the Directorate of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM, now the Civilian Marksmanship Program, CMP). Robert Penney noted the short Garand at the Springfield Armory museum during a visit there and decided to meld his interest in tanks with his business interests, Alpine and National Ordnance, prime "remanufacturers" of Garands from Garand scrap. Penney decided that a short T26-type Garand would fit nicely in a tank turret, and coined the term "Tanker Garand." However, the short Garands that were tested by the Army during WWII were not intended for use by tank crews! Nevertheless, Penney's name for the T26-type rifle stubbornly stuck; few gun people recognize "T26" but nearly everyone has heard of the "Tanker Garand." Even now when M1s have been much more available, the popularity of a short Garand remains strong. Thus many have been made on good, original receivers.

Bless 'em All

* For those interested, the Report on the Paratrooper Operation is at corregidor.org/Bless%20'em%20All/Reports/Corregidor/usaffe_board_report_01.html