Garand, John C

Garand, John C(antius)

(born Jan. 1, 1888, St. Rémi, Que., Can.—died Feb. 16, 1974, Springfield, Mass., U.S.) Canadian-born U.S. firearms engineer. He moved with his family to Connecticut in 1898. From 1919 he worked as a civilian employee at the Springfield Armory. There he devised a gas-operated weapon that was 43 in. (109 cm) long yet weighed only 9.5 lbs (4.3 kg). Adopted in 1936 as the U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30 M1, the Garand rifle became the world's first standard-issue autoloading infantry rifle. It gave U.S. troops in World War II such an advantage in firepower that George Patton called it “the greatest battle implement ever devised.” More than five million M1s were manufactured before it was phased out in 1957. Garand signed over all patents of his invention to the U.S. government.