Questions, questions...

Something to keep the Brenexperten gainfully employed: I have some questions I have had knocking around in my head for a while:

- How suddenly did Inglis change over from producing the MkI(m) Bren to the MkII in 1943? Are there factory made intermediates or hybrids between the two?

- Why did the Monotype scheme production of the MkII end in 1944?

- Did Enfield continue to produce the MkI(m) Bren after commencing production of the Mk3 in 1944?

- Were many Mk3 Brens issued prior to May 1945?

- Did Canadian and British made Brens go into the same supply chain? Or did British guns mostly go to British soldiers and Canadian guns mostly go to Canadian soldiers? Ditto British and Canadian made spare parts?

- Did many Australian made Brens make it to the European theatre during WWII?

That should all keep you out of mischief for a bit. :)

Cheers,

Mark

- How suddenly did Inglis change over from producing the MkI(m) Bren to the MkII in 1943? Are there factory made intermediates or hybrids between the two?

I've pretty much pinned the change over down to 400 guns, so far it appears the change was instant with no intermediate guns.

- Why did the Monotype scheme production of the MkII end in 1944?

I guess that their contracts were fulfilled and as the demand wasn't as great as the previous years, Enfield could manage production themselves. Monotype guns have been noted with 1945 body markings so they maybe carried on unill that year.

- Did Enfield continue to produce the MkI(m) Bren after commencing production of the Mk3 in 1944?

No, again it appears Mk1 production stopped and the machines were reconfigured for the Mk3 before production began.

- Were many Mk3 Brens issued prior to May 1945?

I've no hard figures for the number of Mk3s produced upto May 45 but from my serial number daa base it would appear that approx 20,000 Mk3s were produced by May.



- Did Canadian and British made Brens go into the same supply chain? Or did British guns mostly go to British soldiers and Canadian guns mostly go to Canadian soldiers? Ditto British and Canadian made spare parts?

The first Inglis contracts were with the UK government so these will have gone into the same supply chain as the British guns. I'm unsure how many other contracts may have been for UK, but I'm pretty sure that Inglis supplied many spares to the UK under seperate contracts.

- Did many Australian made Brens make it to the European theatre during WWII?

Doubtfull during WW2 as Enfield Supplied the Aussies with some Brens to supplement their own guns. Peter L says that many Lithgow guns ended up in British service after post war conflicts due to combined depots and maintenance facilities.

How suddenly did Inglis change over from producing the MkI(m) Bren to the MkII in 1943? Are there factory made intermediates or hybrids between the two?

I've pretty much pinned the change over down to 400 guns, so far it appears the change was instant with no intermediate guns.

- Interesting. Presumably there was a gap in production when they changed the machines etc. over to production of MkII components? Do you know if the Canadian pattern Mk2 bipod (UK Mk3) predated the production of the MkII gun?

- Were many Mk3 Brens issued prior to May 1945?

I've no hard figures for the number of Mk3s produced upto May 45 but from my serial number daa base it would appear that approx 20,000 Mk3s were produced by May.

- Do you know if these went into storage whilst stocks were built up prior to general issue, or did they go out as soon as they were made? AFAIK no Mk3's were used during Market Garden, but how about Operation Varsity?

Cheers,

Mark

Hi Peregrine. Most of the q's you ask and the answers pretty well on the nail by PB are all answered fully in the forthcoming book that seems to have the gestation period of a whale. So that's a good incentive to get it when it does eventually hit the streets. I have all this info but, alas, it's all on my old computer, not transferred to disc, that I just need to put onto this new computer. However a degree in mechanical engineering hasn't prepared me for the computer world - quite yet!

Some of the last BH prefix Mk1 Brens seem to be a bit mysterious and it would seem that these were assembled much later, well into the Mk3 production era, presumably in an effort to feed them into the system as opposed to them go to waste - but not many

Some Lithgow Brens could be found in UK Military service but as they were all Mk1 and obsolescent in any case, they were usually DP's in Cadet service. They probably came from the wartime Middle East and 50's Malaya where Ordnance stockpiles were usually pooled

I forget the full picture now but I seem to remember that all Inglis Bren production was a UK contract. Inglis were not allowed even the slightest variation from the drawing spec without specific Enfield/Ministry of Supply approval, even for the boxes, fittings and ancilliaries ets etc

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

Most of the q's you ask and the answers pretty well on the nail by PB are all answered fully in the forthcoming book that seems to have the gestation period of a whale. So that's a good incentive to get it when it does eventually hit the streets.

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It's definitely on my acquisition list. Any news on when it may make it's debut? I was rather hoping I might steer my nearest and dearest towards it as my Christmas present.

Another question I forgot to add to my list: Did Lithgow ever make the Mk1* barrel? I can't recall ever having seen a Lithgow Bren with one.

Cheers,

Mark

Quote:

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Originally Posted by peregrinvs

It's definitely on my acquisition list. Any news on when it may make it's debut? I was rather hoping I might steer my nearest and dearest towards it as my Christmas present.

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Snap, it should be on everyones christmas pressie list!

Lithgow switched from the long taper barrel to mk2 with no short tapers being produced. there are UK deacts knocking around with Enfield and Ingis Mk1 barrels but these arnt original features.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brit plumber

Lithgow switched from the long taper barrel to mk2 with no short tapers being produced. there are UK deacts knocking around with Enfield and Ingis Mk1 barrels but these arnt original features.

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Thanks for that. Your next challenge...

Did Inglis use subcontractors to produce components - as occurred in the UK - or was it all 'in house'?

Cheers,
Mark

Peter as a sidenote I would be very careful if you have not backed up all that info you mentioned you have on the Bren etc. Hard drives can crash sometimes unexpectedly and all that hard work will be lost in cyberspace forever. I back up all my important stuff on a portable USB hard drive or you could use a USB stick. All you do is plug it in and copy and paste.

If the hard drive on your pc is made by a company called maxtor be careful.

I had 2 of them go.

Have a good thanksgiving everyone.

Fear not Clarkie, it's on disc but just not transferred to my new computer

Phew!!! that's good to hear. I had tonnes of reasearch I did on my own for my little website on inglis but it all fell victim to a maxtor hard drive. I lost a whole bunch info on the Bren gun girl as well as the personal info on the photographer who took all the photos of her because I wasn't bright enough to back it up.

One day when I have time I'll start looking again.

Carry on fellas sorry for the interuption.