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A firlly fKaxmegM ffi

Volume I Issue 6

CONTENTS
Sub-machine guns of World War il
OwenGwr 102

2K383 102

Suomin/1931 103

Sten sub-machine guns 104

Arming the French Resistance 105

lanchester sub-machine gms 106

IvlASModeil93S 106

Steyr-Solothurn S I- I00 r07

I\rpe 100 r08
UDM'42 108

M3andM3Al 109

Thompson sub-machine guns 110 Published by Australia: Back numbers are obtainable
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f
Sub{ttcrcffine
gunsof WWll
The sub-machine gtn was born out of the trenches of Wotld
War L In the confined, close'quatter fighting tuoops beganto
feel the need for some form of compact automatic weapon
that woutd be less awlarirard to handle than a bayonetted rtfle.
Faced with this demand, manufactuterc tuned thefu hands to
prodacing such a weapon.
The ltalians were the first to introduce what might be termed a
sub-machine gnrn, This was the Villar-Perosa which, while ofterr quoted
as being the first sub-machine qun, was ln many ways a blind alley, for
the villar-Perosa was used only as a light machrne-gn:n The flrst true
example of what was to be termed the machine-pistol or sub-machine
gun was thus the German MPI8 This appeared in front{ine sewice
during l9l8 and to this day the MP18 remarns the best example of all the
attributes of the sub-machine gnrn.
The MPIS used a pistol cartridge (a small, relatively low-powered
charge firing a small but heavy bullet). If a hand-held weapon was to be
used to fire fully automatically the round fired had to be light and the
pistol cartridge was the obvrous choice, The MPiS fired the 9-mm
Parabellum cartridge and in the years that followed this became an
almost universal chorce for most designs, Ustng a pistol cartridge also
allowed the employment of an operatlng principle that had long been
r.rsed on automattc plstols, the blow-back principle
The blow-back pnnclple is very simple. On the MPl8 the magazine
was fitted and the gn-rn cocked by using a side-mounted lever in a slot.
When the trigger was pulled it released the breech block to move
forward under the energy from a large spring, As it moved forward the
breech block picked up a cartrrdge from the feed, pushed it into the
barrel chamber and once the round and breech block were in posrtion
the firing pln fired the cartridge, The recoil forces produced by the
cartridgre were initrally overcome by the forward energry produced by
the mass of the breech block and the sprtng, but the block remained in
place long enough to 'lock' the system until the recoil forces were able to
push back the breech block and its spring to their orrginai condltion lf
the trigger was still pulled, the cycle began again and went on until the
trigger was released,
Armed with the MP40 sub-machine
gun, members of theWaffenSS Pose
for a propagand a pho togr ap h. T hes e
are French volunteers , as indicated
by the tricolour arm patch.
If thls simple operating principle was ever abandoned, the result was
usually less than satisfactory, for the mechanism would be over-complex
and would have more pieces to break or jam. But if the operating system
could be kept basic and light, and the MPl.8 was light enough to be
carried and used by one man, the overall concept could be kept simple,
At first this was not always realized as gunsrniths lavished their consider-
abie skiils on many of the early sub-machine gun types, When the needs
of World War II arrived it did not take long for the irills to be ditched in
the rush to produce serviceable weapons rapidly, Things reached the
pornt where the resultant sub-machine gnrns were horrible to look at, the
obvious examples being the Brltlsh Sten and the American M3. But these
types lent themselves to rapid and simple mass production. Welding
took the place of machining from soiid metal, pins took the place of
time-consuming jolnting methods, rivets took the place of screws and so
on. At first the iront-line soldiers looked askance at such products but
they soon learned that they worked. Those crude weapons could pro-
duce as lethal a stream of lead as many of the more refined designs from
the arsenals, they were easy to learn how to use, they were easy to
maintain and their ammunition was usually easy to procure, often from
the enemy.
The sub-machine gnrn is stl1l with us, now in many refined forms; but
close examinatlon will usually reveal the shadow of the baslc MPl8
lurking in its interior, From the MP1S came all the others that followed,
even inciuding the famous Thompson Gun. Designs such as the Sten, the
M3, the German MP38 and the Soviet PPSh-41 all had their part to play
durlng World War II, and their impact will be with us for years to come.
AThompsongunner in actionduring thebattle for Cassino' Firepower and
ease of handling made the sub-machine gan ideal in the confinement of street
fighting.
ffi ti#'J' Gun
It took some time and some farly des-
perate measures before Lieutenant
Evelyn Owen was able to persuade
the Australian milrtary authorities to
adopt his design of sub-machine gnrn in
1940, At the time the Australian army
had little or no interest in the weapon
and by the time they realized the im-
portance ofthe weapon they expected
to receive all the Sten gn-rns.they re-
qurred from the United Kingdom, It
took some time before they apprecl-
ated the fact that they were groing to
receive no Sten guns as the British
army wanted all that could be pro-
duced, So they decided after much
procrastination to adopt the Owen
Gun, but even then they were not sure
rn what calibre. Consequently the first
trials batches were produced in four
calibres before the universal 9-mm
was adopted,
The Owen Gun can be easily recogt-
mzed by the magazine, which points
vertically upwards over the tubular
Qn:n body, This odd-seeming arrange-
ment was apparently chosen for no
other reason than that it worked, and it Above: The Owen sub-machine grun
must be said that it worked very well to was astutdy and reliableweapon
the extent that once the Australian sol- that soon gained itself a high
diers got their hands on the type they reputation. The example has
preferred it to all others, and the Owen a c amoufl age paint s cheme.
Gun was kept in service until well into
the 1960s and its successor, the X-3, Right: The Australian Owen sub-
still retains the overhead magazine. machine gun's most prominent
The rest of the gun was fairly conven- recogmition feature was the
tional and very robust to the point vertically-mounted box m agazine.
where it seemed to be able to take all The exampleshown here is one of
manner of pumshment and withstood the early production models.
being dropped in mud, dust, water and
just about anything else. As production schemes to suit the local terrain, For
increased vanous changes were intro- the Austrahan army (and the Owen
duced to the design. The early fins was used by no other forces) that
around the barrel were removed and meant the hot and sweaty jungles ol
some changes were made to the butt, New Guinea, where the Australian sol-
which could be found rn versions with diers found the Owen ideal for the
just a wrre skeleton, an all-wood de- close-quarter combat that the jungles
sign, and one version that was half- enforced,'lt was true that the Owen
outline and half wood. One feature of was rather heavier than most compa-
the Owen that was unique to rt, apart rable models but'the forward-mounted
from the overhead magazine, was that grip and the pistol gnip made it easy to
the barrel could be quickly removed handle,
for changing, Exactly why this feature The top-mounted magazine had one Production of the Owen ceased rn Specification:
was incorporated is uncertain, for rt slight disadvantage for the firer as the 1945 but in 1952 many were virtually Calibre: 9 mm
would have taken a long period of magazine position meant that the rebuilt and provision was made for a Lengrth: 813 mm (32 in)
firing for the barrel to become unus- sights had to be off-set to the right side iclg bayonet to be fltted to the muzzle; Length of barrel: 250 mm (9.84 in)
ably hot, but the featrrre was retained of the body, an awkward arrangement some versions made in 1943 used a Weight loaded: 4,815 kg (10,6Ib)
through the desrgn life of the weapon. but one that mattered little once the much shorter bayonet that fitted over Magazine: 33-round vertical box
Another odd point regarding the weapon was used in action for, like tne mizzle with an almost unique tubu- ryclic: 700 rpm
Rate of fire,
Owen was that once in sewice they most sub-machine guns the Owen w-as lar mount but they were not widely Muzzle velocity'. 420 m (1,380 ft) per
were often painted in camouflagre almost always flred from the hip ssued. second

CZECHOSLOVAK A

zK 383
The Czech ZK 383 is one of those sub-
machine guns that is now little known
rnthe West for the srmple reason that it
was little used outslde Eastem Europe
and its combat use was mainly Imited
to the war against the Soviet Union,
However. the ZK 383 was a very impor-
tant weapon type for its time and tt was
considered good enough to stay in
production from the late 1930s until
1948,
First designed during the early
1930s, the ZK 383 went into production

The C zech ZK 383 was very well

made from machined parts and had
such luxuries as a bipod and a
variable rate offire. There was even
a quick-change barrel. The bulk of
these weapons was later produced
for the G erman W affen SS, who found
it a heavy but reliable weapon.

