Just something I wrote today whilst pretending to work 
(everyone is surfing the internet)
This is one of my Darlings - The Owen gun becoming the principle SMG arming Imperial troops in the 2nd World War
The POD is a the Failed 2nd London Naval Treaty in 1935/6
Comments welcome:
The Imperial Machine Carbine ‘or’ how the Owen gun armed an Empire
When Britain started to rearm in 1937 after the failure of the 1936 2nd London Naval Treaty it became obvious to all but the most verdant isolationists that Britain needed to start the process of rearmament in the face of the militarism being displayed by nations such as Germany, Russia, Italy and Japan as well as the disappointing failure of the League of Nations.
With regards to small arms the British had already made plans to replace the aging Lewis Machine gun with the Czechoslovakian designed Bren gun and develop a medium machine gun called the BESA based on another Czechoslovakian weapon mainly for use in tanks.
Eventually the decision was made to make the long anticipated change to a rimless round and it was decided that 7.92 Mauser round was the best choice as this would simplify the conversion of the existing weapons then in production around Europe.
Indeed it was thought that changing the Bren gun to .303 would delay its introduction by up to 2 years and this made it necessary to replace the aging SMLE .303 bolt action rifle.
The Winner of the subsequent Self Loading rifle trial was a modified version of the ZH29 known as the SLEN (Self loading Enfield) also chambered in 7.92 Mauser and using a 10 round ‘detachable box magazine’ (reloaded with 5 round stripper clips) and using the same sights as the SMLE. Later carbine variants would allow use of the 20 and 30 round magazines but this was not introduced until the 2nd Great War had commenced and then only initially for Paratrooper and Commando units.
However by 1938 Britain still had not chosen a Submachine gun or machine Carbine – mainly due to the more conservative elements in the army – and many in the establishment believed that this would place Imperial soldiers at a disadvantage in any future continental land war as Italy Russia and Germany all used SMGs.
And so somewhat belatedly a committee – The Machine Carbine Committee of 1938 - after several months of trials chose a simplified version of the 9mm Para Czechoslovakian ZK-383 being built for the Bulgarian Police and military.
This weapon an improved version of the classic MP18 was based on the ‘Police’ version of that weapon as it was felt that a bipod and removable barrel was not needed. Several amendments where made – for example it was made to fit into the SMLE Stock and use the same trigger and safety to simplify construction and training – pre-production models had the same sights as the SMLE but this was replaced with a simple flip up ‘peep’ sight for 100 and 200 yards.
And so by 1939 this weapon officially known as the ZEM Gun (Zbrojovka Brno Enfield Machine Carbine No 1) entered full scale production at 2 former SMLE Factories.
Although simplified for mass production and while additional factories were built in 1939 and 1940 the supply of these weapons could not keep up with demand as the BEF went from 4 Divisions in 1938 to 25 Divisions in 1940 (when hostilities began).
As the fighting in Belgium and France of May and June 1940 settled down to a more static form of warfare after the encirclement and partial destruction of the Panzer Army the usefulness of Sub Machine guns and automatic weapons in general became apparent and the current stock of ‘Machine Carbines’ was inadequate.
The purchase of 25,000 M1 Thompson Sub Machine guns went some way towards addressing this issue but these guns where expensive and while well liked by the troops, it was heavy and not as reliable as the ZEM No1A1.
So a new committee was formed - The Machine Carbine Committee of 1940
This looked at Several weapons and conducted trials with them
The M1A1 Thompson
The MP38 (Several thousand had been captured and this was to be used as the bench mark)
A prototype metal stamped version of the current ZEM Gun
A prototype and very simple Enfield weapon designed to be built in a variety of civilian factories called the STEN gun
Lastly an odd looking Australian Design just entering limited production in Australia called the Owen Gun – with 2 versions chambering for the both .45 and 9mm
After 3 months of testing the Owen was the clear winner (indeed the only design to be able to fire after the sand test) and the 9mm design was cleared for full production with changes limited to being able to use the same magazine as the ZEM.
