SOE (Special Operations Executive)

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  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    Stenguns were produced by the resistance in occupied Norway. The different parts were produced on seperate locations and most workers didn't know what they were making. Only obvious parts like the barrel had to be produced in absolute secret. I believe stenguns were produced in other occupied contries too.
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    I remember some time last century a member of the public found a live, fully loaded Sten gun in a public phone box along with a bag containing (I think) about £30,000. They reported it to the police. Perhaps for obvious reasons, the owner of the gun & money never came forward to collect them!
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    Silenced Sten gun in action:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKkKlWWmEbM

    The acoustics of the range are as such that it perhaps doesn't give an accurate representation of the noise generated.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    I have to admit, target shooting looks fun. ;)
    Couple of nice videos Stag. -{
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • The Domino EffectThe Domino Effect Posts: 3,631MI6 Agent
    I have to admit, target shooting looks fun. ;)
    Couple of nice videos Stag. -{

    One day I want to visit that indoor gun range in Las Vegas where you can fire practically any gun you can imagine. Remarkably, my wife fancies doing it too!
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    Sounds like she's setting up an alibi. :v :))
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,483MI6 Agent
    Number24 wrote:
    Stenguns were produced by the resistance in occupied Norway. The different parts were produced on seperate locations and most workers didn't know what they were making. Only obvious parts like the barrel had to be produced in absolute secret. I believe stenguns were produced in other occupied contries too.

    Yes, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Norway and even Germany made copies of the Sten from scratch from reversed engineered MK II's. Norway, Finland and Denmark also made copies of the MKV. Obviously most came from Britain, and Canada made them too. These were dropped in their thousands to various resistance movements.
    ..................Asp9mmSIG-1-2.jpg...............
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    Is it a sten gun that Bond fires at Blofeld, in Blofeld's office in OHMSS
    Or a similar gun. ?
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • AlphaOmegaSinAlphaOmegaSin EnglandPosts: 10,924MI6 Agent
    One of the most interesting WW2 Weapons has always been the Japanese Nambu Pistol.
    1.On Her Majesties Secret Service 2.The Living Daylights 3.license To Kill 4.The Spy Who Loved Me 5.Goldfinger
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,483MI6 Agent
    Is it a sten gun that Bond fires at Blofeld, in Blofeld's office in OHMSS
    Or a similar gun. ?

    That's a Sterling. A great SMG that we used for many years.

    sterling03.jpg


    Also used by Stormtroopers with a bit of T track and greeblies added.

    star-wars-a-new-hope-imperial-stormtrooper-blaster-e-11-sterling-original-prop-01.jpg
    ..................Asp9mmSIG-1-2.jpg...............
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    Thanks Asp9mm -{
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • AlphaOmegaSinAlphaOmegaSin EnglandPosts: 10,924MI6 Agent
    What was the Stens Fire Rate?
    1.On Her Majesties Secret Service 2.The Living Daylights 3.license To Kill 4.The Spy Who Loved Me 5.Goldfinger
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,483MI6 Agent
    I believe it was about 480 - 520 rounds a minute.
    ..................Asp9mmSIG-1-2.jpg...............
  • The Domino EffectThe Domino Effect Posts: 3,631MI6 Agent
    I think it was a Sterling that my Action Man had, with the shoulder stock. Alas, I lost - or swallowed - the magazine almost as soon as I got the figure but that didn't stop him from shooting everything that moved (in my mind, at least). :)
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    I've fired the Sterling a few times. It was a long time ago but as I remember it was a good solid weapon.
  • 00730073 COPPosts: 977MI6 Agent
    Asp9mm wrote:
    Yes, Finland... made copies of the Sten from scratch from reversed engineered MK II's. .... Finland...also made copies of the MKV...

    You wouldn't happen to have a source reference for this one, would you? It would be greatly appreciated.

    So far I have only been aware of Polish, German and French copies. In Finland (AFAIK) Sten was in service only as the MKIII that was purchased from Interarms after the war, in the '50s. Some 75000 guns were bought and refurbished and entered the service as 9.00 kp Sten II and 9.00 kp Sten III. Sten II and Sten III had different butstocks, but were otherwise the same weapon.

    The only copied subgun that was manufactured in Finlan during ww2 was M-44 "Peltiheikki", which was a 9mm.pb copy of a Russian PPS43.
    "I mean, she almost kills bond...with her ass."
    -Mr Arlington Beech
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    Asp9mm wrote:
    Number24 wrote:
    Stenguns were produced by the resistance in occupied Norway. The different parts were produced on seperate locations and most workers didn't know what they were making. Only obvious parts like the barrel had to be produced in absolute secret. I believe stenguns were produced in other occupied contries too.

    Yes, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Norway and even Germany made copies of the Sten from scratch from reversed engineered MK II's. Norway, Finland and Denmark also made copies of the MKV. Obviously most came from Britain, and Canada made them too. These were dropped in their thousands to various resistance movements.

