WEAPONS
General
The types of weapon needed for clandestine warfare differed fundamentally from those for use by regular troops. While small hand guns such as revolvers and automatic pistols were needed as personal weapons, multishot weapons, particularly for use at close quarters, were essential for operations in which agents might be confronted by superior numbers such as enemy patrols. In general, longer-range weapons were not required, while ease of concealment and reliability were essential requirements. Few such weapons were available in 1940 other than the American Thompson gun (Tommy Gun) developed during the gang warfare in the USA. A number of reasons, including the fact that manufacturing rights were held in the USA, meant that it was not a possible choice for SOE at that time. And the British Sten gun was only just going into large-scale production and in its original form was unreliable, being subject to malfunctions of various kinds.
The Norm Gun
In the early days SOE had a need for a small 9 mm automatic carbine weighing less than 10 lb which would be more compact than the contemporary models of the Sten gun while having superior performance. This requirement was met by the beautifully made, and in some respects novel, Norm gun, which completely fulfilled the specification but was unfortunately too expensive to be put into mass production. This gun was designed by one of Station IX’s firearms experts, Eric Norman, remembered by one of the site’s guards, Tom Rae, for his amorous black spaniel which became used to a dousing with cold water. Norman is probably the person who modified a .22 inch calibre American Woodsman pistol to operate as a machine pistol. The rate of fire was said to have been so rapid that the magazine was exhausted too quickly. The Norm gun was unusual in that it had two grips as well as a steel skeleton stock which was welded to the base of the rear grip. A long, straight magazine was fitted vertically below the breech and the forward grip was clamped to the end of the barrel. Although the weapon had a somewhat awkward appearance, experts who fired it claimed the grips gave them excellent stability and accuracy. It was the forerunner of the Welgun.
The Welgun
It was thought initially that SOE’s requirement for a small 9 mm calibre machine carbine might be met by a modified Sten Mk II and on 16 May 1942 Maj W. Hussey of the Central Small Arms Department, Enfield (CSAD) visited Station IX to discuss that possibility. Time passed and there was no response from Enfield so SOE decided to go ahead and develop a weapon themselves.
Maj Hussey notified SOE on 5 June that Col Gibson did not oppose SOE’s proposal to design its own special weapon (to be called the Welgun) and about five weeks later Gibson visited Station IX to examine the prototype the Engineering Section had fabricated to F.T. Bridgeman’s design. It was completed and sent to Enfield for assessment on 7 August. As a result of these and other tests a series of modifications took place right up to the time it was submitted to the evaluating agency, the Central Inspectorate of Small Arms (CISA) at Broxbourne, in February 1943. Throughout this period Station IX maintained the closest contact with both Enfield and CISA.
By October 1942 six examples of the Welgun had been produced at Station IX for demonstration to CISA. After final modifications the gun was sent to CSAD for further assessment. It was inspected by the Design Department of the Birmingham Small Arms company (BSA) who considered producing it and submitted an estimate of cost on the basis of an initial production run of 60,000.
By December 1942 the gun had passed its tests at CISA. A further six were being made for final tests by the Ordnance Board. On 1 January 1943 CD wrote personally to the Minister of Production about this alternative to the Sten gun. He explained that with the full knowledge of the Ministry of Supply SOE had built the Welgun which could fire British, American and German ammunition. BSA had examined it, thought well of it and were willing to produce it. 100,000 were needed at a rate of 5,000 per month. Given the authority to commence production, BSA could start delivery in April 1943. In reply, Mr Lyttleton, Minister of Production, said as far as he was aware the Welgun was only then being put through its proof tests and asked for them to be speeded up. Clearly, authority could not be given until all the required tests had been successfully completed on the pre-production models. By February 1943 all examples had passed the CISA acceptance trials. Three were then sent to Pendine in South Wales for Ordnance Board trials and three for trials at the Bisley Wing of the Small Arms School. Gen Worthington and Gen McNaughton requested one gun complete with working drawings for immediate despatch to Canada. They had tested the weapon at Aldershot and were obviously impressed.
