The British (therefore Australian) Army retained its faith in the revolver throughout the war, despite introducing the semi automatic Browning for certain specialist units. The Enfield was officially the standard sidearm, but as the Army increased in size the Webley was obtained to make good the shortfall.

The Webley was a standard design, with a double action trigger. The hammer could be pulled back to the cocked position where it would lock, requiring only a light pressure on the trigger to release it. The Enfield deleted the hammer comb, so could only be fired by applying full pressure on the trigger. This amendment was made for those men serving in armoured vehicles where the cramped conditions meant the hammer was constantly being snagged or struck.

It was a traditional safety precaution with revolvers to carry the weapon with the hammer on an empty chamber. This meant if a sudden blow forced the hammer forward there was no chance of a shot being fired. 18 rounds were carried, six loaded (less one as above) and twelve in a small belt pouch. At the outset of the war the revolver was widely distributed to tank crews, despatch riders, MPs and a host of others. Every officer carried one also. The Sten 9 or Owen) gradually replaced it in many areas, but tank crews could only find space for one Sten so wore their holsters as well.

The SMLE (re-designated the No 1) rifle and bayonet combination remained almost unchanged from WWI as did the Mills Bomb (grenade). The SMLE was joined by the newer version the No.4 rifle (above). Both models were made under licence in Australia at Lithgow. They are discussed in more depth at Weapons in the WWI section.

OWEN MACHINE CARBINE

prototype .22 cal

Machine Carbine, 9mm Owen, Mark 1
Rugged Australian designed and manufactured weapon

The Owen went into production about mid 1941, with about 50,000 produced by 1945. Although quite large and bulky, the Owen was a first-class gun and very popular with those who used it, for it stood up well to the hard conditions of jungle fighting and stoppages were remarkably rare.

Its two outstanding features were the top mounted magazine -- a feature rarely seen on submachine-guns since the Villar Perosa -- and the provision of a separate bolt compartment inside the receiver so that the bolt was isolated from its retracting handle by a small bulkhead, through which passed the small diameter bolt. This ensured that dirt and mud did not jam the bolt and it was highly successful, although expensive in terms of space.

Two other unusual mechanical features: the ejector is built into the magazine rather than into the gun body, and the barrel is rapidly removable by pulling up on a spring-loaded plunger just ahead of the magazine housing. The latter feature is necessary since, due to the method of assembly and construction, the gun can only be dismantled by removing the barrel and then taking out the bolt and return spring in a forward direction.

The OMC stayed in service through Korea where the extra distances worked against it and in the early days of Vietnam. It was replaced by a newer less efficient  model, the F1,  in the 1960's and that was quickly replaced by the American made Colt AR15 (M16) Armalite.

THE BREN LIGHT MACHINE GUN

The Bren Light Machine Gun was introduced into the British Army in 1937. The Bren revolutionised the British & Australian Army organisation and equipment from the organisation that had been in place since the First World War to what we know as the organisation of the Army in World War Two. Equipment was designed so Bren Gun magazines could be carried. An Infantry section always contained a Bren Group (1 gun) for local automatic support fire and the introduction of the Bren meant that tactics could change. It was now possible to have light, fast moving automatic fire moving just as fast as the men themselves could. With the Bren's predecessor, the LEWIS, this could not be done as the weight and dimensions of the Lewis meant it was not possible to carry forward an LMG in an attack at speed.

The Bren gun was used in many roles from light support in the Infantry section to a Medium MG role when used with the sustained fire tripod that was issued with every gun. It was also used largely in the Anti-Aircraft role and special items of equipment were issued with it for this purpose such as 100-round drum magazines and tripod extension legs.

The Bren went into Front-line service as soon as the numbers were available. It went to France in 1939 with the British Expeditionary Force in the Mk. I version of the gun. It served in North Africa and Italy. Australian troops used the Bren in all the theatres of war in which they served. The Bren soldiered on post war as well in  Korea and Malaya. It was then converted to 7.62mm NATO with the introduction of the L1A1 Self-Loading-Rifle (SLR) the Bren became the L4. It has a service history of over 60 years!

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