Seasons Greetings
Who can tell me what this little beauty is and its connection to British Forces in WW2?
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Seasons Greetings
Who can tell me what this little beauty is and its connection to British Forces in WW2?
The method of the stock attachment and the magazine design remind me of the S&W 1940 Light Rifle in 9x19 mm. I understand some were sent over and tested by
British Forces. The front barrel jacket and bayonet stud were not part of the original S&W 1940 Light Rifle
A hint here is, it held 60 rounds in two rows of 30. It was well ahead of its time in 1942 and destined for use by Parachutists.
The basic arrangement appears to be based on the 383 with vertical feed and some very clever feed mechanism.
the feed mechanism resembles a belt feed's pawl mechanism.
Strangely enough the operators manual for this gun has been reprinted and is currently available.
It is a one off and in The Parachute Regiment museum;)
Veseley V42. Experimental SMG 9mm. The same gun called a V43 was designated for the Paras.
Vesely V-42 Forgotten Weapons
What'd I win? snicker.
Sunray well done go to the top of the class.
It is a 9mm SMG called the V42 which was presented to General "Boy" Browning and later gifted to our Parachute Regiment museum by Daphne Du Maurier his wife.
It was made for him by a Czech refugee named Josek Vesely in 1942 who moved to England at the start of WW2. He invented the Sub Machine gun to aid British Paratroopers in acquiring a smaller more effective weapon for their role. It fired 9mm Parabellem rounds using a simple blowback mechanism!!
It was built to provide both single shot and full auto, with a manual safety catch. It fired 900 or 1000 rpm.
The sights had three settings, for 100, 200, and 300 yards, the best feature for the time was a dual 60 round magazine.
Vesely presented the weapon to General "Boy" Browning, a weapon both thought would become the replacement for the sten gun!! The General kept the weapon in his personal collection until he died in 1965.
Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Arthur Montague "Boy" Browning, GCVO, KBE, CB, DSO was the founding father of The Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces, and played a significant part in both the First and Second World Wars, and did his utmost to make Operation Market Garden a success.
A failure he took to his grave..........but what a man!
UTRINQUE PARATUS
Fascinating Gil, has it had to be deactivated, or is it still capable of singing?
Pretty much..... Same question as mrclark303 ?
And Kudos to SUNRAY !
CH-P777
---------- Post added at 09:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:56 PM ----------
Quite the resume, To The Heroes :clap:Quote:
Originally Posted by Gil Boyd
CH-P777
Sadly, but quite rightly all the weapons, of which there are a large number shown in our museum, are all deactivated back in 2008 when the museum opened to the public.
Yahoo is your friend.
"...A failure he took to his grave..." Market Garden's failure wasn't his fault. It failed due to poor planning and failing to listen to the Dutch Underground.
Know a guy who loaned an operational 40mm Bofors to the CFB Borden small arms museum. The thing was promptly welded shut. Needless to say, the guy was furious.
Sunray,
Appreciate that, but HE took it to be partly his fault. Had the armoured units made a real effort they could have linked up a lot earlier, and Market Garden would have been a really successful operation
I'll bet he was bloody furious, what idiot sanctioned that!Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunray
---------- Post added at 07:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:45 PM ----------
The one thing Market Garden will always stand for Gil, is the triumph of human spirit and brotherhood in the face of overwhelming odds...Quote:
Originally Posted by Gil Boyd
John,
I think he was too high up the food chain not to feel responsible. Montgomery took overall charge, but General Browning had great believe in his idea.
Not wishing to knock other motorized Regiments, but their were a mass of failures by them on route. Yes they had their own battles to fight along the route, but one thing they had, the lads didn't have in and around Arnhem, was resupply.
Lets put it down to a bloody good plan, which sadly like many, didn't quite come off in WW2.
In the meantime, "lets have a cuppa tea" ;)
nice thread,like ithttps://www.milsurps.com/