IA2
2K383 (continued)
at the famous Czech Brno arms plant,
loown for the later introduction of what
was to be the Bren gn:n, The ZK 383 was
a relatively large and heavy weapon
for the sub-machine gmn class, a fea-
ture emphasized by uncommon ap-
plication ofa bipod under the barrel on
some models. This bipod was the re-
sult of the Czech army's tactical phi-
losophy, for it regarded the weapon as
a form of light machine-gmn, in direct
contradictlon of the usually accepted
role of a close-quarter ccimbat
weapon, This odd approach was furth-
er emphasued by the use ofwhat was
one of the ZK 383's oddest leatures in
the form of a capability for two rates of
fire, The ZK 383 could flre at the rate of
500 or 700 rpm, the fire rate being
altered by the addition or subtractron
of a small 0.17-kq (0.37tb) weight to
the breech block - with the weight
removed the breech block could
FINLAND
Suomi m/193I
The Suomi m/I931 is now little known
but in its day it was one of the most
s.ouqht-after and admired sub-
machine guns produced an]'where.
The desigrn of thrs weapon went back
to the early 1920s and was almost cer-
tarnly influenced by some German
weapon desigmers who used Frnland
as a means of escaping the turmoil and
uproar of post-war Germany, Usingthe
influence and advice of such Germans
the Finns gradually produced a series
of very sound and effectrve sub-
machine gruns that resulted in the
m/1931,
As sub-machine gun desrgns go
there is little remarkable with the
m/1931, for it used a conventional
biow-back action and an orthodox lay-
out, Where it did score over many ex-
istinq desiqns was that 1t was extreme-
ly well made, almost to the point of
lavishness in the quality of material
used and the excellence of the
machimng, and the other potnt was the
feed systems employed, These feed
systems used a number of magazines
that were so effective that they were
extensively copied later, even by the
Soviets who normally preferred their
home-produced designs, There were
two main versions, one a 5O-round ver-
tical box magazine and the other a 7l-
round drum magazine. In the box
magazine the normal lengthy bulk of 50
rounds of ammunition was overcome
by having the magazine split into two
vertical columns, Rounds were fed
from one column and then the other, In
action this feed system was much
favoured as rt enabled a soldier to car-
ry into action far more ready rounds
than would be possrble with a conven-
tional magazine (despite thrs there was
a normal 3O-round box magazrne for
the Suomi),
The m/1931 was produced for the
Finnish army in some numbers and it
proved itself in action during the 1940
Russian invasion of Finland. There
were several export models of the
m/1931, some of them with small
bipods under the barrel or body, and
these were purchased by Sweden and
Switzerland, who both set up therr own
productron Lnes, as did a company ln
Denmark, The type was adopted by
the Polish police before i939, and ex-
amples popped up during the Spamsh
Civil War on both srdes, Since then the
move faster and thus the rate of fire
could be increased. The slower rate of
fire was used when the ZK 383 was
used with lts bipod as a light machine-
gn-rn, and the faster fire rate when the
ZK was carried as an assault weapon.
But that was only the Czech army's
point of vrew, and the feature does not
appear to have been used much by the
other customers for the weapon, The
Bulgarian army adopted the type as
their standard sub-machrne gun (it
used the ZK 383 until at least the early
1960s), but by far the largest number of
ZK 3B3s were produced after 1939 for
the German army. When they took
over Czechoslovakia rn 1939 the Ger-
mans found the ZK 383 production line
still rntact, and it was a sensible move
as far as they were concerned to keep
it intact for theu own uses, The Brno
factory was taken over for SS weapon
production and thus the ZK 383 output
Above: The Suomi m/ I 93 I was one of
the most well-manufactured sub-
machine guns ever made, for
practically every partwas machined
fromsolidmetal.
Right: The Suomi ml I 93 I in action,
fittedwith the 7l-round magazine.
Unlike many other sub-machine
guns the m/ 1 93 I had a long barrel
that was accurate enough for aimed
fire at most combat ranges.
m/I93I has kept appeanng up all over
the place whenever conflicts arise. It Is
stiil in limited sewice in Scandinavia to
this day and this longevity can be ex-
plained by two simple factors, One rs
that the m/1931 is so well made that it
just will not wear out. The same sound
manu.facture also explain the reliabil-
ity, for the m/i931 is one of those
weapons that will work under any con-
ditions without ever seeming to go
uronq, and as mentioned above the
feed system for the ammunitton is
almost legendary in its reliability,
These two factors alone explain the
high regard shown to the m/]931 in the
past, but there was another factor,
When the m/1931 was produced no
pains were spared on detail machining
and such care was taken on this that
the whole of the gun, the body and bolt
rncluded, were machined from the
solid metal, Consequently the gnrn was,
Sub-machine guns of World War II
was diverted to the Waffen SS, who
used the weapon only on the Eastem
Front, The Waffen SS examples were
all known as the vz g (vz for vzor, the
Czech for model) and the Waffen SS
fomd rt efective enough for it to be-
come one of their standard weapons.
Numbers were kept in Czechoslovakia
for use by the Czech civil police who
had their own version, the ZK 383P
which was produced without the
bipod.
The only nations other than
Czechoslovakia, Bulgarla and Ger-
many that purchased the ZK 383 were
Brazil and Venezuela, and even then
the numbers involved were not large,
Apart from the use in Eastern Europe
the ZK 383 had few points to attract
attention and rn many ways it was too
complicated for the role it was called
upon to play, The Czech army's pre-
dilection for the design as a lght
and still is, very accurate for rts type.
Most sub-machine gmn types are accu-
rate only to a few yards and most are
almost useless at range over 50 m (55
yards). The m/1931 can be used accur-
ately at ranges up to 300 m (330 yards),
ln relative numbers few were used
during World War II but the influence
of the design can be detected in many
war-time models, The desrgn was li-
cence-produced in Switzerland for the
Swiss army during 1943.
machine-gnrn led to all manner of detarl
extras that the weapon did not need
The dual rate of fire feature has
already been mentioned, as has the
bipod, but the sub-machrne gnrn does
not really need a complex barrel-
change mechanism, an all-machined
mechamsm made from the flnest steels
available or an angled breech block
retwn spring angled into the butt. The
ZK 383 had all these, making it a very
reliable sound weapon but one that
was really too complex for its role,
Specification:
Calibre: 9 mm
Length: 875 mm (34,45 in)
Length of barrel: 325 mm (12,8 in)
Weight loaded: 4,83 kg (10.65 lb)
Magazine: 3O-round box
Rate of fire, cyclic: 500 or 700 rpm
Mrzzle velocity: 365m (1,200ft) per
second
Specification:
Calibre:9 mm
Lenqth (butt extended): 870 mm
(34.25 in)
Lengthofbarret 314 mm (i2,36 in)
Weight loaded (drum magazine):
7,04 ks(l5,s2lb)
Magazine: 30- or SO-round box, or 7l-
round drum
Rate offire, cyclic: 900 rpm
Muzzle velocity: 400 m (1 310 ft) per
second
103
>K $t"r, sub-machine guns
After the Dunkirk evacuatton of mid-
1940 the British army had few weapons
left, In an attempt to re-arm quickly the
military authorittes put out an urgent
request for simple sub-machine qnrns
that could be produced in quantity,
and using the concept of the MP3B as
an example the desiqners went to
work, Withrn weeks the results were
adopted, It was the product of two de-
siqners, Major R.V, Shepherd and H.J.
Turpin who worked at the Enfield Lock
Small Arms Factory, and from these
three names came the universally-
accepted name Sten for the new
weapon.
The first result was the Sten Mk I, Above:TheStenMkll was one otthe
which must be regarded as one of the most widely-used of all the Allied
unloveliest weapon designs of all time. sub-machine gu ns. I t looked crude
It was designed for production as but itworked, itcould be stripped
quickly and cheaply as possible using down for easy concealment, and it
simple tools and a mrnimum of time- was available in quantity.
consuming machining, so the Sten was
made up from steel tubes, sheet Right: The Stenwas one of the first
stamping and easily produced parts all weaponsrssued to the newly'formed
held together with welds, pins and airborne troops of the British army,
bolts, The marn body was a steel tube and this example is unusual in being
and the butt a steel framework. The fittedwith a small spike baYonet.
barrel was a steel drawn tube with
either two or sx riflrnq Errooves rough- Mk IIL This was basicalJy an even srm-
ly carved. The magazine was again pler version of the original Mk I as its
sheet steel and on the Sten Mk I the barrel could not be removed and it
trigigTer mechanism was shrouded in a was encased in a simple steel-tube
wooden stock There was a small barrel jacket, Again, tens of thousands
wooden foregnip and a rudimentary were produced and were wtdely
flash hider. It looked horribie and used.
caused some very caustic comments The Sten Mk IV was a development
when it was first issued, but it worked model intended for parachute troops
and the troops soon learned to accept but it was not placed into production
it for what rt was, a basic killing device By the time the Sten Mk V was on the could be produced in larqe numbers Specification:
produced in extreme circumstances. scene things were gotng better for the at a time when it was desperately Sten Mk II
The Sten Mk I was produced to the Al[es and the Mk V couid be pro- needed, In occupied Europe it was re- Calibre: 9 mm
tune of aboul 100,000 examples all deii- duced with rather more flnesse. The vealed as an ideal resistance weapon Length: 762 mm (30,00 in)
vered within months. By 1941 the Sten Mk V was easily the best of the Stens and all over the world underground Length of barrel: 197 mm (7.75 in)
Mk II was on the scene and thts was for it was produced to much higher forces have been busy copying the de- Weight loaded: 3,7 kg (8, 16 ]b)
even simpler than the Mk L In time the standards and even had such extras as sign almost dLrecr The Germans even Magazine: 32-round box
Sten Mk I1 became regarded as the a wooden butt forestock and a fltiing produced their own copies in i944 and Rate of fire, cyclic: 550 rpm
'classic' Sten gnrn and it was an all- for a small bayonet, It had the foresight 1945, It was one of the more remark- Muzzle velocity: 365 m (1,200ft) per
metai version, Gone was the wooden of the Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifle and the able weapons of World War IL second
stock over the trigger mechantsm, re- metal was even finished to a high de-
placed by a simple sheet-metal box. Enee, whereas the earlier marks had
The butt became a single tube with a thek metal left in a bare state with a
flatt buttplate at its end, The barrei was minimum of fine finish. The Mk V was
redesigned to be unscrewed for issued to the Airborne Forces in 1944,
changing and the maetaztne houstng, and after World War II it became the
with the box magazine protruding to standard British army sub-machine
the left, was designed to be a stmple gun,
unit that could be rotated downwards The Slen was a crude weapon tn
once the magazine was removed to nearly every way, but it worked and it
keep out dust and dirt. The butt could
be easily removed fcr removing the Right: Streetfighting in the
breech block and springr for cleamng, Mediterranean. This example has
By the time all these parts (barrei, had a non-standard foregrip added
magazine and butt) had been re- to enhance handling.
moved, the whole weapon occupied
very little space and this tumed out to Below:By the time theStenMkVwas
be one of the Sten's qreat advantages, produced therewas time for some
When the initial needs of the armed fnesse fo be added to the basic
forces had been met, from several pro- design.While the original outline
duction lines, includinq those set up tn was retained awooden butt and
Canada anC New Zealand, the Sten pistol grip and a No. 4 rifle foresight
was still produced in tens ofthousands hadbeenadded.
for paradrop into occupied Europe for
use by resistance forces and partisans.
There it found its own particular place
in combat history, for the very simplic-
ity of the Sten and the ease with which
rt could be broken down for hidinqi
proved to be a major asset and the
Germans came to fear the Sten and
what it couid do. The Germans
learned, as did many others, that the
bullet from a Sten was jrut as lethal as a
bullet from something more fancy.
A silenced versron of the Sten Mk II
was produced in small numbers lor
Commando and raiding forces as the
Sten Mk IIS, and then came the Sten

104
Arming the French Resistance
It took a few years to organize the French Re-
slstance movements after the fall of France in
1940. For about 18 months very little could be
achieved, mainiy as a result of the morale
shock that followed the German occupation,
but gradualiy a few bold souls started to form
the core of a number of small groups deter-
mined to carry on the war in some way. Thrs
underground movement towards resistance
had been presupposed in London and else-
where by the establishment of some low-
priorrty cadres of unconventronal warfare spe-
cialists who gradually started to land agents
and subversrves in occupied France to discov-
er how people were thlnkinq and to determlne
what armed support there might be for the
establishment of a guerrilla warfare move-
ment, and it was here that easrly hidden weapons Photographs of tfieFrencft Resrtance in action are
The London-based organlzations (there such as the Sten gnm came into their own, A few and far between, so it seem^ssafe tosugg/esf
were lnltlally several) were grouped under an Sten gnrn could be easily broken down into its that this is a posed picture taken during 1944. It
shows two Stens and a shotgun in use, a fairly
organlzation known as the Special Operations component parts and concealed in all manner
typical Resistance weapon combination.
Executive, or SOE. Headquartered in Baker of small piaces, from where it could be re-
Street, thrs organization was able to function as trleved for use, Operations could be either
it had a virtual direct access to the Prime Minis- controlled from London or organized locally. In pian to disrupt the German forces, rsolate them
ter, who was very keen to stir up any under- both cases preparation was the keyword, with by removing their communications and gener-
ground warfare movements to harry the Ger- careful pre-placing of arms and equipment ally put them off balance, succeeded.
man occupatron lbrces, Using this access to well before the operation, Most Resistance op- But it was done at a considerable cost, Apart
hrgh places, SOE was able to corner a far grea- erations involved the use of smali amounts of from the resrsters who were lost on the actual
ter share of weapons and other facilitles than explosives, wrth weapons used only for self- operations, the Germans almost always retali-
might otherwise have been the case in a more protectron. ated by the taking and execution oihostages
orthodox administration, and the organization It was not until 1944 that widespread and and the destruction ol property. Many French
took full advantage of thrs. large-scale Resistance operations were men and women thus lost therr lives in the
mounted in support of the Normandy landings, Resistance cause, but iheir loss only streng-
Infiltrators from SOE Again, well planned in advance and co- thened French resolve and gave back to the
The general plan was for the higher eche- ordinated from London, such operations were nation a measure ol self-respect that had been
lons of SOE to infiltrate agents into occupied aimedat cutting communications wrth the coas- lost in 1940,
France over a number of routes from direct tal areas, especially around Normandy and the Thus the e{lorts of SOE in London had an
coastal landings to open crossings of the bor- Pas de Calais, and involved the destruction of effect far out of proportion to its numbers, The
der with unoccupied Vichy France, Once in- railways, telephone lines and bridges, Resistance was able to make a definite con-
side the occupied zone these agents estab- Ambushes were made on German patrols with tributron to the overall war effort and the Sten
lished the lie of the land and generally the Stens and the Brens; in overall terms the gn:n became a virtual symbol of resistance.
travelled about making contacts, assessing
potential sabotage targets and establishing
small ceils of potential resisters. Once these
had been established lrondon then trained and
sent in permanent agents to organize and train
Left:The Sten was well suited to
the cells. These agents were often Free French Resislance-sty/e am bushe s an d
or other locals who had escaped in 1940 or who nuisance raids. While giving more
came from some of the French colonies, but firepower to the Maquis, it could be
once established in the occupied zone they broken down into components tor
called on London to send in equipment. easy concealment,
The equipment sent into France ranged from
radios to explosives and weapons, Small
amounts of material were landed on secluded
stretches of coastiine, but the bulk of the mate-
rial was paradropped from Royal Air Force
bomber aircraft; sometimes small transport air-
craft landed to deiiver specral loads. The usual
method was to use aircraft such as the Arm-
strong Whitworth Whltley or the Vickers Wel-
Iington to drop special containers. These were
of two types, the Tlpe 'C' and the Type 'H', the
latter being the more important as there were
several standard loads-atready laid out for
them: the Hl, for instance, was always used to
drop explosives and their accessories such as
detonators and exploders, while the H2 always
carried a load of Sten gmns; and the H3 could be
used to drop rifles or Bren gnrns, the H4 to drop
rncendiary materials and the HS to deliver a
wide range of sabotage equipment, The Tlpe
'C' container was used for just about everything
else, Above: Maquis in the HauteLoire conducting a
weapon training session using the Sten Mk II as the
Supply drops were arranged by radio and a su bj e ct. ?ftis Sten ft as fft e s teel' ou tline' bu tt in
team was always on the ground to pick up the place o{the more usual'T-shape'. Both types could
containers and then immedrately to distribute be easily removed.
and hide their contents, Contents were sup-
posed to be packed to facilitate this distribution

