Simone Segouin, the “charming hoyden”

[bru888]

Simone Segouin.jpeg (255.09 KiB) Viewed 798 times

We probably have used this photo in our custom designs. I tried to find it in the Free France campaign but could not; I know that I have see it before.

The woman here (barely of age; she was only 18 years old when this picture was taken) just died several days ago at age 97.

Read about her: Simone Segouin, Famed French Resistance Fighter, Dies at 97

[bru888]

It took a bit of digging, but I found out from here that "Boursier," who is not identified properly in the article that I linked to above, is the same "Lieut. Roland" who was chief of the resistance group that Simone Segouin had joined. An editing error initially omitted his last name.

[bru888]

This is interesting. (Well, maybe it's just a slow day for me. )

Picture of a Picture.jpg (90.06 KiB) Viewed 789 times

It's a photo of the guy — well, his camera at least — who was taking this other famous picture of Simone Segouin:

Simone Segouin 2.jpeg (267.97 KiB) Viewed 789 times

The sarge in the background has moved away so the two photos are not instantaneous, but close enough.

[Epperaliant]

Isn't holding the MP40 by the magazine kinda bad for jamming?

[bru888]

Isn't holding the MP40 by the magazine kinda bad for jamming?

Hmmm. Perhaps. But unless my name was Lieut. Roland Boursier, I would not have presumed to mention it to her!

[terminator]

She becomes one of the few women to participate in street fights, which gives her an atypical and respected place within the Resistance.
However, she never fought with the machine gun—taken from Germans—with which she posed on a photograph that had become famous.

[bru888]

Isn't holding the MP40 by the magazine kinda bad for jamming?

Apparently you are correct in that but not about Ms. Segouin.

One feature found on most MP 38 and MP 40 submachine guns is an aluminum, steel, or Margolit (a variation of Bakelite) resting bar under the barrel. This was used to steady the weapon when firing over the side of open-top armored personnel carriers such as the Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track. A handguard, also made of Margolit, is located between the magazine housing and the Margolit pistol grip. The barrel lacked any form of insulation, which often resulted in burns on the supporting hand if it was incorrectly positioned. The MP 40 also has a forward-folding metal stock, the first for a submachine gun, resulting in a shorter overall weapon when folded. However, this stock design was at times insufficiently durable for hard combat use.

Although the MP 40 was generally reliable, a major weakness was its 32-round magazine. Unlike the double-column, staggered-feed magazine found on the Thompson M1921/1928 variants, the MP 40 uses a double-column, single-feed version. The single-feed insert resulted in increased friction against the remaining cartridges moving upwards towards the feed lips, occasionally resulting in feed failures; this problem was exacerbated by the presence of dirt or other debris. Another problem was that the magazine was also sometimes misused as a handhold. This could cause the weapon to malfunction when hand pressure on the magazine body caused the magazine lips to move out of the line of feed, since the magazine well did not keep the magazine firmly locked. German soldiers were trained to grasp either the handguard on the underside of the weapon or the magazine housing with the supporting hand to avoid feed malfunctions.

MP_40_AYF_3.jpg (186.82 KiB) Viewed 743 times

German soldiers were told "Nicht die Magazine fassen!" (Don't grab the magazine!) This fellow was trained properly:

German soldier and MP 40.jpg (163.02 KiB) Viewed 743 times

[bru888]

Apparently you are correct in that but not about Ms. Segouin.

So, actually, if you look closely at those photos, she had her left hand above the magazine which is one of the two places where it would be alright to place that hand to support the gun.

This fellow demonstrates the wrong way and the right way for holding that gun near the magazine.

wrong way.jpg (105.46 KiB) Viewed 727 times

right way.jpg (30.79 KiB) Viewed 727 times

She had it right. As terminator said, she was the genuine article, not a pinup girl.

[terminator]

Youtube "Histoire : Simone Segouin, portrait d'une jeune femme dans la Résistance":https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WKQOiTvr8c