I see a lot of quotes about the British army calling SMGs gangster weapons and not ordering them because of this but they went ahead and ordered the Thompsons in large numbers and started getting them before the battle of France (they had a staggering 3 per battalion).
Now if any gun was going to be seen as a Gangster weapon......
The British made their first proper order of
100,000 Thompsons on 1st Feb 1940 and made a total of 13 orders during the war - this initial order was well before the first real kick ups between the British and Germans.
I am wondering if the real reason was the British armed forces
greatest enemy
Interesting little factoid in that link - towards the end it talks about mid war SMG tests by both the Germans and Americans - the same gun won both trials - I won't spoil the surprise