105
ffi iranchester sub-machine grun
In1940, wrth the Dunkirk evacuation
completed, the Royal Air Force de-
cided to adopt some form of sub-
machine gnrn for airfield defence. With
no time to spare for the development of
a new weapon it decided to adopt a
direct copy of the German MP2B, ex-
amples of which were to hand for the
necessary copyrng. The period was so
desperate that the Admiralty decided
to join the RAF in adoptinq the new
weapon; by a series ofconvoluted hap-
peninqs the Admiralty alone actually
took the resultant design into servrce.
The British MP2B copy was given
the general designation lanchester af-
ter one Georgre ]:anchester, who was
charged with producinq the weapon at
the Sterling Armament Company at
Dagrenham, the same company that la-
ter went on to produce the Sterling Above: Obviously based on the
sub-machine gun that ts now the GermanMP 28, the Lanchesterwas
general standard weapon for so many ideally suited to the rough-and-
armed forces, The Lanchester tumble of shipboard life. I t had a
emergTed as a sound, sturdy weapon one-piece wooden stock based on
that in many ways was ideal for the the outline of the Lee-Enfield No. I
type of operations required of it by Mk3 rifleand therewas a bayonet
boarding and raiding parties, It was a lug under the muzzle. The brass
very solid weapon, in many ways the magazine housingcan be seen.
complete opposite of its direct con-
temporary the Sten, for the Lanchester Right: Lanchesters in a typical naval
was a soundly engineered piece of environment as captured U-boat
weaponry with all the trimmings of a personne,l are escotted ashore in a
former era, Nothinq was left off from Canadian port - the blindfolds were
the gunsmsith's art, The Lanchester a normal procedure. The
had a well-machined wooden butt and Lanchesters are carried using Lee-
stock, the blow-back mechanism was Enfieldrifle slings.
very well made of the finest materials,
the breech block well machined, and,
to cap it all, the magaztne houstng was chester Mk I* this was chanqed to full
made from solid brass. A few typical automatic flre only, and many Mk Is
British desiqn detarls were added, were converted to Mk I* standard at
such as a mounting on the muzzle for a RN workshops.
long-bladed British bayonet (very use- The Lanchester was an unashamed
ful in boarding party situations) and the copy of a German design but it Qtave
rifling differed from the German ori- good service to the Royal NavY
ginal in details to accommodate the throughout the war and for many years
drfferent types of ammunitlon the Lan- after, Many old sailors still speak of the
chester had to use, Lanchester with respect; not with
The magazine for the Lanchester affection, for it was a healry weapon
was straiqht and carried a useful Ioad and it had one rather off-putting fea-
of 5O rounds, Stripping was aided by a ture: if the butt was qiven a hard knock Specification: Magazine: SO-round box
catch on top of the receiver and the or jar while the gmn was cocked and Calibre: 9 mm Rate of fire, cyclic: 600 rpm
very first models could fire either sing- loaded it would flre, The last example Lengrth: 851 mm (33.50 in) Muzzle velocity: about 380 m (1,245 ft)
Ie-shot or automatlc, That model was left Royal Narry use during the 1960s Length of barrel: 203 mm (8,00 in) per second
the Lanchester Mk I but on the Lan- and the type is now a collector's ttem. Weight empty: 4,34 kg (9.57 lb)

MAS Model 1938

Often quoted as the MAS 38, this
French sub-machine gn:n was first pro-
duced at St Etienne in 1938, hence the
model number. The MAS 38 was the
outcome of a long period of develop-
ment, and was the follow-on from a
model produced in 1935, But it must be
stated that the development period
was well spent, for the MAS 38 proved
to be a sound enough weapon well in
advance of its period, There were
some rather odd features about the
MAS 38, however, One was that it was
rather complicated and another ttrat it
fired a cartridge produced only in
France, Both these features can be ex-
plained by the period when it was de-
signed. At that time there appeared to
be no reason to make the weapon as
simple as possible for existing produc-
tion methods seemed adequate to
churn out the numbers requtred, and tridge available only in France, the adopted. The MAS Model I 938 was a sound,
at the time such numbers were not ?,65-mm Long. While this cartridge The MAS 38 has a complex mechan- advanced weapon. Unfortunately for
very high, The calibre can be ex- was accurate it was not very powerful, ism wrth a lonq bolt travel that was its future prospects, itfired an
plained by the fact that it was available and had the disadvantaqe that no-one partially off-set by having the gmn body u n d e r p ow er e d c ar tri dge av ail ab le
at the time and so the MAS 38 had a else was likely to adopt it once the slopirig down into the solid wooden only inFrance, andwas complicated
calibre of 7,65mm and used a car- 9-mm calibre had been universallY butt, The cockinghandle was separate tomanufacture,

106
MAS Model 1938 (continued)
from the bolt once firing started, a
good featue but one which introduced
complexity into the desigm and manu-
fachne. Another good point was a flap
over the magazine housing that closed
as the magazine was withdravm. While
this kept out dust and dirt very few
other desigms had thjs feahre and most
of them managed to work perfectly
well without it,
In fact the MAS 38 tumed out to be
rather too good for the customer, who
at first decided that it did not want a
sub-machile gun after all. The French
army firrned down the weapon when it
was first offered, and the first produc-
tion examples went to some of the
more para-military members of one of
the French police icrces. V/hen hostlli-
ties did start in 1939, the French army
soon changed its mind and ordered
large quantities, but the complex
machining that went into the MAS 38
resulted in a slow rate of introduction
into service, and the French army was
driven to ordering numbers of Thomp-
son sub-machine gr:as tom the USA.
These arrived too late to make any
difference to the events of 1940 and the
H ti:1"-Solothurn SI- loo
Although the Steyr-Solothurn is de-
scribed as a Swiss weapon, for it was
mainly produced in Switzerland, it was
originally an Austrian design pro-
duced by Steyr who took over the
Swiss Solothurn concern to produce
weapon desigms at a time when they
were forbidden to do so by the terms of
the 1919Versailles Tteaty. Even then
the design was origdnally German
(achra-lly a Rheinmetall product) but
had been switched to Austria for firll
development dwing the I920s,
In its fuIl production icrm this sub-
machine gun was loown as the Steyr-
Solothurn Sl-100 and by 1930 the de-
sigrn was being produced mainly for
export purposes. As with so many
other designs of the period, it was
based on the generai outlines and
principles of the German MPIB but by
the time the Sw:ss manufachrrers had
finished with ther development the
desigm had reached a high point of
refinement and detail manufacture.
The 51-100 was an excellent product
that was robust, reliable and adapt-
able, for the export market meant that
the model had to be produced in
whole host of calibres and with
seemingly endless string of accessor-
res and extras.
The Si-100 was produced in no less
than three separate variations of the
9-mm calibre. Apart from the usua.l 9-
mm Parabellum, the weapon was pro-
duced in 9-mm Mauser and 9-mm
Steyr, the latter specially produced for
the 51-100. Exports to China, Japan and
South America were produced in 7.63-
mm Mauser calibre, and the Por'tu-
gmese pwchased a iarge batch cham-
bered for the 7.65-mm Parabellum car-
tridge. The extras were many and
varied, with perhaps the most outland-
ish being a tripod to convert the
weapon ilto what must have been a
rather ineffective light machine-gnrn,
though some of these were sold to Chi-
na during the mid-I930s. There were
also various forms of bayonelsecuring
devices and several barrel lengrths
were produced, some of them very
Iong ildeed for what were only pistol
French army capihrlated. When the
French forces rearmed under the
Vichy regime the MAS 38 was kept in
production, and in fact the weapon was
kept in production until 1949, and it
was used in the Indo-China War,
The MAS 38 never got the recogrni-
tion it deserved, It was rather too com-
plicated, fired an odd cartridge and it
was never possible to produce it in
cartridges. Another Steyr-Solothwn
selling ploy was to present the SI-100
to a customer packed in individually-
fitted chests containingr not only the
weapon but all manner of special
magazines, special cleaning tools,
a spare parts, etc.
a By the mid-1930s the 51-100 was the
standard sub-machine gr:n of the Au-
strian army and police force, and when
the Germans took over the state in l93B
they also took over the Austrian army
armoury. Thus the Sl-100 became the
German MP34(o), which must have
caused some confision with the pre-
viously mentioned Bergrmann MP 34,
After a short period offront-line Ger-
man service the confi:sion of no less
than three types of 9-mm ammunition
to be supplied for the type was too
much even for the adaptable German
army supply netvvork and the MP34(o)
was relegrated to German military
poiice use; it was also retained by what
was left of the Austrian police icrces.
Today the Sl-100 is still used in odd
comers of the world, but only in very
small numbers. Perhaps the most com-
bat seen by the type was in China
where at one point the SI-I00 was in
use by both the ClLinese and Japanese
armies, The latter even produced thelr
Sub-machine guns of World War II
When seen in cataway form the latge
breech block return spring of the
MASModel 1938 canbeseen fo
occupy almostall the interior of the
butt. While this design made for a
compact weapon the manufacturing
dittical{ies were compounded, and
as can be seen tft e spring had to be
'angled' to enahle the user to aim the
weapon.
quantity when it was required. Conse- Specification:
guently it is now little lsrown outside Calibre: 7.65 mm
France and few, if any, modern Length: 623 mm (24.53 ur)
weapon desigms owe anything to its lengtlr of barrel:224mm (8.82 in)
influence, The only armies to use the Weight loaded: 3,356 kg (7.40 Ib)
MAS 38, other than some of the ex- Magazine: 3Z-round box
French colonies, were the Germans Rate of fire, cyclic: 600 rpm
who caphrred enough in 1940 to jssue Muzzle velocity: 350m (1,150ft) per
them to their garrison force stationed second
in France.
Above : The S teyr-Solothurn S 1 - I 00
was an Austrian version of the
G erm an M P I 8 produced du ring the
1 920s and I 930s mainly for
commercial sale on theexport
market. The type was well made and
could be supplied with a range of
acces s ories inclu ding tripods,
bayonets and oversize magazines.
Right: The Steyr-Solothurn S I - I 00 is
seen here in a drill-bookposition,
mainly because the picture has been
taken from a German manual
producedfor the type afterthe
Germans had taken over Austria and
its arsenal during I 9 38.
own copy at one point and used some
of the design's feahres as the basis for
their own B-mm Tlpe 100.
Specification:
St-100 (9-mm Parabellum version)
Galibre: I mm
Lengrth: 850 mm (33.46 in)
Length of barrel: 200 mm (7.87 rn)
Weight loaded: 4.48 kg (9 BB kq)
Magazine: 32-round box
Rate of fire, ryclic: 500 rpm
Muzzle velocity: 4lBm (1,370ft) per
second
9l Type t00

ThkJapanese private first class is
armed with the TYpe I 00 sub-
machine gun. He is equipped for
j ungle fighting, typical of I 942.
The Japanese were surpnsinqly late
on the sub-machine gnrn desigm scene,
a fact made all the more remarkable
considerinq ther experience gained
in the protracted campaigns in China
before l94l and the number of diffe-
rent overseas desigms imported for
sewice use or examination. It was not
until 1942 that the first example of what
had been several years oflow-priority
development left the Nambu produc-
tion hnes rn the form of the Tlpe I00, a
sound but unremarkable desrgm that
was to be the only sub-machtne gnrn
the Japanese produced and used tn
any numbers,
The Type 100 was moderately well
made but had several rather odd fea-
tures. One was the use of a complex
ammumtron feed device that ensured
that a round was fully'chambered be-
fore the firrng pin would operate. The
exact pupose of thts feature is rather
uncertain (other than the safety aspect
for the firer) for the cartridge used by
all the Type 100 variants was the
underpowered B-mm Japanese pistoi
round, a rather weak and ineffective
choice that was not aided by its being a
bottle-shaped round that must have
added its ovm feed complexities. The
Type 100's barrel was chrome-plated
to aid cleaning and reduce weat, and
to add to such niceties the design had
complex sights and a curved maga-
zine. Other oddities were the use of a
complicated muzzle brake on some
models and the use of a iargre bayonet-
mounting luq under the barrel. Some
versions also had a bipod,
There were three drfferent versions
of the TYpe 100. The first is described
above. The second had a folding butt
stock for use by paratroops: the stock
was hinged just behind the Qnrn body to
fold along the side of the weapon,
\Vlrile this no doubt made the weapon
handy for carrying and paradropping,
ir alss v,'sakg.gd the weapon in com-
bat situations and relatively few were
made. The thud version of the Type
100 appeared in 1944 at a ttme when
demands for sub-machine guns were
comingr from all fronts. In order to
speed up manufacture, the basic Type
100 was grreatly srmplified and in the
result the design was lengthened
sliqhtly. The wooden stock was often
left roughly finished and the rate offire
was increased from the early 450 rpm
to 800 rpm. The sigihts were reduced to
httle more than aiming posts and the
larqe muzzie lug for a bayonet was
replaced by a simpler fitting, At the
muzzle, the barrel protruded more
foom the perforated jacket and had a
simple muzzle brake formed by two
ports drilled in the barrel. Weldtng,
The T?pe 1 00 was not designed for
ease of production and despite some
production 'short cuts' such as spot
welding and stampings there were
never enough to meet demands.
often rough, was used wherever possi-
ble. The result was a much cruder
weapon compared with the earher
version, bul one that was sounc
enough for its purpose.
The main problem for the Japanese
by 1944 lay not so much in the fact tha:
the Type 100 was not good enougth, bu:
that the Japanese lacked the industria-l
capaclty to turn out the huge numbers
demanded. Consequently the
Japanese troops had to fight their las-
dltch defensive campaigms at a perma-
nent dsadvantaqte against the better-
armed Ailied troops.
Specification:
Type 100 (1944 version)
Calibre: 8 mm
Lengrth: 900 mm (35.43 in)
Lengrth of barrel: 230 mm (9.06 in)
Weight loaded: 4,4 kq (9.70 lb)
Magazine: 3O-round cuwed box
Rate of fire, cyclic: 800 rpm
Muzzle velocity: 335m (],100ft) per
second

ry= uD M'42 IJSA

In accounts of the American sub- sism that was produced by the Marlin ly often given to the weapon that be- weapons were to be shipped to
machine enrn scene between and
1939 Firearms Company ts now not k)own, came the UD M'42. The general im- Europe for use by some undergrround
1945 one weapon is often not men- but the name 'Marlin'was subsequent- pression griven at the time was that the organizations working for the US in-
tioned at all, and that rs the sub-
machine gnrn known under a number
of names but usually called the IID
M'42. Thisweapon was designed in the
days just pdor to World War II as a
commercial venfirre in 9-mm calibre. It
was ordered under rather odd cir-
cumstances by an organuation known
as the United Defense Supply Cor-
poration, a US government body that
ordered all manner of items for use
overseas, but the main point of its extst-
ence was that it was an American sec-
ret service 'front' for all forms of under-
grromd activities.
Exactly why the Unrted Defense
(hence UD) concern ordered the de-

TheUD M'42was notaccepted as an

official US service weapon, bu t
numberswere purchased for issue
to some odd undercover and sPecial
mjssrbn units. I t was a very well fiiade
and finished weapon and was
popular with its users.

