British & Polish paras did not use Thompsons during Market Garden the standard SMG for the paras was the STEN Mk5. However having seen a few photos of the odd para or two with American small arms, notably the M1 Carbine I wouldn't like to say there absolutely were no Thompsons present. Fact is it's airsoft and you go for which you prefer, I have both, they're both great in their own ways but the Thompson is the more versatile & practical out of the two.
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-Marc-
4th Wilts LHG
WW2 armoury: WA M1911A1 SCW, TM M1A1 TSMG, AGM STEN Mk2, AGM MP40, S&S M1 Garand.
Welcome to the forum!
As for a Thompson vs Sten, the Sten was almost certainly more common than the Thompson. But if, you want accurate at longer ranges, why not a rifle? Far more men carried rifles than a SMG.
As said Sten MKV was the main SMG (on average an allotment for every 3rd guy to carry one, in reality two or three guys in a ten man section as to the one in a line inf section). Some MKII's made up the shortfall.
Outside of the SAS nobody carried thompsons. Commandos were issued them but airborne and leg infantry used the sten post june 44.
The one picture of a guy at the hartenstein hotel with an m1 carbine should be avoided like the plague. It's one guy in a division of 6000!
One view is that he'd acquired it from a US advisory team of some sort.
By the third or fourth day of the battle both sides were critically short of equipment and the RAF were dropping ressuply behind the german lines so you see SS lads with brens and British airlanding chaps with MG42s.
To this end an MP40 or any other german small arm is far more historically likely than a thompson or m1.
hope that helps.
G
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
For NWE specific paras, then a Sten.
For WW2 airsoft in general, then a Thompson was the first gun I got and have used with all my impressions (Brit, German and Russian) as there are photos of all of them using Thompsons.
The Thompson was used by British forces in all theatres until the end of the war, although in NWE specifically, only by commandos.
Nice part of the world you are from, I cycled up the XXX Corps route some years ago, as well as Arnhem and its environs.
Cheers
Martin
"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" Helmuth von Moltke
Toys: AGM MP40, Cyma M1A1, TM M14/G43/SVT40, TM VSR/K98, SnS No. 4, ASG Sten, Ppsh.
Arnhem3,Gumrak,Campoleone
