Correct Bren canvas sling ?

[tombear]

The Aussies had a 57 inch SMG sling in 1943 and could have slapped hooks on that to use with the Bren.

Having had a quick look at the British wartime training manuals I haven't found any references to the Bren being fired on the move, from the hip like, where a long sling would be a necessity. All the ones I've seen refer to it being fired from the bipod prone or from behind cover with it supported. The late war Indian army training manual with its bias towards jungle warfare does show the LMG being fired from the hip and the web sling for the Vickers-Berthier was long enough, more easily adjusted and had a much wider central section to spread the weight.

Are there any wartime jungle warfare training manuals that introduced firing from the hip for the Bren?

ATB

Tom

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[22SqnRAE]

Tombear,


"Are there any wartime jungle warfare training manuals that introduced firing from the hip for the Bren?"

I don't have access to any Australian Infantry Pams from '43 onward to quote, but I can confirm that there are oodles of photos and a couple of short propaganda films made that shows the No 1 gunner firing the Bren from his hip both using a sling (easy) or hanging on to the barrel handle (quite a bit more difficult!). Walking fire while advancing through close country, in particular the kunai grass in PNG necessitated changes of tactics. Our blokes usually adapted pretty much everything in the field to suit the environment.

Fast forward to Vietnam and while the No 1 on the gun was issued a sling, they were rarely seen in a Battalion when in the bush. Just not the done thing.