By 1942 the production numbers of the Owens No1A1 had over taken the ZEM No1A1 and by the war’s end in 1946 (VJ day) over 3 million had been made across the Empire and the image of Imperial Soldiers armed with this weapon is synonymous with the British Empires role in the war.
In the face of the Owen Guns obvious superiority production of the ZEM was discontinued in 1943 and those factories switched production to either the Owens or SLEN Carbines.
The Thompson SMG was withdrawn from front line service in 1942, mainly to simplify ammunition resupply and training although many units managed to retain them.
The ZEM soldiered on although all of the units sent to South East Asia for the Invasion of Japan were re-equipped with Owens, SLEM ‘Carbines’ No5 Rifles and the Lightened shorter barrel Bren Mk3 – and the older Sub Machine gun still equipped Divisions based in Europe and elsewhere into the late 40s it was eventually placed in reserve although was used by Royal Navy Reserve and some Colonial and ex-Colonial forces up until the 70s.
The Sten gun despite not entering massed production was simplified still and produced in limited numbers and provided to resistance fighters across Europe. A silenced version also entered limited production and eventually found its way into many units that required a silence weapon. More importantly the design of the weapon was so simple that tens of thousands of STENs where manufactured under the noses of the Nazis all across those nations under Nazi occupation (and a few under Communist occupation!) including an entire factory in the Czech Republic that was producing them side by side with the shock absorbers it was supposed to be making for 2 years without discovery.
The Owens Produced in such numbers that despite production stopping in 1947 it continued to equip forces of the British Commonwealth well into the 50s when introduction of the Stirling designed ‘Sterling’ Sub machine gun replaced it.
Owen himself despite having had little to do with the weapon since 1941 (he served in the Australian army and was medically discharged in 1944) received a bounty of £50,000 from a grateful Empire (Owen had waived his right to a licence fee) and was due to be knighted in 1949 but sadly died early that year aged 33.
A statue of him was erected in his home town of Wollongong, Australia based on the famous Picture of him in uniform posing with the gun.
The brass inscription below repeats Churchill’s famous remark
Evelyn Ernest Owen (15 May 1915 – 9th May 1949) – “The Man that armed an Empire”
(everyone is surfing the internet)This is one of my Darlings - The Owen gun becoming the principle SMG arming Imperial troops in the 2nd World War
The POD is a the Failed 2nd London Naval Treaty in 1935/6
Comments welcome:
The Imperial Machine Carbine ‘or’ how the Owen gun armed an Empire
When Britain started to rearm in 1937 after the failure of the 1936 2nd London Naval Treaty it became obvious to all but the most verdant isolationists that Britain needed to start the process of rearmament in the face of the militarism being displayed by nations such as Germany, Russia, Italy and Japan as well as the disappointing failure of the League of Nations.
With regards to small arms the British had already made plans to replace the aging Lewis Machine gun with the Czechoslovakian designed Bren gun and develop a medium machine gun called the BESA based on another Czechoslovakian weapon mainly for use in tanks.
Eventually the decision was made to make the long anticipated change to a rimless round and it was decided that 7.92 Mauser round was the best choice as this would simplify the conversion of the existing weapons then in production around Europe.
Indeed it was thought that changing the Bren gun to .303 would delay its introduction by up to 2 years and this made it necessary to replace the aging SMLE .303 bolt action rifle.
The Winner of the subsequent Self Loading rifle trial was a modified version of the ZH29 known as the SLEN (Self loading Enfield) also chambered in 7.92 Mauser and using a 10 round ‘detachable box magazine’ (reloaded with 5 round stripper clips) and using the same sights as the SMLE. Later carbine variants would allow use of the 20 and 30 round magazines but this was not introduced until the 2nd Great War had commenced and then only initially for Paratrooper and Commando units.
However by 1938 Britain still had not chosen a Submachine gun or machine Carbine – mainly due to the more conservative elements in the army – and many in the establishment believed that this would place Imperial soldiers at a disadvantage in any future continental land war as Italy Russia and Germany all used SMGs.
And so somewhat belatedly a committee – The Machine Carbine Committee of 1938 - after several months of trials chose a simplified version of the 9mm Para Czechoslovakian ZK-383 being built for the Bulgarian Police and military.
