thompson question...

and the caption mentions it as well.

The caption also notes that the Thompson was not a standard issue item in 6th Airborne.

Paras involved in Operation Manna

That's the Med again, re-enforcing the 'Sten=NW Europe, Thompson=Med' hypothesis?
Not that you dont see the other weapon in each theater, you certainly do but that there was a significant weight of numbers of one type in one theater. Makes re-supply simpler?
If you ever visit Athens their military museum is worth an afternoon. It's out of the sun and does not involve climbing big hills. The civilians really had it rough. Some nice kit from many periods of history.

To be uber pedantic;
Glider pilots are not paratroops, by definition they fly gliders. The thread asks about paratroops.

To be uber pedantic;
Glider pilots are not paratroops, by definition they fly gliders. The thread asks about paratroops.

haha ok then.....british airbourne this has all been quite helpful iv only been curious boutnthe whole issue cuz well....thats all we can get atm ....thompsons tho i am hopfully getting a legal sten....

The sing on an FG42 mounts on the right, that photo looks like it's on the front left to me?

To be uber pedantic;
Glider pilots are not paratroops, by definition they fly gliders. The thread asks about paratroops.

And to be fair it differs by nation.

US glider pilots were just that, after a drop they simply made their way back to friendly lines.

UK Glider pilots were as well trained as any other glider or para airborne troops and upon landing were trained to form up as combat units and operate as infantry.

So while you're right that 'glider pilots are not paratroops'... *some* (ie uk) Glider pilots were 'airborne infantry.

And while I know Poacher knows this and the link is not really for him I thought it's a good point to put this in for those who might be interested.

http://www.gliderpilotregiment.org.uk/

With regards to the thompson, fine for skirmishing in my opinion but i wouldnt take one along to a living history show with a brit para impression as you'd just get more questions/pickyness than it would be worth.

I cant remember exactly but I'm sure someone once put up the ammunition alloaction for an airborne division and the ammount of .45 ammo allocated made it highly unlikely anyone was usng thompsons. (it *may*even have been '0' but it was a long time ago and I wasnt really looing for that as the discussion in hand at the time was how the famous 'm1 carbine at the hartenstein' occurred!)

I cant remember exactly but I'm sure someone once put up the ammunition alloaction for an airborne division and the ammount of .45 ammo allocated made it highly unlikely anyone was usng thompsons. (it *may*even have been '0' but it was a long time ago and I wasnt really looing for that as the discussion in hand at the time was how the famous 'm1 carbine at the hartenstein' occurred!)

I tried to find that too - but I thought the opposite: it was a huge amount of .45 relative to the number of pistols likely to be on the ground and that either someone had cocked up and oversupplied or there was something else using .45. Heh, my recollection is probably up the spout!

I cant remember exactly but I'm sure someone once put up the ammunition alloaction for an airborne division and the ammount of .45 ammo allocated made it highly unlikely anyone was usng thompsons. (it *may*even have been '0' but it was a long time ago and I wasnt really looing for that as the discussion in hand at the time was how the famous 'm1 carbine at the hartenstein' occurred!)

I tried to find that too - but I thought the opposite: it was a huge amount of .45 relative to the number of pistols likely to be on the ground and that either someone had cocked up and oversupplied or there was something else using .45. Heh, my recollection is probably up the spout!

Could well be the opposite CW all i remember is that the thread was trying to work out likely small arms via the ammo allocation. Do you remember if it was on here or pozzi - I cant recall now.

To throw a spanner in the works, well after the introduction of Sten to Brit units, Polish para units were using the thompson... They could well be Poles its nigh on impossible to tell without seeing BD or soft caps.

Here's a posed pic from the WWiireenacting forum showing a polish SNCO or Officer with a thompon (and makeshift jump jacket before they got denison...)

In my opinion, this....

is an optical illusion where the rocky background looks like part of the gun. If it really is a gun barrel, then it's bent.

It might be a bit early to be an accurate indication ,but "The Raid on Bruneval " on Sky last night also had paras carrying Thompsons.

hey guys i know that the brits (and her glorious commonwealth ) used all sorts of variants of the thompson but iv noticed in pictures that its usually just regular infantry or commandos SOOOOOOOO did the british paras use thompsons at all?? or wer they too cool to use them ooo and some photographical proof would be cool

chur,
henry

I believe that they used the "tommy gun" and the 1928 military variant. For a more "genuine" british loadout, I would go for the sten

Gotta love a GBB revolver!

hey guys i know that the brits (and her glorious commonwealth ) used all sorts of variants of the thompson but iv noticed in pictures that its usually just regular infantry or commandos SOOOOOOOO did the british paras use thompsons at all?? or wer they too cool to use them ooo and some photographical proof would be cool

chur,
henry

I believe that they used the "tommy gun" and the 1928 military variant. For a more "genuine" british loadout, I would go for the sten

no question ofcourse id get the sten but we are only allowed semi auto seg/aegs in this country and theyre not easy too semi as im sure warren from shoot and scoot will tell u as hes trying to semi one now......(poor bastard ) other than that im making a no4 at the mo but ofcourse id still love a sten or sumthing with a rapid rate of fire

hey guys i know that the brits (and her glorious commonwealth ) used all sorts of variants of the thompson but iv noticed in pictures that its usually just regular infantry or commandos SOOOOOOOO did the british paras use thompsons at all?? or wer they too cool to use them ooo and some photographical proof would be cool

chur,
henry

I believe that they used the "tommy gun" and the 1928 military variant. For a more "genuine" british loadout, I would go for the sten

no question ofcourse id get the sten but we are only allowed semi auto seg/aegs in this country and theyre not easy too semi as im sure warren from shoot and scoot will tell u as hes trying to semi one now......(poor bastard ) other than that im making a no4 at the mo but ofcourse id still love a sten or sumthing with a rapid rate of fire

an AEG burst wizard mosfet should be able to get a sten to fire single. If warren adds one to a sten and ships with a battery already plugged in and "ready to skirmish" it will only fire on single auto.