"Canadian 1944 WW2 Sten Guns or Thompsons" Topic
8 Posts
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| Marcus Maximus | 04 Feb 2020 1:49 p.m. PST |
Hi All, I have read that the Canadians were kitted out via British arsenals, although some Canadians instead of Sten Guns used Thompsons. Was this for particular regiments or just a matter of getting your hands on one? I know some British units had Thompsons instead of Sten Guns. Cheers Mark |
| forrester | 04 Feb 2020 2:06 p.m. PST |
As a generalisation, isn't it Thompsons in the Med and Stens in NWE?
Exceptions being Commando units in MWE.
I thought it was connected to ease of ammunition supplies in each theatre. |
| willthepiper | 04 Feb 2020 2:24 p.m. PST |
forrester is correct: Stens in NWE and Tommy guns in Italy. Stens were first used at Dieppe in 1942. See more at these links: link link |
| Cerdic | 04 Feb 2020 2:30 p.m. PST |
My understanding is that Thompsons were purchased in the early war period in the absence of anything more suitable. The Sten was developed to be cheap and easy to mass produce. Once production began it was issued in place of the Thompson. As far as I know, this also applies to Canadian units? |
| Marcus Maximus | 04 Feb 2020 3:02 p.m. PST |
Ahhh ok many thanks willthepiper, forrester and Cerdic. Did this rule apply to the Far East units as well? |
| willthepiper | 04 Feb 2020 5:08 p.m. PST |
the only Canadians to serve in the Far East were at Hong Kong in 1941, prior to the Sten being issued. As a result, they were equipped with Thompson SMG. There were Canadian soldiers raised for service in the Far East, such as the 6th Division which participated in the Aleutian campaign, and the Canadian Army Pacific Force that was training for the invasion of Japan before the war ended. I understand they were equipped with US Army weapons to ease coordination with US forces, but I don't have any specifics about exact weaponry issued. None of these forces actually entered into battle with the Japanese, so their actions were primarily hypothetical (with the possible exception of Kiska). |
| Warspite1 | 12 Feb 2020 5:31 a.m. PST |
At the start of the war Britain was buying Thompsons at £45.00 GBP each and the UK was paying in hard cash. No Lend-Lease then. This could not go on. The Sten was designed to be cheaper and it was. The first Sten was about 30 shillings (£1.50) each but by the end of the war the price was down to 7/6d (37.5 pence) due to the benefits of mass production. B |
| Marcus Maximus | 16 Feb 2020 8:15 a.m. PST |
Many thanks for the additional info @willthepiper and @warpsite1 |
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looks at some WWII German tank-hunters.