The regulations that applied to the Garands were: These were the “British Garands,” which in recent years have become highly sought after by collectors.ĭistinctive Marking of Non-Service Pattern Small Armsīritish military procedure stipulated that non-standard arms of all types be marked in a readily visible, distinctive manner. In all, a total of 38,001 M1 Garand rifles were shipped to England under Lend-Lease. Transfers were officially terminated at the end of June 1942. These transfers continued even after the declaration of war against Japan until a decision in March 1942 that all. After a second appropriation on October 28, 1941, a percentage allotment of current production was authorized.

The first appropriation was made on March 27, 1941, and authorized transfer from current production and existing stocks by random requisition.

Large quantities of M1 Garand rifles were to be transferred to England. Nearly 3 million rifles, carbines, machine guns, submachine guns, pistols and revolvers were shipped to England, the U.S.S.R., Free French forces, China, Canada and the Netherlands forces in the U.K.-with slightly more than 2 million of those sent to the British Empire. It was cited as “An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States.” Authorized under Lend-Lease was “Any weapon, munition, aircraft, vessel or boat.” An initial appropriation of $7 million was authorized to “lend” war matériel to Great Britain and other Allied nations, thus establishing America as the “Arsenal of Democracy” for the free world. Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act, permitting direct material support to Allied nations. M1917 rifles, Browning Automatic Rifles and machine guns were sent to England following the Dunkirk evacuation. President Roosevelt and Congress used a technical loophole in the neutrality laws to aid Britain, allowing the sale of “obsolete and surplus arms and equipment.” Large quantities of U.S. The rescue of 338,000 troops, without their arms, represented nearly the entire force that was expected to defend the island nation from German invasion. In May 1940, the British found themselves in dire straits following the battle of Dunkirk. From the onset of hostilities in September of 1939, America had remained officially neutral while clearly sympathizing with England. America joined the war against the Axis powers of Japan, Germany and Italy. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, changing the world forever. This article was first published in American Rifleman, April 2002.

M1 Garand Lend Lease Serial Numbers