The Bren Gun

I like the photo of the AA 6 mounted Bren on the truck.
Quite a nasty surprise for a plane or other targets!.

Regards
Tom

 

Cheers Dunc.

Thas exactly what I was looking for.......A worthy Rep added to your collection

Andy

 

if the original scans would be of use to anyone ( better resolution ) ....just pm me an email address and I'll send them over

 

Dunc,

I am intrigued by the photo to the left of the sextuplet AA Bren on the truck.

It appears to be a tandem Bren with Vickers 'K' type circular horizontal magazines.

I cannot read the text with the picture. Can you elaborate a little on it for me as I have never seen a picture of a Bren gun with circular magazines.

Regards
Tom

 

Tom if you mean this one they are fitted with the 100rd Pan Magazines. I asked about them a few posts back (No. 46) after reading Stan Hollis VC used one when he won his VC on D-Day.

I'd never heard of them before and was intrigued to see a picture of what they looked like.

Cheers
Andy

 

Adam/Phil,

Thanks for that, I had missed the post due to being offline so much lately.

Thanks to both of you for clearing up the magazine.

Regards
Tom

 

No worries

 

I must admit in all my years of studying such things it was the first pic of the 100 rnd mag on the gun I have ever seen B) as above if anyone wants it emailing over to get a better read, just PM your email address over and I'll sort it

 

Men and their Brens..

 

The Bren gun used by the Czechs was very similar to the British version, but had a straight ammunition magazine and not curved like the British version.

Some German Army units used them and thought highly of them.

Regards
Tom

 

I know I was using the L4A4 in the mid'80's.

Superb weapon and far more reliable than the M60.

 

Adam,

How interesting. Do you have a link to the story or is it only in book form?

Cheers
Andy

 

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Doohan, aged 19, joined the Royal Canadian Artillery, and was eventually commissioned as a lieutenant in the 13th Field Regiment, part of the divisional artillery of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. Doohan went to the United Kingdom in 1940 for what became years of training. His first combat assignment was the invasion of Normandy at Juno Beach on D-Day. Shooting two snipers along the way, Doohan led his unit to higher ground through a field of anti-tank mines and took defensive positions for the night. Crossing between command posts at 11:30 that night, Doohan took six rounds from a Bren gun fired by a nervous sentry:<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference">[4]</sup> four in his leg, one in the chest, and one through his right middle finger. The bullet to his chest was halted by the silver cigarette case he carried, and his wounded right middle finger was amputated, which he would conceal during his career as an actor. However, despite his efforts, the injured hand can be seen in the Star Trek episode "Trouble with Tribbles", as well as "Tomorrow is Yesterday" and "Catspaw".
Despite his injuries, Doohan remained in the military, trained as a pilot and flew an artillery observation plane. He flew Taylorcraft Auster Mark V aircraft for 666 (AOP) Squadron, RCAF, as a Royal Canadian Artillery officer in a flying role in support of #1 Canadian AGRA (Army Groups Royal Artillery). All three Canadian (AOP) RCAF Squadrons were manned by Artillery Officer-pilots and accompanied by enlisted RCA and RCAF personnel serving as observers.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference">[5]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference">[6]</sup>
Though he was never actually a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, he was once labeled the "craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Forces." One of the many legendary stories of his flying years tells of Doohan slaloming a plane — variously cited as a Hurricane or a jet trainer — between mountainside telegraph poles to prove it could be done, which earned him a serious reprimand. (The actual feat was performed in a Mark IV Auster on the Salisbury Plain north of RAF Andover, in the late spring of 1945).<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"></sup>

 

Cheers Spider

 

Adam/Spider,

Thanks for that very informative piece of information.
It never fails to amaze me what information we glean from this forum, great stuff.

Regards
Tom

 

Bren gun... great bit of kit ,did any of you lads not have the drum adaptor 100 rnds. then it was heavy carried useing a modified rifle sling tore the skin of the sholder but still a great gun our armourer fitted two of our gun,s with an X8 sight for single round use .....

raider..

 

and it had a high rate of fire

 

Aussie L4 Bren in Malaya I think