    I assume the German stens were not secretly made by the resistance, like they were in some occupied countries? I knew Germany used captured Stenguns. Otto Scorzeny (Commander of SS special forces) used a suppressed Stengun.

    Part of Stengun made secretly in occupied Norway
    sten_underbeslag.jpg

    German SS-soldiers with Stenguns
    medium_sten_waffen_ss_gerat_postdam.jpg
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,483MI6 Agent
    0073 wrote:
    Asp9mm wrote:
    Yes, Finland... made copies of the Sten from scratch from reversed engineered MK II's. .... Finland...also made copies of the MKV...

    You wouldn't happen to have a source reference for this one, would you? It would be greatly appreciated.

    I know Finland made MKV's for sure, probably not MK IIs though. The IWM has two and I used to have one in my collection years back. I didn't know it was a Finland copy back then, as I thought it was something much rarer. It was confirmed later by the IWM and the owner of the worlds largest SOE collection that it was a Finnish copy made possibly after the war. In retrospect I should have kept it, but my collection is period specific.
    ..................Asp9mmSIG-1-2.jpg...............
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    You listed Germany as one of the countries that produced the Stengun. Was that the nazi regime making copies or (less likely) the underground resistance making them illegally?
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    I believe Stens were produced by the Germans at the latter stages of the war primarily, I suppose, because of their ease of manufacture.
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    The Sten in the last photo looks like those issued to British airborne units, perhaps they were taken into service after being captured at Arnhem?
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,483MI6 Agent
    Number24 wrote:
    You listed Germany as one of the countries that produced the Stengun. Was that the nazi regime making copies or (less likely) the underground resistance making them illegally?

    It was the Nazi's.
    ..................Asp9mmSIG-1-2.jpg...............
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,483MI6 Agent
    stag wrote:
    The Sten in the last photo looks like those issued to British airborne units, perhaps they were taken into service after being captured at Arnhem?

    It's a copy of the MK V they have there.
    ..................Asp9mmSIG-1-2.jpg...............
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    Thanks. I I seem to remember the Norwegian Sten was slightly different from the proper Stenguns. I think the safety was on the other side, among other things.
  • 00730073 COPPosts: 977MI6 Agent
    Asp9mm wrote:
    I know Finland made MKV's for sure, probably not MK IIs though. The IWM has two and I used to have one in my collection years back. I didn't know it was a Finland copy back then, as I thought it was something much rarer. It was confirmed later by the IWM and the owner of the worlds largest SOE collection that it was a Finnish copy made possibly after the war. In retrospect I should have kept it, but my collection is period specific.

    It is rare indeed: Here is a copy of a research made about arms manufacture in Finland from 1938 to 1945: file:///C:/Users/Omistaja/Downloads/47703-36409-1-PB.pdf
    On the page 181 you'll find a table about small arms. It is in Finnish so I'll provide you with relevant translations:
    ARMS MANUFACTURE IN FINLAND IN DURATION OF OUR WARS
    1938 1939 1940 1941- 1942 1943 1944 1945 All. Attn.
    1. 7,62-20 mm weapons
    1.1. Kiv m/39 ................ 16000 12000 37646 18183 6500 90329 (rifle m39)
    1.2. L-S pk/26 .............•. 3740 90 11 500 4341 (Lahti-Saloranta LMG)
    1.3.7,62 kk/09-30 .......... 425 395 46 15 881 (Machine Gun/09-30 similar to British Vickers)
    1.4. Yleiskk "Sampo" ..... 35 35 (LMG)
    1.5. 9,00 kp/31 ja 44• ...... 5617 1979 4675 15512 17003 18865 15865 1 101 73900 10 398• (Suomi and Peltiheikki* Sub guns)
    1.6. 9,00 L-35 pisto ......... 99 1593 1610 544 10 891 866 5613 (Lahti L-35 pistol)
    1. 7. 20 p~tkiv /39 ............ 2 410 496 1000 170 2078 (20mm antitank rifle ”the Elephant Gun”)

    There is no mention of Sten manufacture during the war in any of the documents that I have seen, so I'm curious about the source of this info. I don't doubt you, but I do have some reservations about IWM or their source for this, since Finnish war archives have no info on Stens prior 1950.
    "I mean, she almost kills bond...with her ass."
    -Mr Arlington Beech
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    edited April 2015
    As far as I know finnlan only used Th Suomi SMG during the Winter War an WW2. The Suomi is regarded by many as the best SMG in WWII, regardlessof the theatre. After WWII many countries used the Suomi, including Norwegian special forces.
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,483MI6 Agent
    Finland made them Post-WW2. They didn't make them during the war as far as I know.
    ..................Asp9mmSIG-1-2.jpg...............
  • 00730073 COPPosts: 977MI6 Agent
    That clears it. Sorry about my misunderstanding. Those must have then been those refurbished Intrerarms guns.
    "I mean, she almost kills bond...with her ass."
    -Mr Arlington Beech
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    I found the information about the Auxillary units during WWII interesting. What happened after the war? I have read some about the Stay Behind organisation here in Norway. Was there a Stay Behind network in the UK during the cold war?
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