108
IID M42 (continued)
terest, but events il Europe overtook
the scheme. Some UD M'42s were cer-
tainly sent to the Dutch East Indies be-
fore the Japanese invasion of the area,
but they vanished without trace.
Most of the UD M42s did find their
way to Ewope but in some very odd
hands. Most were handed out to some
of the numerous resistance and parti
san groups that sprang up around and
in the German- and Italian-occupied
areas ofthe Mediterralean Sea. There
usA
ffiEt
: M3 and M3Al
By the begfuming of 1941, although the
United States was not yet directly in-
volved in World War II, the Amencan
military authorities had acknowledged
that the sub-machine grun had a de-
finite roie to perform on the modern
battlefield. They already had to hand
numbers of Thompson gn:rs and more
were on their way, but the appearance
of the German MP38 and the British
Sten indicated the production methods
that could be employed in futr:re mass-
produced desigms. Using an imported
Sten, the US Army Ordnance Board
initiated a desigm shldy to produce an
American Sten-type weapon. The
shrdy was handed over to a team of
specialists who included the same
George Hyde who had developed the
Hyde M2 and to executives from
General Motors, to whom the mass-
production aspects were entrusted. In
a very short time they had desigined a
weapon and development models
were produced for trials.
they took part in some very odd ac-
tions, the most famous of which was
when British agents kidnapped a Ger-
man general on Crete. Other actrons
were just as dramatic but often took
place so far from the public gaze that
today these actions and the part the UD
M'42 took rn them are vutually forgot
ten,
Thrs is perhaps a pity for many
weapon authoritres now regard the UD
M'42 as one of the finest sub-machine
The first of these models was hand-
ed over for trials just before Pearl Har-
bor brought the United States into
World War II. As a result the project
qot a higher priority and it was not long
before the design was issued with the
desrgmation M3. The M3 was just as
unpleasant-looking as the Sten, Con-
struction was all-metal with most parts
srmple steel stampings welded into
place, Only the barrel, breech block
and parts of the kigger mechanism re-
quired any machining, A telescopic
wire butt was fitted and the desigrnwas
simple to the point that there was no
safety system fitted and the gn:n could
fire ftrlly-automatic oniy, The maur gnm
body was hrbular and below it hung a
long 30-round box magazine. An
awkwardly placed and flimsy cocking
handle was placed just forward of the
frigrgrer on the right-hand side, and the
cartridge ejection pod was under a
hinged cover. The barrel screwed lnto
the tubular body. Siqhts were very
rudimentary and there were no lux-
uries such as sling swivels.
The M3 was rushed into production
and once issued to the troops it soon
ran into acceptance troubles. The very
appearance of the weapon soon pro-
vided it with the nickrame of 'Grease
Gun'and it was reqarded withabout as
much afection. But once ur action it
soon showed itself to be effective, but
the rush iato production on lines that
were more used to producing motor
car and lorry components led to all
manner of in-servrce problems. The
cocking handles broke off, the wire
Unpopular with its users in Europe,
the 'Grease Gun' gained acceptance
in the Pacific, where there was no
alternative weapon.
Sub-machine guns of World War II
gun types used ut World War il. Being
made on a commercial and not a milit-
ary basis it was well machined and
very strongt. The action was smooth
and the gLln very accurate, and by al1
accounts it was a joy to handle. it cor:_ld
withstand all manner of ill-treatrnent
(including immersion rn mud and wa-
ter) and strll work.
After ali these years it now seems
very unlikely that the fi:ll servrce re-
cord of the UD M42 will ever be told.
stocks bent in use, some important
parts of the mechanismbroke because
they were made of too soft a metal, and
so on. Consequently the M3 received
more thar rts farr share of in-servrce
development and modification, but
what was more lrnportant at the time, it
rolied off the production lines in huge
numbers for issue to the troops at the
front,
The M3 never overcame the initiai
reception its appearance enQlen-
dered. Whenever possible the troops
in the front line opted for the Thomp-
son Ml or used captured German
MP38s and MP40s, but in the Pacific
there was often no choice other than to
use the M3 and when this happened
the design often gained grudgflng
acceptance. For some arms ofthe US
forces the M3 became a virhral blanket
issue. These arms rrcluded the drivers
il the many transport units and tank
crews. For both the M3 was easy to
stow and easy to handle in close con-
fines.
From the outset the M3 had been
designed to have the capability of
being rapidly converted to 9-mm
calibre by simply changring the barrel,
magazine and breech block. This facil-
ity was sometimes employed in
Europe when the M3 was dropped to
resistalce forces. A silenced variant of
the M3 was produced in smail num-
bers,
Simpie as the M3 was to produce it
was decided in 1944 to make rt even
simpler. The result of combat experi-
ence allied wrth production know-how
resulted in the MSAI, which followed
the same qenerai lines as the M3 but
with some quite substantlal changes.
For the soldier the most rmportant item
was that the ejection cover was en-
larged to the point where the full
but at least the very exrstence of the
weapon should be better lqrown,'
Specification:
Calibre: 9 mm
Lenjth: 807 mm (3I.75 n)
lengrth of barrel: 279 mm (l1.00 in)
Weight loaded: 4.54 ks (10 00 lb)
Magazine: 20-round box
Rate offire:700rpm
Muzzle velocity: 400m (1,310ft) per
second
The Arnerican M3 'Grease Gun' was
the equivalentof the British Sten and
the German MP40, for it was
desigmed for mass production. I t was
asound enoughweapon but the
Atnerican troops never really took to
the type, prelerring theThompson.
breech block travel was exposed. Thrs
enabled the firer to place his finger
into a recess in the block to pull the
biock to the rear for cocking, thus
doing away with the awkward and
flunsy coclcng handle. A flash hider
was added to the muzzle and some
other minor changes were incorpo-
rated. The M3AI was strll in production
when the war ended, by which time it
had been decided to phase out the
Thompson gn:ns in favour of the M3 and
M3AI.
Apart foom the appearance prob-
lem, the M3 gnms were not perfect
weapons. They were rather prone to
breakages, the ammurution feed was
often far from perfect and the lack of a
safety often gave rise to alarm. But it
worked and it was available, and in
war those ftuo factors are more impor-
tant than hankerinq after the some-
thinq that might be better. Thus the M3
and M3AI were used wherever the US
Military went, and that was all over the
world.
Specification: M3
Calibre: 0.45 in (l1.43 mm) or 9 mm
Lengrth, butt extended: 745 mm
(29.33 in)
IJendh, butt retracted: 570 mm
(22.44 in)
weight loaded: 4.65 kg ( 10. 25 ]b)
Magazine:30-round box
Rate of fire: 350-450 rpm
Mr.rzzle velocity: 280 m (920 ft) per
second
109
 Thompson sub-machine guns
The Cutt's Compensator was intended to divert some muzzle
gases upwards to keep the muzzle down when firing, but
was of limited value and complex to manulacture and so was
left off on later models.
There can be very few who have not
heard of or seen some pictures of the
Thompson sub-machine gun at some
time or another, Known universally as
the 'Tommy Gun' the Thompson has
even provided the sub-machine gnrn
wrth a nickname, for to the lay public
ali sub-machine guns are Tommy
Guns, Hollywood has done much to
adminrsterthis fame but the story of the
Thompson gruns goes back to 1918.
In that year the US Army was
embroiled in the trench warfare of the
Western Front, a need becoming
apparent for some form of 'trench
broom' to sweep the trenches clear of
an enemy, Since thrs 'sweeping' had to
be carried out at short ranqtes a power-
fui cartridge was not necessary and a
pistol cartridge was all that was
deemed necessary. The Germanarmy
had drawn the same conciusions and
produced the MP18, but on the Amer-
ican side one General John Thompson
initiated the development of an auto-
matic weapon using the standard 0,45-
in plstoi cartridge, The first examples
used a belt feed but this was later
changed to a two-hand weapon of the
It0
In close-range fighting such as
and house-to-house combat the sub'
machine gun was the ideal weaPon,
and the robustness of the M I and
M I A 1 variants of the Thompson
added to the type's considerable
popularity with the GIs.
type soon lmown as a sub-machine
gn:n, and wrth a box magazine,
By the time the first examPles were
produced World War I was over and
al1 development for the next two de-
cades was carried out on a commercial
bas:s, The Thompson Gun, as
soon labelled, went through a long
chain of different models, Military
sales were few, other than small batch-
es to the US Army and US NavY, but it
was wrth the coming of Prohibition in
the USA that the weapon gained its
public notoriety, The gang warfare
that mushroomed throughout the
American underworld soon found the
Thompson a most useful weapon, and
when Hollywood started to make
gangster f,lrns the gnrn became famous
overnight. Gradually police forces
started to purchase Thompson guns,
and the type became more generallY
accepted, Even then, mtlitarY sales
were few unttl 1928 when the US forces
started to purchase some large batch-
The Thompson MI928 was a com-
plex piece of gnrnsmrthing with a com-
plicated blow-back mechansm and a
TheMl92Scouldtake
manytypesof magazine.
This is the Z0-round box
magazinebutalso
produced were I 8- and 30-
roundbox magazines and
50- or 100-round drum
magazines. The drum
magazinesproved
trouhlesome in seruice so
the box typeswereotten
preferred.
street
choice ofa large SO-round drum magra- build up,
zine and 20- or 3O-round vertrcal box in 1940 several European nations
magazrnes. Just marntaimng the M1928 were clamourinq for Thompson gmns.
was qulte a task. There were many The unexpected employment by the
variations between drfferent models, Germans of sub-machine guns on a
which didnothinqto endear the type to Iarge scale produced requests for
it was the military supply systems, and it was srmilar weapons from all the Europear:
not until 1940 that sales really started to combatants, and the Thompson was
Ahove:In 1939 and l940theUKhad
to purchase large numbers of
Thompson sub-machine gans. This
soldier k holding an M 1928 complete
withtheS0-round drum magazine, a
devicethat soon proved tobetoo
complex for seruice use and too
nol,sy due to the 0.45 calibre rounds
moving about inside. Consequently
lfiese were issued to either the Home
Guard or secondJine units.
Left: The Thompson M 1928 was the
'classic' model oI the famous
Thompson sub-machine gun, the
weapon that was used by gangsters
and American soldiers alike. For all
its notoriety it was not a great
commercial succes s u n til I 940.
 The original Thompson Wns used a
separate firing pin struck by a
hanmer, but this was reaW too
complex for the task and later
models used a tked firing pin.

fb
!@
[Fil
t-ff

TheM1928 could take

many types of magazine.
This is the 20-round box
magazinebutalso
produced were I 8- and 30-
round box magazines and
5G or L00-rounddrum
magazines. The drum
magazinesproved
trouhlesome in seruice so
thebox typeswereoften The firb selector was on
preferred. the left of the trigger group
and could be set for semi-
automatic single shot or
full automatic (600 or 725
rpm).
J.frc

sctt
utfu
.sai
yfu
F"i'T.,iit

build up,
In 1940 several European nattons
were clamouring for Thompson gnrns,
The unexpected employment by the
Germans of sub-machine guns on a
Iarqe scale produced requests for
srmilar weapons from all the European
combatants, and the Thompson was
the oniy example on offer. Large-scale
production of the Thompson com-
menced for France, the UK and Yugos-
lavia, but these orders were overtaken
by events as the Thompson was an
awkward weapon to mass-produce
becarise of the largre number of com-
plex macllningr processes involved.
In the event the French and othe: trraf
orders were diveded to the Unitec ir-:r
Kingdom, where the Ml92B was Lrsec
until the Sten became aranlable, anc t:i
even then many were issed for Com- *
mando raids and the later junqle ]r=
fighting in Burma. When the USA en- :--
tered the war the US Army also de-

Above:ln 1939 and 1940 theUKhad
to purchase large numbers ot
Thompson sub-machine gans. This
soldier is holding anM1928 complete
with the Sl-round drum magazine, a
device that soon proved to be too
complex tor selice use and foo
noisy dueto the0.45 calihrerounds
moving about inside. C onsequenUy
lft ese rrere rssu ed to either the Home
G u ar d or second- line units.
Above: A New Zealander armed with
an M 1 928 during the Cassino
campaigm. This particalar modelis
the M 1 928A I , a military version fitted
with a horizontaltoregrip in place of
the original forward pistol grip. The
M 1 928A1 also had some of the
commercial refinements removed as
weII, and the20- or 30-roundbox
magazine was used instead of the
larger drum magazine.

