A historic question about firearms in the Wehrmacht

[PM2K]

This question has been bugging me for ages, so I thought I'd toss this out to our resident historians.

Often in WW 2 movies, I notice the actors playing German officers carry a variety of sidearms... mostly small Beretta pistols and such, instead of what I think of as traditional German sidearms such as Lugers and Walther PPKs and P-38s. Just wondering how accurate that is. It always struck me as weird.

Did German officers have a choice in what they carried for a pistol? Or is that just movie fiction?

Love to hear your opinions and insights on this.

[kham]

The P-38 was the issue service pistol for the Werhmacht. Luger's obviously were still around, since it was a fairly popular handgun in Germany (and elsewhere as a collectors piece, especially if taken on the battlefield) Personal choice may be a factor. Some higher ranking officers may have had Lugers since that was perhaps their sidearm in WW I. PPs and PPKs were issued generally to Police and Security Forces, and the Luftwaffe (perhaps the compact design being a factor for flyers). The Germans seemed to be less regimented in who carried what, as far as pistols. Rifles and SMG's , well THAT was different

[PM2K]

Thanks, Kham.