Hitler is said to have coined the phrase “Sturmgewehr” or “assault rifle” after hearing glowing reports about the weapon from his panzer commanders on the Russian Front. This is somewhat apocryphal. A little back story is needed here. The “submachinegun” designated MK42B was very similar to the MP-43. It was said to be inaccurate and Hitler rejected it on two previous occasions. Troop trialed in some numbers, it was obvious that a closed bolt version of the MK42B would be ideal. This eventually became the MP-43. The improved rifle performed beyond expectation, but there was some trepidation as to how to sell it to a touchy madman who was already quite vocal about developing a 7.9 m/m Mauser semi-automatic battle rifle to combat the American M-1 Garand. To him, the 42B was just another submachinegun firing an expensive and supply system stressing new round.
There was a full court press for the MP-43’s adoption, but Hitler wasn’t listening to the designers. He changed his mind about the rifle almost purely by chance. He became aware of the MP-43’s amazing success during an award ceremony for Generals Brock, Wicking, and Lowrich in September 1943. The Furer was known to grant special favors to his best men and he asked, “So then…this is your moment. You may ask for one thing for your men. Anything from one of these delicious knishes to long woolen winter underwear. What do they need?”
The generals took no time to think about it and said, “Dude, totally re-equip our divisions with the new select fire (MP-43) rifle. That would be suuuper sweeet.”
Hitler was all like, “Bros? Really? I didn’t sign off on any new rifle. WTF? Doesn’t anybody listen to me anymore? Ach! I’m so depressed. I think I will kill everyone.”
The Generals sensed the danger but dodged the insinuation with an exuberance that swept up their leader. “Check it hombre. This is how Aryans get shit done! Give me a Nazi high five! Now down low! Who-D-Nazi? You-D-Nazi! Listen, jefe, we super need to make a pile of these things—like, yesterday. There was a battle group under the command of General Scherer, you remember him, beard, round glasses, bit of an ass kicker… His troops were cut off, encircled for months, but because of these rifles they were able to hold out against horrific odds. A squad of men laying down the fascism with an MP-43 can take on and destroy a platoon of Reds in a freak’n snap, dude. Don’t skimp on the bullets, though. Maybe we ought to come up with some better swag for carrying the magazines, too.”
Hitler stared off into space as he imagined Russian blood in the snow. In his vision Soviet bodies littered the ground, steam rising from their wounds. German SS troops check the stiffs as they emerge from the woods and advance toward their final, war winning objective. They reload their assault rifles and share cigarettes. They might be too relaxed… Ten unseen Ruskies make a break for it! They fire their Nagant rifles but hit nothing. A single Nazi aims his MP-43 and cuts them all down in one sweep of his muzzle. A Tiger tank rolls by with nothing left to shoot at. The Nazi troops mount a halftrack. A lone sign stands by the road, its arrow pointing to Moscow, 1 kilometer.
The Furer came to his senses and let out a slow, “Whoaaa, I see it now, but this new rifle was not the plan. The G-43 and FG-42 are, were the future. Albert Speer himself said he would deliver a beat down on anyone wasting any resources on rifles not already in development. He is going to have a flipping cow over this. You don’t want to see that man get his nickers in a twist. He just goes on and on. Even the dog hates him.”
The generals pressed their advantage while they still had it. “Nah, nah, fuck him. Listen to the dog. Forget the middle man. This new gun is sick yo. You feeling me? It changes the game. Give us the MP-43 and we’ll go to Moscow. We’ll bring home their pennant and Stalin’s head on a platter. Hundred percent. That’s what’s up. You gotta do this for us. You said it yourself!”
Hitler fist bumped with the men and broke into a wide grin. “Word to the fatherland! Am I right? Awww, you guys are the best! You got it. MP-43s for everybody. What can I say? You tell Albert, though. That’s my price. Don’t foul this up. Take some knishes with you. He loves them. They are surprisingly hard to get.”
Hitler was all smiles but he was thinking, Daaaaamn, I dropped the ball on these new rifles. We’ll keep calling it a machinepistole or machinekarabiner until we can come up with something that describes what it can do.
The World’s Assault Rifles (2010) states that it was actually a General Jaschka who coined the phrase “sturmgewehr” on or about October 16, 1944. (p. 357) That little bit of military marketing sealed the rifle’s mystique forever. Hugo Schmeisser was vindicated with three letters: StG. The new weapon wasn’t an MP anymore, but it wasn’t exactly a rifle either which is why it did not get a G or K prefix. However, Hitler was quite right about ammunition scarcity. It is also true that the German high command was vindicated in secretly maintaining development and limited testing of the rifle even after Hitler’s direct order to end the rifle program. Had they followed Hitler and Speer’s orders, the German Army would never have been able to get the StG-44 rifle into production. As it was they made over four hundred thousand in the last year of the war. This might seem like a significant number, but it represents less than half of their total needs. They hoped to produce up to one million StG-44s or 80,000 units per month.
Except for cultural icons like Sam Colt, small-arms designers do not lead glorious careers like aerospace engineers who reach for the stars or medical researchers who cure disease. Put yourself in Schmeisser’s boots. He perfected a class of weapon that would change the face of warfare and nobody today knows who he was or they incorrectly think that he designed the MP-38 submachinegun that was commonly called a Schmeisser. He held a patent on the magazine, otherwise, he was not involved. His StG-44 was revolutionary in the extreme and influenced every assault rifle that followed. Schmeisser deserves his spot in the small arms designer’s Pantheon.