The submachine-gun
is a compact automatic weapon firing pistol ammunition, designed for
short-range assault and close-quarter fighting and was first used
by the German Army in 1917. The Thompson
submachine-gun was not ready in time for the First
World War but was used in the 1920s by American gangsters. They
were also being employed by the United States
Army and during the war the Savage Arms Corporation
producing over 90,000 of these Tommyguns a month. Although heavier
than other submachine-guns, it was considered the most reliable available.
In the
early stages of the Second World War the British
Army purchased the Thompson submachine-gun from the United
States. These were expensive and in 1940 they switched to the
Sten Gun made by the Royal Small Arms Factory
in Enfield. Over the next five years the company supplied 4 million
of these weapons to the army. It was not
popular with the soldiers because its habit of jamming when being
used in battle. However, they were cheap to buy and the British government
distributed them to resistance groups throughout occupied Europe.
After 1934
the Red Army issued their soldiers with the
Degtyarev PPD submachine-gun. It used
a drum magazine holding 71 rounds of 7.62mm pistol ammunition. In
1940 it was replaced by a new model that improved the magazine and
its method of attachment. Army officers liked the Degtyarev because
it was simple to operate and its firepower encouraged their men to
act aggressively against the German invaders.
In 1938
the German Army began issuing the MP38
submachine-gun to its soldiers. Two years later it was replaced by
the cheaper and more efficient MP40.
Soviet
troops with the Degtyarev submachine-gun.
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