Right: The M I A I was essentially the

Lett : The Thompson M I 928 was the
' clas s iC model oI the tamous
Thompson suh-machine gun, the
weapon thatwas used bY gangsters
and Atnerican soldiers aflike. For all
its notoriety itwas not a gEeat
commercial success until 1940.
sirme weapon as the M I but had a
fixed firing pin and hammer, making
the type a virtual blow-back design.
I t was the last production version of
the famous Thompson family of
weapons and retalned the overall
appeannce and au r a of the original.
 The original Thompson gruns used a
. separate firingpin struck by a
/ hanmer, but this was really too
amplex for the taskand later
models used a fixed firing pin.
Thompson t'11928
The M I 928 originally had a 50-m
(165-ft) open sight and afurther long-
r ange s ig h t op tim is ti c a I ly c ali br a te d
up to 550 m (1800 ft). The latter sight
wasof doubtfulvalue.

Horwason
btiggergroup
bsetforsemi-
tagle shot or
ti600or725
If required, the butt could be easily
removed by unscrewing the two
screws shown, but this was rarely
utilized in action as the butt
stabilized the aim and reduced firing
vibrations. The butt contained an
oiling bottle behind a butt trap.

ire only example on offer, Large-scale
production of the Thompson com-
menced for France, the UK and Yugos-
lavra, but these orders were overtaken
by events as the Thompson was an
awkward weapon to mass-produce
because of the larqe number of com-
plex machining processes tnvolved,
In the event the French and other
orders were diverted to the United
Kingdom, where the Ml92B was rised
until the Sten became available, and
even then many were rssed for Com-
mando raids and the later jungle
fighting in Burma. When the USA en-
tered the war the US Army also de-
cided that it wanted sub-machlne Qruns
but the Thompson had to be rede-
srgmed to meet US Army requirements
for mass production. After redesigrn
the Thompson became a lar simpler
weapon with a straightforward blow-
back action vnth no frills and the old
largte, noisy and awkward drum maga-
zine so beloved by Hollywood was re-
placed by the simple vertical box. The
new desigm became the M I and a later
version with some exrra simplificatrons
added became the MlAl.
The MI stili used a wooden stock,
pistol SEip and foregrrip (this was later
replaced by a straight foresrip), but
the body was machined as were many
other parts. In service the Ml proved
to be a weii-hked weapon that was
usually preferred to the udovely M3.
Agarn, exactiy how much of this prefer-
ence was due to the Hollpvood imagte
is now almost impossible to determine,
for compared with many of its contem-
poraries the Ml was heavy and not so
easy to stnp and maintah, This did not
deter the M1928 and the M1 from
berng wrdely copied il many back-
yard workshops in the Far East where
the Thompson was regarded with
great favour.
Over the years the Thompson
underwent many changes and mod-
ificatiors. With time most of the more
complex extras were removed. Out
went the complex breech-Iocking
mechanism, out went the Cutt's Com-
pensator on the muzzle that was sup-
posed to restrict the barrei 'climb'
when flring, and out went the bulky
drum magazine. The end result in the
M1 form was a good sould weapon
and one that is stili as famous as it was
rn the days when the Tommy Gun was
the symbol of the IRA and the Holly-
wood gangster era,
Specification:
Thompson Ml
Calibre: 0.45 in (1i.43 mm)
Lenqth: 813 mm (32.00 in)'
Lengrth of barrel: 267 mm (]0.50 in)
Weisht loaded: 4.74k9 (10.45 ]b)
Magazine: 20- or 30-round box
Rate of frre:700 rpm
Muzzle velocity: 280 m (920 ft) per
second

Above : A N ewZ ealander armed with

during the C assino
an M I 9 28
carnpaigm. This particular model is
the M 1 9 28A l, a military version titted
with ahorizontal foregrip in place of
the original forward pistol grip. The
M 1 9 28A I also had some of the
com m e r ci al r e f inem e nt s remov e d a s
weLl, and the 20- or 31-round box
magazine was used instead of the
Iatger drum magazine.

Right : The M I A I was essentially the

same weapon as the M I but had a
frxed firing pin and hammer, making
the type a virtual blow-back design.
It was the last productionversion of
the {amousThompson family of
weapons and retalned the overall
appearance and aura ofthe original.
TheBattle ftor Okinawa
By the time the US Navy and US Marine Corps
reached the group of islands centred around
Okinawa they were well versed in the art of
sland-clearlng against the Japanese and Isrew
what to expect. They aiready knew that the
Japanese forces on every island wor:ld defend
every inch to their last breath, but what was
awaiting them on Okinawa took them by sur-
prise, for Okinawa was deemed to be part of
the Japanese home island chain.
The approaches to Okinawa were cleared in
the usuai amphibious landing after initial bom-
bardment manner in the months to I Apfil 1945.
Outlying islands were gnadually reduced until
the main assault landing was made on the
Haqushi Bay beaches on Okinawa ltseU. The
f,rst surprise came when no opposition was met
right on the beaches. The US Marines landed
virhrally unopposed, but as they moved iniand
the fighting commenced. Every foot of the way,
once inland, was defended. TheJapanese had
constructed log and bamboo bunkers, cun-
mngly placed slit trenches and converted natu- Almost as soon as the defence sihration was Tanks and men of the I st Marine Divkion fighting
ral caves and blasted new ones into the walls of assessed American military mtght could be dug-in J apanese defenders towards the end of a
every grully and valley on the lsland. In every used to blast the delenders oui of their posi bitter three-month c ampaign.
defended point there were Japanese troops tions. Naval gnrnfire was brought to bear; US
willing to die rather than surrender and this Navy and US Marure strike aircraft from a fleet
meant that the infantry tactics of the attackers of carriers were called upon to drop napalm
had to adjust to suit the sltuation. and HE onto carefi:lly indtcaied posltions but it
was always the man on the gnound who had beaches were left behind and the hilly terrain
subsequently to move rr and make sure that of the interior was encountered. Naval gnrnfire
every last defender was ehmtnated, For this cou1d not always reach the specified targets
Thompson- and Ilamethrower-armed men from purpose set procedures and drills were and in some hilly regions aircraft could do little,
the I st Marine Division landing from their LVT 4 formed and pressed dtrectly tnto use, These so small teams of infantry had to assume the
Atntrac on Okinawa. drills became even more tmportant once the clearing task.
 Faced with an enemy who had dug into the
hills of Okinawa to the extent that
conventional naval and air bombardment
was inadequate, and for whom death was
preferable to surrender, the US Marines
had to develop specialized bunker-clearing
teams. Each consisted otaflamethrower to
force entry and two riflemen whose
grenades preceded theentry of twosub-
machine gunners. The team had to ensure
that every defender was killed, as even ffie
mor tally w ounded fought on.

The teams usually operated in small four-
man grroups in support of flamethrowers. When
possible these flamethrowers were mounted
on converted M4 Sherman tanks but the usual
type was a back-pack model. The infantry
approached the defended location using sup-
porting fire from a machine-giun or rifle teams.
Sometimes a bazooka was added to the support
to blast a way through bunkers or obstacles,
but once within range the flamethrower was
used to burn the position or entrances. Subse-
quent 'burns' were made as the team
approached. The final entry was preceded by
grenades and hvo men carrying sub-machine
guns to spray the interior, with a final
flamethrower burn'if necessary. Every defen-
der had to be killed as even the wounded
attempted to fight on.
involved and the hierh stockpiles of ammunition
and equipment that had to be expended on
what was only the first of the Japanese 'main-
iand' islands surprised even them, although
their resources would have enabled them to
replace virhrally everything tn a short time,
What they did not relish was the full assar:lt on
the mainland and here the Okinawa campaigm
had its greatest impact onworld history. h the
short term Okinawa provided the US Air Force
wrth bomber bases close to Japan itseJf but the
Okinawa casualties showed the Amencans that
the war had to be ended guickly with every
resource to hand. Thtis they dropped the flrst
combat atomic bomb on Huoshima and fol-
Iowed it with a second bomb on Naqasaki,
Hundreds of thousands died but the expected
millions of casualties that an assault on the
Japanese mainland wor:ld have entailed were
thris avoided. In this way the Battle of Okinawa
casts its shadow sti.[.
Such was the ferocity of the frghting on Okinawa
that only one in I 2 of the defending troops was
captured alive. Many of the civilian inhabitants
had died in the battle.

The.kamrJcazehorcor
The Okinawa battle lasted until 21June 1945
when the last outposts were eliminated. By that
time the battle had been joined by a new iactor
in warfare, the kamikaze pilot, The first large-
scale use of this desperate measure was made
against the American supply vessels off Okina-
wa and continued throughout the battle, sink-
urg 36 ships and damaging a turther 368. But
even this horror could not overshadowthe grim
repetitive slog through the inland terrain of
Okinawa. Constant close combat meant that to
prog[ess as litt]e as 100 m took over a week oi
continuous fighting, most of it infantry slogging
with high casualties. The whole campaign cost
the Americans 12,520 dead, 36,631 wounded
and a firrther 16,2 I I bther' casualties. It cost the
Japanese defenders well over 100,000 dead
alone and the fi:]I extent of their casualties will
now never be known.
Apart from the 'butcher's bill' the Okinawa
campaigm cost the Americans a great deal in
material and eficrt. The amount of shipping

1t3
 iLirir,g Model 50 and Model SS
=
The Reising Model 50 and the later
Model 55 are two more examples of
how things can go wrong when the
basic blow-back action used on the
sub-machine gmn is ignored and re-
placed with somethrng that seems to
offer a better action. On the Reising
Model 50, which was first produced in
1940, the basic action was altered so
that instead of the breech block mov-
rng forward to the chamber when the
trigger was pulled, the action oper-
ated when the bolt was forward with a
round in the chamber. This action can
work quite well but it needs a system of
levers to operate the iring pin in the
breech block and these levers have to
disconnect once the breech block
moves. This all adds complexity and the slot underneath and was difficult to obtained other weapon types. Some The Reising Model 50 was one of the
cost and adds something to the system clean out, thus provrding one soulce of Modei 50s were obtained by a British ,leasf successful of all American sub-
which can break, potential bother. From the outside the Purchasing Commission but few were machine gans to see service, for it
Thus it was with the Reising Model Model 50 looked a fairiy simple involved and some others went to employed a complex mechanism
50. The desigm was the result of a com- weapon but the intemal arangements Canada, Yet more were sent to the that allowed ingress of dirt and other
mercral venture and was thus not so were compiexto the pointwhere there Soviet Union and by 1945 the Model50 debris to j am the weapon to an
inlluenced by military considerations was too much to go wrong, hence there was still in production and over 1 00, 000 unacceptable extent.
as would have been the case a few were more stoppages and general un- had been made, a modest enough total
years later, but the Model 50 was a reliabrlrty. but weil worthwhile as far as the manu- Specification:
well-made design with an unusual sys- When the Reising Model 50 was first factwers were concerned. Model 50
tem of cocking the weapon by means ofered to the US forces the US Marine Some of thrs total was made up by Calibre: 0.45 in (II.43 mm)
of a small catch sliding in a slot under Corps was some way down the list of the Model 55 which was the same as Lengrth: 857 mm (33,75 in)
the fore-stock, This left the top of the priorities, a position it was later drama- the Model 50 other than that the all- Lengilh of barret 279 mm (1 1,00 rn)
qnrn body free of many of the usual tically to reverse, so in the absence of wood stock of the Model 50 was re- Weight loaded:3.7kq (8.16 ]b)
hazards such as the cocking slot that any other source of sub-machine gn-:rs placed by a folding wue butt for use by Magnzine: 12- or 2O-round box
usually provides an ingness for dirt to it obtained numbers of the Model 50, airborne and other such units. The Rate of frre, cyclic: 550 rpm
clog the system, But on the Model 50 al1 Once the USMC had the Model 50 it Model 55 was no more successful than Muzzle velocity: 280 m (920 ft) per
that happenedwas that the dirt got into soon found the weapon wanting and the Model 50, second

