page_title: M1941 Johnson rifle
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: M1941 Johnson rifle / History
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Collectie / Archief&#160;: Fotocollectie Spaarnestad Onderwerpen Reportage / Serie&#160;: Nederlanders, strijders aan geallieerde zijde Beschrijving&#160;: KNIL. Een oefening met machingeweren in een opleidingskamp op Nieuw-Guinea Annotatie&#160;: Te zien zijn een groep soldaten uit West-Indië Datum&#160;: juli 1945 Locatie&#160;: Nieuw-Guinea Trefwoorden&#160;: oorlog, oorlogen Fotograaf&#160;: Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende&#160;: Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort&#160;: Foto (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinventaris&#160;: bekijk toegang 7.000SPAond Inventarisnummer&#160;: 29013 Bestanddeelnummer&#160;: 29013_013
context_page_description: The M1941 Johnson Rifle is an American short-recoil operated semi-automatic rifle designed by Melvin Johnson prior to World War II. The M1941 competed unsuccessfully with the U.S. M1 Rifle.
context_section_description: Melvin Johnson campaigned heavily for the adoption of the Johnson rifle by the U.S. Army and other service branches. However, after limited testing, the U.S. Army rejected Johnson's rifle in favor of the M1 Garand rifle developed by Springfield Armory.  The M1941 was ordered by the Netherlands for issue to the KNIL in the Dutch East Indies, but only 1,999 rifles were shipped to the Dutch East Indies before the Japanese invaded. At this time, the U.S. Marine Corps found itself in need of a modern fast-firing infantry rifle, and acquired some rifles from the Dutch East Indies shipment for issue to its Paramarine battalions then preparing to deploy for action in the Pacific theatre.  By all accounts, the M1941 performed acceptably in combat with the Marines in the early days of the Pacific fighting.
  Weapon serial number A0009 was issued to USMC Captain Robert Hugo Dunlap, of Monmouth, Illinois, and he carried it into combat in the battle for Iwo Jima, beginning 19 February 1945. Captain Dunlap was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in that battle, and he retained and displayed the weapon until his death in 2000. He praised the rifle and credited it with saving his life and the lives of others.
  Despite repeated requests by the Marine Corps to adopt the rifle, the Johnson rifle lacked the support of US Army Ordnance, which had already invested considerable sums in the development of the M1 Garand and its revised gas operating system, then just going into full production. Johnson was successful in selling small quantities of the M1941 Johnson Light Machine Gun to the U.S. armed forces, and this weapon was later used by both Paramarines and the Army's First Special Service Force. Additionally, in April 1944, the United States War Department offered the Free French military the use of approximately 10,500 Johnson rifles and 1,500 Johnson light machine guns; these guns were from undelivered Dutch/Netherlands contracts taken over by the United States Government in 1942. The French accepted them and issued them to their "Sovereignty troops" (i.e. second line units remaining in North Africa). Some rifles were reportedly sent to Nationalist China, and a few were captured by the People's Liberation Army during the later stages of the Chinese Civil War.
  At the beginning of the Indonesian National Revolution, some M1941 rifles were still in service within Dutch forces. While the KNIL handed over many Geweer M. 95 and Lee-Enfield rifles to Indonesia after the end of the war, the Johnsons were brought to the Netherlands. They were eventually sold in the surplus market in 1953.
  In late 1946, Argentina expressed an interest in Johnson's arms, and Johnson fabricated a prototype, the Model 1947 auto carbine, a semi automatic rifle variant of the light machine gun with the 10 round cylindrical magazine. While specific details are sketchy, it apparently bore little resemblance, but shared some features with the Johnson M1941 light machine gun. Argentina apparently declined to purchase any, and the M1947 auto carbine never went into production. In any event, the post-war years were not kind to the Johnson organisation. The entity filed for bankruptcy and was liquidated in early 1949.
  A notable example is the FMA VF-1 manufactured in Argentina.
  The Johnson rifle was also used in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion by the anti-Castro Brigade 2506.
  Because it was produced in relatively small quantities the Johnson rifle has become a highly sought-after collectible by World War II collectors looking to complete their collections.
caption: Soldiers of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army in July 1945. The soldier on the right carries a Johnson rifle.
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