This weapon an improved version of the classic MP18 was based on the ‘Police’ version of that weapon as it was felt that a bipod and removable barrel was not needed. Several amendments where made – for example it was made to fit into the SMLE Stock and use the same trigger and safety to simplify construction and training – pre-production models had the same sights as the SMLE but this was replaced with a simple flip up ‘peep’ sight for 100 and 200 yards.
And so by 1939 this weapon officially known as the ZEM Gun (Zbrojovka Brno Enfield Machine Carbine No 1) entered full scale production at 2 former SMLE Factories.
Although simplified for mass production and while additional factories were built in 1939 and 1940 the supply of these weapons could not keep up with demand as the BEF went from 4 Divisions in 1938 to 25 Divisions in 1940 (when hostilities began).
As the fighting in Belgium and France of May and June 1940 settled down to a more static form of warfare after the encirclement and partial destruction of the Panzer Army the usefulness of Sub Machine guns and automatic weapons in general became apparent and the current stock of ‘Machine Carbines’ was inadequate.
The purchase of 25,000 M1 Thompson Sub Machine guns went some way towards addressing this issue but these guns where expensive and while well liked by the troops, it was heavy and not as reliable as the ZEM No1A1.
So a new committee was formed - The Machine Carbine Committee of 1940
This looked at Several weapons and conducted trials with them
The M1A1 Thompson
The MP38 (Several thousand had been captured and this was to be used as the bench mark)
A prototype metal stamped version of the current ZEM Gun
A prototype and very simple Enfield weapon designed to be built in a variety of civilian factories called the STEN gun
Lastly an odd looking Australian Design just entering limited production in Australia called the Owen Gun – with 2 versions chambering for the both .45 and 9mm
After 3 months of testing the Owen was the clear winner (indeed the only design to be able to fire after the sand test) and the 9mm design was cleared for full production with changes limited to being able to use the same magazine as the ZEM.
By 1942 the production numbers of the Owens No1A1 had over taken the ZEM No1A1 and by the war’s end in 1946 (VJ day) over 3 million had been made across the Empire and the image of Imperial Soldiers armed with this weapon is synonymous with the British Empires role in the war.
In the face of the Owen Guns obvious superiority production of the ZEM was discontinued in 1943 and those factories switched production to either the Owens or SLEN Carbines.
The Thompson SMG was withdrawn from front line service in 1942, mainly to simplify ammunition resupply and training although many units managed to retain them.
The ZEM soldiered on although all of the units sent to South East Asia for the Invasion of Japan were re-equipped with Owens, SLEM ‘Carbines’ No5 Rifles and the Lightened shorter barrel Bren Mk3 – and the older Sub Machine gun still equipped Divisions based in Europe and elsewhere into the late 40s it was eventually placed in reserve although was used by Royal Navy Reserve and some Colonial and ex-Colonial forces up until the 70s.
The Sten gun despite not entering massed production was simplified still and produced in limited numbers and provided to resistance fighters across Europe. A silenced version also entered limited production and eventually found its way into many units that required a silence weapon. More importantly the design of the weapon was so simple that tens of thousands of STENs where manufactured under the noses of the Nazis all across those nations under Nazi occupation (and a few under Communist occupation!) including an entire factory in the Czech Republic that was producing them side by side with the shock absorbers it was supposed to be making for 2 years without discovery.
The Owens Produced in such numbers that despite production stopping in 1947 it continued to equip forces of the British Commonwealth well into the 50s when introduction of the Stirling designed ‘Sterling’ Sub machine gun replaced it.
Owen himself despite having had little to do with the weapon since 1941 (he served in the Australian army and was medically discharged in 1944) received a bounty of £50,000 from a grateful Empire (Owen had waived his right to a licence fee) and was due to be knighted in 1949 but sadly died early that year aged 33.
A statue of him was erected in his home town of Wollongong, Australia based on the famous Picture of him in uniform posing with the gun.
The brass inscription below repeats Churchill’s famous remark
Evelyn Ernest Owen (15 May 1915 – 9th May 1949) – “The Man that armed an Empire”