ffi i#ie and MPzs

Although it was preceded in the time
scale by the Italian Villar Perosa, the
MPl8 caa be considered as the father
of the modern sub-machine gun. In
both the general concept, operatilg
principle and all-round appearance
the MPIS embodied ail the features
that have become commonplace, and
even today many sub-machine gun de-
sigms are no more than gradual im-
provement results of the basic MPI8.
The desigm of the MPIB began on a
low priority in 1916 to provrde front-
line troops with some form of rapid-f,re
low-range weapon. The desigmer was
the man whose name later came to be
synonymous with the sub-machine
gn:n, namely Hugo Schmeisser. it was
not until l9I8 that large numbers of the
newweapoq knownto the Gennansas
a Maschinen-Pistole (hence MP) or
machine pistol were issued to the
troops on the Western Front to be wed
in the gigantic offensives that were in- cess, but too many front-iine comman- single-shot fire feature, some small in- The German MP28 was a revised
tended to win the war for the Germans. ders attempted to use it as a form of temal changes on the breech block model of the original MP I 8. I t
The ofensives were ursuccessfi.:1, and light machine-gnrn and were thus drs- and all manner of extras such as the retained the general outline ofthe
the MPIB had little more than local appointed with the MPiB's perform- mounting for a bayonet, The MP2B had MPIS butwas able tofire either
impact, the lessons to be leamed from ance. Consequently the MP18 had a the new box maqazine as standard and single shot or full automatic.
the desigm being largely igmored out- mixed reception other than with the the type was produced in Belgium,
side Germany and the few troops who storm-troopers in the front assault Spain and elsewhere for export all
had come into contact with the waves, who found it invaiuable at close over the world, with China being one example for other desigmers to follow.
weapons. guarters. of the iargest markets, Others went to With the MPi8 the sub-machine gnrn
The MPIB was a simple blow-back When Germany was disarmed after South America and one batch, pro- desigm was virhrally 'frozen' and the
weapon firing the ciassic 9-mm Para- 1919 the MPIB was passed to the Ger- duced u the 7.65-mm calibre, was sold basic concept remarns unchanged to
bellum round that was to become the man police in an attempt to keep the to Porhrgai. this day.
prototype for nearly a1l weapons to concept alive, Numbers were also By 1939 there were stiil appreciable
come. Corsidering later desigms the handed over to the French army who numbers of MPIBs and MP28s around, Specification:
MPI8 was very well made, with solid
a used them (but so littie) that they were and the deslgm went to war in Europe MPIS
wooden stock and a 32-round'snail' stili bn the stocks' in 1939. In German once again. By 1945 the weapons were Calibre:9 mm
magazine (intended originally for the police service they were modified still being encountered not only in the Length: BI5 mm (32.09 in)
famous Luger pistol) mounted in a during the I920s to replace the Luger hands of the Germars but also in the Lendh of barrel: 200 mm (7.87 in)
housing on the left of the gun body. Thb 'snail' magazine with a simple inline hands of resistance forces and the Weisht loaded: 5,245 kg (11,56 lb)
barrel was covered by a prominent box magazine that again became the many partisan forces. Magazine: 32-round 'snail', later 20- or
perforated jacket to aid barrel cooling virtual prototype of what was to follow. Perhaps the gtreatest importance of 32-round box
after firing, and the weapon fired on In I92B the MPIB was placed back into the MP]B and the MP28 was not in theu Rate of fire, ryclic: 350-450 rpm
full automatic only. In its intended role limited production in Germany, this use as weapons, although they were Muzzle velocity: 365m (I,200ft) per
of trench fighting it was a great suc- time as the MP28, with new sights, a successfirl enough in that, but in their second

114
 GEBMANY
MP34 and MP35
-:- rrst sight the MP34 and MP35
:ppeared to be direct copies of the
l.?18 and MP2B, bul rhere were in
:ealty many drfferences, Easily mis-
33d at f,rst glance was that on the i\4P34
=:d MP35 the magazine protrudes
:cm the rrqht hand side of the gmn
:ody instead of on the left as with the
l,,IPlB and MP2B. Another detail diifer-
3nce was the trlqger mechanism,
,';:r-rch on the MP34and MP35 relied on
a double-pressure system for control
:f rate of flre, A simple light pressure
:n the trigger produced single shots,
.'.'de a full pressure on the tngger pro-
'rded automatic fire,
The MP34 was desiqned by the
tsergmann brothers, who almost un-
ioubtedly used the MPIB as a basis on
;';hich to improve, As they had few
:acilities rn Germany the brothers pro-
El ffia, MP38/40 and MP4o
-,\iiren
the MP38 was f,rst produced in
-938 it revolutionued weapon design
rot by any particular feature ofthe de-
sigm but by the method of manufacture
employed. Gone was the accurate
machine tooling of yesteryear, alongr
.arith the finely-produced wooden
flttings, and the standard offinish upon
whrch gunsmrths so prided them-
selves, With the introduction of the
MP38 came rough and simple metal
stamprngs, die-cast parts, plastic in-
stead ofwood, and a finish that lacked
any finesse or even plating ofany kind,
The MP3B looked what it was, a
weapon mass-produced to meet a pre-
crse military need, namely a simple
and cheap weapon that would work
when called upon to fire, and nothrng
more, On the MP3B there was no
wooden butt, just a bare foldingr healry
wire framework that folded under the
body for use in close conflnes such as
the back of a vehicle. The body was
produced from srmple sheet metal
stampings that could be churned out in
TwoGermanarmy
Panzergrenadiers armed with MP40s
occupying a shell hole on the
outs kirts of S talingr ad. As will be
understood, theMP40was at a s@ht
disadvantage in such positions, for
the long downw ar d- p ointing
magazine was no assistancewhen
tiring over the lip of such a shell hole.
duced their first example in Denmark
and only later was production switch-
ed to Germany The f,rst models were
the MP34 but later improvements led
to the MP35, which was produced in
considerably greater numbers, At first
production was slow, with sales being
made to such nations as Ethiopia and
Sweden, but with the Spanish Civil
War sales really picked up to boost the
company to amajor position in the sub-
machine gun market. The MP35 was
produced in both long- and short-
barrelled versions, and niceties such
as bayonet attachments and even light
bipods were rntroduced, One very no-
ticeable point on the MP35 was the use
of a rear-mounted bolt for cocking the
weapon instead of the usual side-
mounted cocking lever. This meant
that the rnterior of the weapon body
any metal workshop anywhere and the
breech block was provided n'1th only a
minimum of machining. Most of the out-
er surfaces were left in their bare-
metal state and at the best they were
painted, Despite all these apparently
cheap and coslcutting measures the
MP3B had an immediate impact out of
all proportion to its design attnbutes,
for in the years after 1938 more and
more weapons adopted similar mass-
production techniques flrst rntroduced
on the MP3B.
The MP3B was qurte orthodox so far
as operation went, It had a conven-
tionally-functroninqr blow-back bolt
and the vertical magazine under the
Sub-machine $ms of Worl,C War II
along which the breech had to travei
was kept clear of the dLrst and drt that -raai --:-:
l.?:{ =-:: l*F:: r=:= ,:=:;
usually finds its way into open side- rVe., :-:-'---=:.-i:l ------ t-:i. :
lever actions and the MP34 and MP35 Par'6 r.1::-:.:- l-l-- --= -i--t t-:--
were certatnly reliable weapons, even Bul rn n:s ::'-:L= .:
- , -.= l.l- _-: -
if they were a little heavier than some a much pr,zei c:-=::::: ;-::: -::
ol their nvals. bulk of the pr3 :l:::- ::l--::: = -:=
It was thrs reliability that brought the stamp of the Wane:- SS
MP35 to the attention of what was to be
the biggest customer for the weapon, Specification:
namely the Waffen SS which was look- MP35
ing for its own weapons procurement Calibre:9 mm (plus many c--:.=:s -.-.
separate from that of the German export models)
army, and after late all MP35 pro-
1940 Length (standard modei): 840 n-r-
duction went to the Waffen SS, con- (33,07 in)
tinuing until the war ended in 1945. But lengthofbarrel 200 mm (7,87 rn)
MP34s and MP35s still cropped up Weight loaded: 4.73 kq (10,43 lb)
elsewhere, and many can still be found Magazine: 24- or 32-round box
in use with South Amencan pollce Rateoffire, cyclic: 650 rpm
forces, while srnall numbers can still Mrzzlevelocity:365 m (1,200 ft) per
be encountered in the Far East. The second
Above:This MP3B was theoriginal
production version. Although the
designwas intended for mass
production the receiver and many
parts were machined- these were
later replaced by the pressings and
welds of the MP40.
Right:The MP40, as used by this
corpolal during the invasion of the
USSR,was almostidentical to the
MP38 except that it was much
simpler to manufacture.
body fed 9-mm Parabellum rounds into
a conventional feed system. A cockingt
handle along the left-hand side of the
body operated in an open slot but
although dust and dft couid enter the
internal workings the weapon could
absorb an appreciable amount of for-
ergn bodres before it jammed. Under
the barrel muzzle there was an odd
projection that was designed to catch
on the edge ofvehicles to act as a firing
rest but the same item also acted as a
muzzle cover to keep out dirt.
Once in actron in 1939 one rather
nasty habit of the MP3B came to lisht,
The gun operated from the open-
breech position (the bolt was cocked
to the rear before the trigtger could
release it to fire) but if the gmn was
jarred or knocked the bolt jumped for-
ward and started the flring cycle by
itself, This nasty fault caused many
casualties before it was modlfled out
by the machimng of a slot over the
MP38, MP38/40 and MP40 (continued)

breech block'home' position, through

which a prn could engage and lock
after beingr pushed through a hole on
the other side ofthe body; it could be
released when required for firing,
With th:s modrfication fltted the MP3B
became the MP38/40,
During 1940 the srmple manuf,acture
of the MP3B was taken one stage furth-
er with the introductron of even more
metal stamprngs and even simpler
manufactwinet methods. The new ver-
sion was called the MP40: to the soldier
in the fie1d it was little different from
the MP3B/40, but for the Getman eco-
nomy it meant that the MP40 could be
easrly manufactured anywhere with
sub-assemblies being produced in Above: This cutaway drawing shows actly where this name came from is not
srmple workshops and assembled only the simple'in-line' layout of the known, but it rs rncorrect; Hugo
at central workshops, It was churned M P 38, The comp act de sigm employs Schmeisser had nothing to do with the
out in tens ofthousands and in the field the blow- back principle, but the design, which orietinated with the
rt proved a most popular and handy mainreturn springis housedin a Erma concern.
weapon with Allied troops using any telescopic tube that kept out dirt and
examples they cor:1d find or captwe. foreign obj ects to ensure reliability. Specification:
The MP3B/40 was often used by resist- Note also lie sim ple trigger MP4O
ance forces and partisans as well mechanism. Calibre:9 mm
The only major change to the MP40 Lengrth, stock extended: 833 mm
after 1940 was the introduction of a Left: An MP40 in action during the (32 80 in)
twin-magazine feature with the MP40/ Stalingirad fighting. Although many Length, stock folded: 630 mm (24,80 in)
2. This was not a success and was little G erm an propaganda photographs Lengrthof barrel25l mm (9,88 in)
used. But the MP40 is still used today in tend togive the impression thatthe Weight loaded: 4,7 kg ( 10.36 lb)
odd corners of the world, especially M P3 8 and M P40 were in widespre ad Magazine:32-round box
by guerrilla forces. use, fier'rr'ssue was largely restricted Rate offire, cyclic: 500 rpm
One odd word about this weapon: It to front-line divisions only and the Muzzle velocity: 365 m (1,200 ft) per
is often known as the'Schmeisser', Ex- P anzergren adier s in particular. second

ffi F'po-1e34/38
The Soviet Union had enough troubles
during the 1920s and 1930s without
worrying too much about weapon de-
sign, but when things settled down
enough for the re-equipment of the
Red Army to be contemplated, sub-
machine gun desrgn was not very high
on the list of prioritres, Rather than
make any rnnovations tn sub-machine
grun desigrn the first Soviet sub-
machine gmn was a combination of ex-
isting desrgns, This was the PPD-1934/
38.
When it was first produced in 1934;
the weapon was a combination of fea-
tures from the Finnish Suomi m/1931
and the German MPIB and MPZB, It
remained in productron until 1940 by
which time some modifications had
been introduced to justify the use ofthe
full designation of PPD- 1934i38. There
was nothing very remarkable about
the PPD- I934i38. The mechanisms was
almost the same as that used on the
German sub-machine gun origtnals
and, after a short attempt to produce a
Soviet-designed component, the
magazrne was a direct take-off from
the Suomi magazine, This was the
Suomi 7l-round drum magazlne that
was to become the virtual norm for
later Soviet sub-machine guns, but
there was also a curved 2S-round box
magazine rssued on occasion. This box
maqazine had to be curved as the car- that the drum magazine fitted up into end of 1941 even the PPD-1940 had The S ovie tP PD- I 9 34 introduced one
tridge used for all the Soviet sub- the gnrn througth a large slot in the passed out of production for the simple feature later used on all Soviet sub-
machine guns was the 7.62-mm stock, Very few other sub-machine reason that the Germans had ovemrn machine gun designs : the chromed
Tokarev (Type P) cartridge which had gnrn destgns used this magazine fixrng the arsenals concerned and there was barrel to reduce wear and ease
a bottie-necked shape and would not system, no time to set up the extensive cleaning.
:herefore 1ie completely flat for feed- When the Germans and their allies machine-shops and production lines
:nq foom the magazine lips into the gmn invaded the USSR in 1941 the PPD- elsewhere, The Red Army had to re-
body 1934/38 and PPD-1940 were inrelative- sort to newer and more easily pro- Lengrth of barrel 269 mm (10,60 in)
There was one variant of the PPD- ly short supply among Red Army units duced sub-machine gnrn models, Weight loaded: 5.69 ks (12,54 lb)
-.3-44/38 that was placed in production and they had little impact on the Magazine: 7l-round drum or 2S-round
:- i940. This was the PPD-1940, which cowse of events, Any the Germans Specification: box
:r- a general ail-round improvement captured they tssued to their own PPD-1934/38 Rate of fire, ryclic: 800 rpm
::- -re earlier design. It did have one second-hne units, but the numbers in- Calibre: 7,62 mm Muzzle velocity: 4B8m (I,600ft) per
;::,,- noiiceable recognition feature in volved were never very large, BY the Lengrth: 780 mm (30.7I rn) second