A month later three Welguns competed in Ordnance Board design and functioning tests against three Sten Mark IVs. In the final total score the Sten gun beat the Welgun by only one point but the Welgun won the trials regarding accuracy, control, rapid operation, etc. It was beaten by the Sten on operation in arctic conditions, mud and sand tests but the Ordnance Board agreed that greater clearances between moving parts would overcome this. The forward hand grip and balance of the Welgun were recommended for adoption on the Sten and all other folding-stock machine carbines. In April the gun passed the trials at Bisley with comparable marks to the Sten but the particularly advantageous features of the Welgun seem to have been ignored in the report on these tests. Nevertheless, word got around and the Royal Navy and No. 62 Commando wanted to examine examples. In May a report on the tests conducted by the Navy and Royal Marines at Whale Island was sent to Maj Reeves. The gun had been subjected to extensive tests and considerable deliberate abuse but continued to work very well indeed. Commander Young had tested one gun and found it singularly accurate, with a performance above any other tried on the range. The Navy, who had been offered Stens Marks II and III to replace the Lanchester carbines used by their boarding parties, had turned them down and now wondered whether to opt for the Welgun.
In the end, to Station IX’s disappointment, the cheaper but less accurate Sten Mk IV was adopted and the Welgun did not go into production.2 The full reasons for this decision are not revealed in surviving documents. No estimates of the relative costs of the alternative weapons are available, nor whether the differences were sufficient to outweigh the advantages of the Welgun. One may speculate that the final choice was influenced to some degree by envy that a gun developed by an outside body (as SOE was sometimes regarded) with no long-term experience of small arms should have been able to challenge the competence of the gun-making Establishment.
The Welrod
Among the silenced weapons used by SOE agents, the Welrod was a small 9 mm or .32 in calibre hand gun with a very effective built-in silencer which gave it its nickname of the ‘bicycle pump’. The stock-cum-magazine of the weapon could be readily detached from the barrel, resulting in two pieces which could easily be concealed. In November 1942 some examples of the four-shot .32 in calibre version made to the requirements of the Chief of Combined Operations (CCO) and Capt Sykes had been manufactured and the numbers required were being assessed. After trials the following month it was decided to manufacture 500 for stock at Station XII.
By March 1943 the Welrod had been redesigned with an improved stock, a replaceable magazine, a spring ejector, a knurled boss to replace the bolt action and reduced trigger pressure. At 12¼ in long, the .32 in calibre model now weighed 35 oz (992 gm). It was easier to operate and a great deal simpler to manufacture and it was hoped to reduce the noise still further. The forward silencer unit of the Welrod, which was an integral part of the weapon and included self-closing rubber baffles at each end, was only slightly shorter than the original five-groove, left-twist, rifled barrel, which was retained. Cocking was by means of a knurled-screw boss at the extreme rear of the gun. A quarter turn of the boss anti-clockwise and withdrawal to its limit admitted another round into the breech; pushing it forward and a quarter turn clockwise readied it for firing. Surrounding the barrel was an outer casing known as the bursting chamber which accepted some of the gases released into the silencer. The 9 mm version was larger at 143/8 in long and 3
lb 4 oz (1.47 kg) in weight.
In June 1943 the SOE Council considered a campaign of assassination of selected enemy individuals: German civilian officials rather than soldiers or Quislings. To increase the demoralising effect of the undertaking, warnings were to be given by the posting of death warrants. The Welrod was the ideal weapon for this task and with 600 on order, 100 ready for issue in August, it was decided that ‘Execution Month’, as it was called, should commence on 1 October.3 No information has been found as to whether this ever took place.
Another campaign, known as Ratweek, was carried out during the last week of February 1944 by the ‘Armada’ RF circuit in France. About a dozen Gestapo staff were assassinated.
The Welrod proved to be a very effective silent close-quarters weapon. At least 600 were ordered and, in addition to its use by SOE, there are some unsubstantiated reports that even after SOE’s disbandment it was issued on operations in Korea, Malaya, Vietnam and Northern Ireland.4 In his book The Secret War for the Falklands Nigel West describes an incident on HMS Invincible during the training of the Special Air Service’s ‘B’ squadron for a covert attack on an Argentine mainland airbase in which the weapons specialist produced a Welrod. In the event the raid was aborted after the party had landed and they had to be exfiltrated covertly through Chile.
The Sleeve Gun (‘Welwand’)
Also developed was a stick-like, single-shot assassination weapon sometimes known as the Welwand which could be concealed in the sleeve of the coat before dispensing its ‘magic’. It was about 12 in long including its suppresser and fired a .22 in bullet.5 Later a similar but more effective device of .32 in calibre was produced. It was known generally as the Sleeve Gun and was a development of the Welrod and it, too, had a built-in suppresser but, being single-shot, did not eject a tell-tale cartridge case. On the other hand it did not give the opportunity of a second shot. (In their training agents were taught always to try for two shots at a target.) Some said it could be used as a bludgeon but it was hardly big enough for that for it was only 8¾ in long, 1¼ in diameter and weighed 26 oz (737 gm). It was meant to be carried on the end of a lanyard running up the sleeve, round the neck and down to a button on the belt. On unbuttoning the lanyard the pre-loaded gun concealed in the sleeve could be slipped down to be gripped with the thumb on the trigger close to the muzzle. After it had been discharged the gun could be drawn back up the sleeve and out of sight by means of the lanyard. The earlier Mk I model had a rudimentary safety catch which could be released inadvertently. An improved catch was incorporated in the Mk II but, even so, considerable care had to be exercised to avoid shooting oneself in the foot.
