Re: SOE (Special Operations Executive)
One of the most interesting WW2 Weapons has always been the Japanese Nambu Pistol.
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One of the most interesting WW2 Weapons has always been the Japanese Nambu Pistol.
Thanks Asp9mm
What was the Stens Fire Rate?
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).
I've fired the Sterling a few times. It was a long time ago but as I remember it was a good solid weapon.
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.
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
German SS-soldiers with Stenguns
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.
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?
I believe Stens were produced by the Germans at the latter stages of the war primarily, I suppose, because of their ease of manufacture.
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?
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.
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.
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.
Last edited by Number24 (7th Apr 2015 21:14)
That clears it. Sorry about my misunderstanding. Those must have then been those refurbished Intrerarms guns.
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?
Yes, it was called "Dad's army"...
I believe Dad's Army was the Home Guard during WWII. Stay Behind organisations were buildt up by the CIA all over continental Europe in the late 1940's, but I haven't heard of anything in the UK. BTW, when the CIA proposed a Stay Behind network in Norway back in 1949, the Norwegians replied: "That's nice, but we allready have one." During WWII it took som much time and cost som many lives to build up a resistance, it was decided right after the war to have the organisation ready in case of Soviet occupation.
I'm no expert, ( and I think it has already been mentioned) but in Britain there were
Units trained and equipment hidden, to be used as a resistance force, should Britain
have been invaded.
Although the Auxilliary units were officially part of the Home Guard they were far removed from 'dad's army' as you could get. They were possibly the most highly trained & efficient units fielded by the British in WW2 & that includes Commandos & SAS. It is entirely possible that the Aux units secretly remained active after WW2 & were then superceeded by another organisation but 'secretly' is the watchword. If this was the case then information relating to it will remain classified for many years to come.
Last edited by stag (22nd Apr 2015 09:37)
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