__a
 PPSh.4I
In many ways the PPSh-4I was to the
Red Army what the Sten was to the
British and the MP40 to the Germans. It
was the Soviet equivalent of the mass-
produced sub-machine gun, using
simple methods and a minimum of
complicated machining operations,
But unhke the Sten and the MP40 the
PPSh-41 was the result of a more mea-
sured and rnvolved development pro-
cess than was possible with, say the
British Sten and thus the end result was
a much better all-round weapon,
The PPSh-41 was designed and de-
veloped starting in 1940 but tt was not
until early 1942, in the wake of the up-
heavals of the German invasion, that
the first examples were issued to the
Red Army on a large scale. As it had
been designed ftom the outset for ease
of production the PPSh-41 was
churned out in the tens of thor..rsands in
all manner ofworkshops ranging from
properly-equipped arsenals to shed
workshops in rural areas, By 1945 it has
been estimated that over five millions
had been produced.
Considering that it was a mass-
produced weapon, the PPSh-4I was a
well-made design wrth a heav-y so[d
wooden butt, It used the conventional
blow-back system but it had a high
rate of fire and to absorb the shock of
the recoiling breech block a buffer of
lamrnated leather or felt blocks was
provided at the rear of the breech
block travel, The gmn body and the
barrel jacket were simple shaped
steel stampings and the muzzle had a
downward sloprng shape that doubled
as a rudimentary mtnzle brake and a
device termed a compensator that was
intended to reduce the amoult of muz-
zle climb produced by the recoil
forces when the gun yras fired, The
barrel was chrome-plated, a standard
Soviet practice to ease cleaning and
reduce barrel wear, but at one time
the need for weapons was so great that
the barrels were simply old Mosrn-
Nagant rifle barrels cut to slze, The
The German army was much
impressed with the Soviet PPSh-4I ,
and when supplies of their own
MP40swere lacking they taokto
using large numbers of captured
PPSh-4 1 s. If Soviet 7.62-mm
ammunition was in short supply the
reapon could fire the German 7.6 3-
=n Mauserpistol round, and by
I 345 numbers of PPSb-4 I s were
]i
I
reng adapted to fire German 9-mm
.:ilnunition.
A
Sub-machine guns of World War II
Above: The PPSfu-4 I was one of the
' cl as sic' Red Army weapons of Wor ld
Warll, and itwas produced in
millions. I t was an emergency design
born out of the disruption o{ the
German invasion of 194 1.
Right: Involvement in the fighting
extended throughout the population,
for during some of the many sieges,
sucft as ffiose a t Leningrad,
Sevastopol and Stalingrad, even the
women and children took up
weapons,
drum magazine used was the same as
that used on the ear[er Soviet sub-
machine gmns, Frre selection (single-
shot or full automatic) was made by a
simple lever just forward of the trigger.
Construction of the PPSh-41 was weld-
tng, pins and seam stampings, The
overall resuit was a tougrh, rehable
weapon,
The PPSh-4} had to be tough, for
once the Red Army started To receive
the tlpe in appreciable numbers rt
adopted the v/eapon ln a way that no
other army even attempted to consid-
er. Quite simply the PPSh-41 was
doled out to entire bailahcns ald regr-
iments to the virhra.l exclusron of ary
other type of weapon other than hand
qrrenades. These units formed the van-
gmard of the shock assault udts that
were carried into the attack on the
backs of T-34176 tanks, from whrch
they only descended for the attack or
for food and rest, They carried only
enough ammunition for thetr immedi-
ate needs, their general life standards
were 1ow, and their combat lives were
very short. But tn their thousands these
hordes armed with the PPSh-41 swept
across eastern Russia and across
Europe, carryinQr all before them,
They were a fearful force and their
PPSh-4]s became a virtual combat
symbol of the Red Army,
Under such circumstances the
PPSh-41 (known to their users as the
Pah-Pah-Shah) receled vrrtually no
maintenance, or even cleaninq. Under
Eastern Front conditions it soon be- gomg to the extent of recalibring some Specification:
came apparent that the best way to of their captured hoard to therr own Calibre: 7,62mm
keep the weapon going under dust or 9mm, Partisans found the PPSh-4] an Lensth: B2B mm (32.60 in)
rce conditrons was to keep it complete- ideal weapon for their purposes, and Lengrth of barrel: 265 mm (10.4: :.
ly dry and free from any sort of oil, after the war the type was used by Weight loaded: 5.4 kg (it.9C li.
otherwise it clogged ar froze. virtually every nation that came within Magazine: 7l-round drum ol 3l-::--:--
So many PPSh-4ls were produced the Soviet sphere of influence. It strll box
that the type became a virtual standard turns up in the hands of 'freedom Rate of fire, cyclic: 900 1or:t
weapon for the Germany Army as well fighters' all over the world and it will no Muzzle velocity: 48Bm ,-:-.. -. :=:
as the Red Army, the Germans even doubr be around lor a long trme yet. mlnute
The Siege of leningrad
Leningrad was one of the primary objectives of
the opening phase of Operation 'Barbarossa' in
June 1941. The German invasion of the USSR
was planned to take piace along three matn
axes, the most northerly of which was the re-
sponsibility of Army Group 'North' under the
command of Generalfeldmarschall von Leeb
and, paradoxically, such was the success of the
openrng phase of the campaign that was to cost
Germany the war, that in five days Army Group
'North' had covered half the distance to Lenin-
grad.
But at that point a series of massive battles on
the central front started to divert the impetus
away from the north. The reduced Army Group
'North' forces still moved towards the 'Cradle of
the Revolution' but at a reduced speed, so that
it was not until September that the approaches
to the city were in sight. By that time the defen-
ders had sensed their danqer and the popu-
lace was put to work to construct defences and
anti{ank ditches on the approaches, The Ger-
mans themselves assisted this defence by con-
stantiy diverting their efforts southwards away
from their objectrve as the approaches to Mos-
cow beckoned, but eventually a definite oper-
ational plan to take the city was made, The
Finns, the reluctant allies of Germany, were
coerced into joining the campargn but did little
more than cross the Svir rlver and establlsh
themselves around Lake Iradoga,
By the time the Germans were ready over
one milhon civillans inside Leninqrad had ren-
dered their perimeter into a state fit to defend.
When the full German attack took place it
almost immediately became bogtged down in a
myriad of defensrve positions, antrtank obsta-
cles and dltches. The LuJtwaffe carried out
constant bombing raids, but the German forces Attheendof 1941,
were held. Throughout the attack the German theBaltictleet
becamepailof the
local commander, Generaloberst H. Hoth, was
defencesof
restricted by the fact that the bulk of his offen- Leningrad.Many
sive forces were requtred to take part in opera- sailors, stillproudly
tions to the south, against Moscow, bgt he used wearingtheir
these forces at the very time they were re- striped vests under
quested to move south, Thus Leningrad made armyuniforms,
its first major contribution by absorbing forces fought as infantryin
that miqht have made all the difference in the thedefenceof the
battle for Moscow, Gangat Peninsula..
l8-monthsiege
The attack on the Leningrad perrmeter died
out by the middle ol September and there be-
gan the siege that was to last until the late
spring oi 1943 It was a rather loose form of
srege as the German forces involved could
never irlly control the whole clty boundary and
Lake Ladoga could r:sually be kept open, The
Finns did little to assrst the Germans, but a city
the sue of Lenrrgrrad requires a great deal of
food and other supplies just to exist and these
supplies were never forthcoming through the
German hnes, The civilian populatron of
Leningrad su-ffered dreadi:lly, Throughout the
winters of 1941-2 a-nd 1942-3 thousands died of
cold and hunger io jre extent that bodies lay in
the streets ior ciays because no-one had the
strength or time to bury them.
The Soviet PPSb s/as so strnp]e f o manufacture that
whole units such as this ski unit were often armed
wilhnothing more than the PPSh-4l.ln tleRussian
winter the P P S h-4 I w o u Id s till wor k, bu t only if it
was leftfreefrom oil once cleened;if oilwasused
the weapon would {ree z e soild.
 Sulc-machine guns of World War II

The front-line soldiers received the bulk of

what food and suppiies were available, but
there was little enough of that and food cottld
only be obtained by small-scale forays through
the loosely-held German lines. Weapons and
ammunition supply were a constant headache
for the Soviet commanders, who had been
allowed to form their ovrn independent Soviet
to conduct their own defence, and they used
the slender supply lines that came across the
Lake Ladoga ice during the winters for the
movement of ammunition and other such mate-
nal only,
Continuinqindustry
-eningrad could supply some of its own de-
:e:rce materials, for it had long been one of the
::iajor lndustrral centres of the USSR, The KV
:ank factory inside the perimeter continued to
burld tanks throughout the siege, As they were
completed they ran off the tines straight inlo
battle, while machine tools from other factories
;;ere used to produce smali arms and spares,
among them the remarkable 7.62-mm PPS-42
Jie design of which was made more with con-
sideration to what machine tools were avail-
able rather than any destgn refinements,
Despite constant artillery bombardment by
']re Germans and constant small-scaie raids,
' eningrad held on. By early i943 the worst was
cver: the Germans had lost the vitai strategic
The Red Army made great use of posed The PPSh-41 was widely issued to the numerous
nitiative and they fell back to the west leaving propaganda photographs both for home and partisan units thatwere part and parcel of the Red
'Jre approaches to Leningrad open, Battles still overseas consumption, and thrs examp/ers Army's operations behind the German lines. It
:ook place along the coastiines to the west of typical.lt shows twoRed Army soldierswith PPSh- could absorb a surprising amount of hard use and
-J:e city, but Leningrad had held and the worst
4I s and another soldier with a DPM light machine- could go without maintenance for long periods ,
siege of the war was over. Leningrad had won gun in the foreground. which was just as well, for partisan trainingwas
Jrrough, although at fearful cost, usual Iy v ery r u dimentary.

