In message , Charles Gray
writes
One question-- I thought shotguns were not allowed in combat by the
geneva convention, but allowed for peacekeeping police duties.
Or was that changed since the treaty was made. (Or more likely, am I
misremembering something).

The US brought shotguns to the front line in 1916 (Mexico) and again in
1917, where they were rather effective weapons for trench work (not much
use for _getting_ to the trench, but that's what a weapon mix is for).
Apart from having to replace cardboard with brass in the shell cases,
they apparently worked very well.

The Germans protested that shotguns were "inhumane" and threatened
reprisals, the US refused to back down, and there the issue rested: the
US produced and issued a quantity of shotguns, and reissued them in WW2
in the Pacific.

Shotguns aren't widely used in combat, but do find useful niches for
(for example) urban and jungle work. UK forces used them in Malaya, for
instance.

--
When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.
W S Churchill

Paul J. Adam MainBoxatjrwlynch[dot]demon{dot}co(.)uk