The standard type Browning.
The Browning M1935 GP, also known as the Browning Hi-Power, was a pistol produced by FN Herstal in Belgium. It was based on a design by John Browning. The Browning Hi-Power was adopted for military service in Belgium during World War II under the designation "P35" and it was later adopted by the German forces.[1]
Waffen-SS soldier Hans Tragarsky wielding a captured P35 in Poteau, Belgium.
History[]
The Browning Hi-Power was first produced in 1935 and was adopted for military service as the P35 in Belgium. During the Axis occupation of Belgium from 1940 to 1945, the German forces used FN's weapon plants to produce P35s for their own usage. The Germans designated it the P640b and it saw service with the Waffen-SS.
Many soldiers, both Allied and Axis, kept the P35s that they came across on the battlefield because of its reliability and large magazine capacity (13 rounds).
The Hi-Power was also adopted for military use with the Canadian armed forces. The Canadians produced their own models, as they realized that the FN plants in Belgium would fall to the Germans. Hi-Power pistols produced in Canada as the John Inglis version were also issued to the American OSS and the British SOE and SAS.