X iips-+z and PPS-43

Few weapons can have been de-
sigmed and produced under such de-
sperate conditions as those that su-r-
round the advent of the Soviet PPS-42
sub-machine enrn, In 1942 the city of
Lenrngrad was surrounded by the
German army and the besieged Red
Army units were short of everythinqt
rncludrng weapons, Leningnad con-
tained a large number of manufactur-
ing facilitres and machine shops, so
when rt came to producing their own
weapons the soldiers were relatively
well ofl but they needed weapons
quickly. Under such conditions the
sub-machine gmn provides a basis on
which to work and so an engdneer, A.l,
Sudarev, set to work,
Sudarev was limited in his choice of
design by the materials to hand and duction shops to soldiers in the front revlsed so that 1t could be folded up- The Soviet PPS-43 was the fuL|
the type of machines wrth which he line. Their comments and results were wards to clear the ejectron port, and production version of the
could work, By sheer pragmatic trial fed straight back to the assembly the original rough wooden pistol gnip eme rge ncy - pro du ce d P P S - 4 2
and error he developed a sub- shops where any changes were made was replaced by a hard rubber type, designed during the siege of
machine gunthat embodied allthe fea- on the spot. One of these changes in- The general standard of finish was Leningrad. The PPS-43 introduced
tures to be found in other emerqency volved the use of a cuwed steel plate generally rmproved, and in this form some finesse, b ut it was essentia I ly a
designs such as the British Sten and over the muzzle to act as a partial com- the weapon became the PPS-43, In simpleweapon.
American M3. The result was a simple, pensator and muzzle brake, and this trme the PPS-43 took its place with the
robust sub-machine gmn manufactured crude and simple device was re- Red Army alongside the PPSh-41, but
fuom sheet metal stampings, most of tained, In time the new weapon was never in quite the same numbers. Con-
them heavy for that was the only mate- provided with an officral designation, sidenng the inauspicious beginnings
rial to hand, The gmn was held together becoming the PPS-42, In action around of the desigrn it proved to be an excel-
by welds, rivets and pins, and a srmple Leningnad it proved to be a thoroughly lent weapon in service wherever it
foldlng butt was provided, The 35- sound design and one that could be was taken, andin 1944 it was adopted
round magazine used on earlier Soviet produced quickly and cheaply, so it by the Frnns as their standard sub-
sub-machrne gnrns was adopted almost was not long after the srege of Lemng- machine gnrn once they came into the
'.mchangTed as production of a drum rad was lifted that the desrgn became Soviet sphere of rnlluence. To this day
magazine would have proved too drf- olficial and adopted for greneral Red it remains in servrce wrrh many armres
:cult, Army serirrce, When thrs took place and lke the Britrsh Sten, it has been
The firing trials of the new desrgn there was opporh-rnity to remove some accorded the distrnctron o: c:::;
rere carried out quite simply by hand- of the more rushed and crude features copred in many backyard ,*orks::ps
rg out examples straight from the pro- of the weapon, The folding butt was for numerous subverst're reasa-
 freretta sub-machine eruns
The first of the Beretta series was the
Beretta Model 1938A, which was pro-
duced in Brescia, The first examPles
were produced in 1935 but it was not
u:rtil I93B that the flrst mass-produced
examples appeared for issue to the
Italian armed forces. The term 'mass
production' is perhaps rather mislead-
Lng for the Berettas, as although they
were produced on normal production
lines, the care and attention that went
into each example was such that they
can almost be regarded as hand-
made. In fact the Berettas are still re-
garded as some ofthe flnest examples
of the sub-machine gun that it rs possi-
ble to obtain, and the earlY Model
I93BAs were destrned to become
among the most prized of all,
In design terms the Berettas had lit-
tle enough of note, They had a well-
finished wooden stock, a tubular body,
a downwards-polnting box magazine
and a pedorated barrel jacket, some of
them with provision for a folding
bayonet at the muzzle, There was no-
thing really remarkable in these
points, but what was very noticeable
was the way in which the weapon was
balanced and the way it handled in
action. It turned out to be a truly re-
markable sub-machine gnrn, The su-
perb finish endeared it to all who used
the type, and one result ofthe painstak-
ing assembly and flnishinq was a
weapon that proved reliable and accu-
rate under all conditrons, The ammuni-
tion feed proved to be exceptional, but
only when the proper magazines were
used, There were several srzes of
magazines (holding 10, 20, 30 or 40
rounds) and these were issued
together with a loading device. The
rounds used on the early Berettas was
a special hrgh-velocity 9-mm cartridge
but this was later chaneted to the un1-
versal 9-mm Parabellum.
There were several variations on
the Model 1938A theme, one of which
lacked the bayonet and some of the
refinements as it was intended to be a
special lightened model for use tn de-
sert regions, When ltaly entered the
war in 1941 some small revtsion of
manufacturing methods was made, but
the soldier at the front would be hard
The nature of the ltalian Fasckt state
was such thatby the time anyyouth
entered the Army he was already
well trained in the
use of most of the
weapons they would be issued with.
This included the BerettaModel
1938, seenhere carriedby aYoung
Fascist being decorated by General
Bastico.
"24
Above: TheModel 1938 was a sound
and well-balanced weapon that was
a j oy to handle and use.
jVo expense
was spared in its manufacture, and
consequently itwas very reliable and
accurate. Thk example is fitted with
a [O-round magazine. Note the
douhle- trigger arrangement and the
well- fi nis hed wooden stock.
Right: Italian troops in Tunisia, their
Beretta Model I 9 38s readY to hand.
The weapon on the left is equiPPed
with a I l-round magazine which was
otten employed when single-shot fire
was required. The Model I 938 was
very accurate and could be usedin
the manner of a rifle at combat
ranges up to 300 m (985 ft).
put to recognize them, for the overall addition of simpler assembly and weapons whenever they could caP-
finish remained beautiful. Close ex- manufacturinq methods to the point ture sufficient numbers, but their use
amination revealed that the barrel that it had become the Model 38/42, by the Allies was restncted to a grreat
jacket was altered to become a while an even later version was the extent by a shortage of Beretta maga-
stamped and welded part but that was Model L Relatively few of these two zines, Apparently the sub-machine
about the only concession to mass- versrons were produced and the bulk gnrns were often captured without their
production technoloqy, and the Model of them were produced after 1945, vital magazines, which was perhaps
1938A retarned its hrgh reputation, Both models were stilJ eastly recogniz- just as well for the ltalians,
By I944 the war situation had able as Berettas, and while they both
changed to the extent that Berettas retained the overall excellence they Specification:
were beinq produced for the German were generally simpler and lacked Model 19384
army, the Italians having surrendered some of the flnesse of the Model 19384. Calibre: 9 mm
in 1943. By then the basic design of the As mentioned above, by 1944 Beret- Lengrth: 946 mm (37,24 in)
Model L93BA had been revised bY the tas were being produced for the Ger- tengrth of barrel: 315 mm (12.40 in)
mans. Earlier in the war the Germans Weisht loaded: 4,97 kg (10,96 ]b)
had been happy to use numbers ofthe Magazine: 1O-, 20-, 30- or 40-round box
The demands of war Production Model 1938A and the Romanians had Rate of fire, cyclic: 600 rpm
meant thatBerettawere unable to purchased a number (they later purch- Muzzle velocity: 420m (1,3BOft) Pet
maintain their pre-war standards of ased the Model 38/42 as well), After second
excellence. Even so, the Model 38/ 42 the Italian capitulation the Berettas be-
was a much better weaPon desigm came standard German weapons but
than many of its contemporaries and were little used outside ltaly. The
retained many of the features of the Allies grreatly prized the Berettas and
pre-warmodel. used them in place of their own
ArmedForcesoftheworld ffi
ffi

US Rapid Deplogmenl Force

Part2
Deployment and supply
The heart of the RDF concept is that the bulk
of the forces involved will be able to move to
the SWA (South West Asia) region of action
and, when there, continue to be supplied. This
is the RDF's weakest point, for to deploy
forces on the scale that the RDF mobilization
will entail is currently beyond the scope of the
US Air Force Military Air Command (MAC),
even if the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) be-
comes involved. Also involved in this massive
move would be the finding in the region of
sufficient reliable bases from which to
operate.
The latter point can be considered first as
American policy planners are currently in-
volved in the preparation of several ports and
airfields in the SWA theatre. These facilities
have been obtained by local discussions lead-
ing to the active updating of existing sites to
make them usable on the scale that anv move
by the RDF will involve. There are several of
these locations scattered around the lndian
Ocean and others en route to SWA. At all of
them the US Army Corps of Engineers has
overseen the construction and modification of
all manner of airfield and port facilities at Ras
Banas in Egypt, Masirah lsland off Oman,
Mombasa in Kenya, Berbera in Somalia, the examined for any possible lessons. The Milit- USSTarawa capable of landing and supporting a
island of Diego Garcia and facilities in the ary Sealife Command has no fewerthan 37 dry 1900-strong reintorced marine battalion, is the
Azores. Kenyan airfields involved are Embaka- cargo vessels in service with a f urther 29 in the largest amphibious warlare vessel yet built.
si and Nanyuki, and in Oman more facilities Ready Reserve Fleet. To these can be added
'l
will be provided at Seeb airf ield, thumrayt, and 67 other reserye vessels, but not all of these Boeing Vertol CH47 Chinook/
the ports of Mutrah and Salalah. will be available all the time. Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe ae.)
Most of these locations will be used as stag- The airlift potential of the US forces, Sikorsky CH-53 Stallion 161
ing bases and staging posts. Many of them although considerable, is now insufficient for
already have oil storage facilities or will be the RDF reguirement and is currently being Reserve Forces aircraft inventory
provided with them. Payment for these facili- reinforced by the purchase of a further 50 Lockheed C-130 Hercules 294
ties is made in a variety of ways from direct Lockheed C-5B Galaxy heavy-lift transports McDonnell Douglas C-9/
cash to economic and military aid. and some other aircraft, including a substantial Fairchild C-]23 19
To move a force the size of the RDF involves quantlty of McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Exten- Boeing Verrol CH47l
more than air transport, as the bulk of the ders. ln the Fiscal Year 1983 the strength of Sikorsky CH-54 169
RDF's equipment is such that sea transport is what are termed US Military Mobility Assets Sikorsky CH-53 18
involved. For this purpose no less than 17 were as follows:
heavy cargo carriers are scheduled to be It should be stressed that these are inven-
based in the SWA region, most of them at Active Forces aircraft inventory tory totals only, and that operational strengths
Diego Garcia, already loaded with the heavy Lockheed C-5 Galaxy 70 would thus be much smaller. To these can be
supplies needed by RDF units. More shipping Lockheed C-l41 Starlifter 234 added 21 5 passenger aircraft and 1 09 cargo
is earmarked in the continental United States McDonnell Douglas KC-'10 aircraft from the Civil Reserve Air Fleet
for the task, and the experience gained during Extender 12 (CRAF), and this total is to be increased if
the recent Falkland lslands campaign is being Lockheed C-1 30 Hercules 218 funds become available.

An M 1 09 1 55-mm self-propelled howitzer being Lockheed C-5 Galaxy aircraft provide the RDF with Commercial shipping can be used to provide a
disembarked at Alexandria during Exercise capacity to move loads up to Main BattleTank size sealift capacity, and the campaiga in the Falklands
'BrightStar'82'. byair. r's berng studr'ed forpossibJe Jessons.
Armed Forces of the World
US Rapid Deployment Force
Equipment
--e iDE 'will be equipped with the same
\Aeapons as all other branches of the US
arnred forces, but already moves are being
n-ade to introduce newer equipment that will
produce greater mobility without any sacrifice
of firepower. Much of this newequipmentwill
take the form not of weapons but rather of
support equipment such as bridging, fuel
supply systems, and water supply and
purification systems. Already much training
has been carried out in the SWA area, includ-
ing such relatively large-scale exercises as
'Brioht Star' (three of which have been carried
outjn Egypt) and 'Jade Tiger' (carried out in
conjuncik5h with Somalia, Sudan and Oman).
Some of these exercises have been carried
out on a relatively small scale but have still
involved some large airlifts and taught some
invaluable lessons. One was learnt during the
first 'Bright Star' when over one quarter of
MAC's Strength was involved in moving a
single battalion plus its support from the Un-
ited States to Cairo. Such lavish deployments
will be 'out' in future.
ln general, US Army divisions will be light on
armour and those involved will be based
around the M60 main battle tank. The US
Marines will gradually introduce their new LAV
(Light Armoured Vehicle) based on the Cougar
wheeled vehicle. Support artillery will be Above : M em ber s of the I 2 nd Air borne D ivis ion set Below: The Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawk is air
towed instead of self-propelled (although up a perimeter round the drop zone. The division transportable, carries a wide variety of weaponry
some M109A2s will be involved for the time usually flies direct to the drop from its base in and can carry up to I I fully-equipped troops at the
being), the weapon mainly involved being the NorthCarolina. same lime.
M198 towed 155-mm howitzer. Numerous
proposals for other support weapons for the
RDF have been mooted, including such things WhidbeV lslandl and a new multi-purpose
as 'miniature' MLRS long-range rocket- amphibious assault ship known as the LHD.
launchers, towed DIVADS 40-mm anti-aircraft lnvolved with these will be new special crane
guns and special Chaparral SAM carriers, but ships and iighters, including hovercraft for the
these all depend on funding, and extra funding assault and supply role.
over and above the huge sums already in- The US Marine Corps is currentlyreorganiz-
volved is unlikely. inq itself around a new Light Armoured Vehi-
The US Air Force, other than the MAC in- ct6 (mV) battalion, and th"e air component of
volvement, is likely to be based on a mix of their amphibious force is now the BAe AV-8A
McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagles and F6irchild Harrier of the Vought A-7 Corsair. ln future
Republic A-10 Thunderbolt lls for direct sup- these will be supplemented (or replaced) by
port, and on General Dynamics F-1 1 1s and the McDonnell Douglas AV-88 Harrier ll.
Boeing B-52s (probably operatlng from the To control all these various formations the
continental USA) for bomber support. American forces are also deeply involved in a
The US Navy is already operating in the pr^ogramme to provide a flexible and capable
incilan Ocean, with at least one carrier-based C3 lcommand, control, communications)
battle group on station at any one time. The US series of systems, but nothing def inite has yet
Navy is already deeply involved in a major been agreed. lt is known, however, that con-
re-equipment programme and is unlikely to siderable use of Boeing E-3A Sentry AWACS
make any major RDF changes, but already aircraft will be involved. Some of these aircraft
under way are a new class of amphiblous have already been based in Egypt and Sudan
assault ship (the first of which is the LSD-41 on occasron.

The 30-mm cannon of the Fairchild Republic A- 10 Further extension of capabilitywill comewith the
For the moment,whatarmour theRDF can deploy can be deptoyed in support of forces faced by rncreasing use of amphibious air cushionvehicles
will consist of M60A3 Main Battle Tanks. hostile armour. (LCAC).