Reader Mihajlo sent me a couple cool photos of Yugoslav troops with Chauchats converted to 8x57mm. Here’s his commentary:
Here’s a picture from WW2 Yugoslavia I’d like to share with you. The guy on the right is holding a Dutch M.20 6,5 mm Lewis gun and the other guy is holding a Yugoslav Chauchat CSRG M1915/26 modification in 7,92x57mm. There is an interesting story about these Dutch Lewis guns. After the fall of Kingdom of Yugoslavia in April 1941. and occupation of Serbia by the Germans, some collaborator units appeared (SDK-“Serbian Volunteer Corps” ; SDS-“Serbian State Guard”). These units were not very reliable and they often smuggled weapons to resistance groups (especially the Yugoslav Army in Fatherland). Germans responded by giving these quisling forces weapons in calibers that were very rare in Serbia at the time: French MAS 36 rifles, MAS 38 submachine guns, FM 24/29 lmg, 1921 and 1928 Thompsons, Dutch Lewis guns.
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Thanks, Mihajlo! This type of conversion is something we don’t get to see very often at all.
Read the Original Article at Forgotten Weapons