At that time there was a carefully organised campaign against prominent traitors and denouncers and certain members of the Gestapo and, in the case of Norway, the HIRD (Quisling’s organisation) and the NS Police (Nasjonal Samling, the National Party who collaborated with the Germans). This was kept under strict control by London and was governed by quasi-judicial investigations and proceedings. The execution of such persons demanded careful planning and great patience, not to say considerable courage on the part of the operator of the silenced weapon. One Danish group reported that traitors were usually executed by shooting after having been bundled into a car.6
The Silenced Sten Gun
The Sten gun was a simple, inexpensive 9 mm sub-machine gun which proved very popular with both regular and irregular forces. It was designed by R.V. Shepherd and H.J. Turpin at Enfield, their initials giving it its name. It consisted of a barrel with a steel tubular frame stock (wooden on some versions) and a magazine which protruded from the left-hand side. A major feature in its success was its ability to withstand severe contamination with sand, mud and water and still keep firing. It was therefore an almost ideal choice of weapon for resistance fighters. However, it jammed easily and had an alarming tendency to fire and loose off a whole magazine if dropped or jarred accidentally.
Various attempts were made to improve the Sten gun, such as by fitting a bayonet and by replacing the usual stock with a pistol grip. Capt Sykes reported that the latter resulted in a serious loss of accuracy but the bayonet showed some promise. Lt Col Woolrych arranged for trials at Group A, the paramilitary schools in Inverness, and STS 43, Polish Section’s establishment at Audley End in Essex.
The Sten’s use in clandestine operations was compromised to some extent by its characteristic noise which would be a certain give-away to any searching enemy patrol. A Polish officer, Lt Kulikowski, therefore decided to do something about it and initiated what was eventually the most successful modification to the gun: the silencer. Working closely with Maj Reeves he had designed and produced a prototype silencer for the Sten gun and in August 1942 SOE was asked to visit Broxbourne to test it. While it was quite effective as a noise suppresser, it was disappointing in that it reduced the penetrative power of the bullet. Furthermore, the silencer was too bulky and, when fitted, the weapon would operate only on fully automatic. An officer at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield suggested inserting a washer into the breech end of the barrel (presumably to adjust the travel of the bolt), a simple expedient which proved successful in allowing it to fire single shots again. Reeves developed an alternative method of reducing the noise which overcame the earlier side-effects and this was put into production at Station XII for the use of SOE.
A request was received to redesign the silencer for use with WRA American ammunition. This was done and a prototype was sent to Station XII for testing where it was found that the noise level had been reduced to that of the earlier Mark I silencer. By April 1943 production models of the Mark II silencer for use with American ammunition were being made.
User trials at Station IX on 29 June 1943, reported on 4 July, were impressive enough for Gubbins to approve, after minor alterations, the silencer’s adoption as an SOE store.7
THE SPIGOT GUN
The Spigot Gun was a means of projecting a high-explosive charge at an unapproachable target. Two versions were designed: the Tree Spigot and the Plate Spigot, but only the former was developed to become a standard stores item. The Tree Spigot Gun was intended either as an ambush weapon operated by an agent using a lanyard; or by a tripwire stretched across the path of the enemy; or as a delayed-action bomb aimed at a static target. The original concept and some of the earlier models seem to derive from before 1940. What little information there is suggests that these early models were highly erratic in behaviour.
Unlike conventional mortars where the bomb is slipped into a close-fitting barrel, in the spigot mortar the missile had a hollow tail which slid over the spigot and contained the propellant charge. The firing pin at the tip of the spigot was released by a wire or could be operated by a modified Time Pencil which replaced the normal striker mechanism. The tail incorporated a silencing device which prevented the hot gases discharging to atmosphere.
The spigot was attached by a ball and socket joint to a large wood screw fitted with a pair of handles to provide the torque to enable it to be screwed into a tree trunk or brickwork. The spigot could be aimed using a primitive removable sight, the joint clamped into position and the bomb slipped over the spigot.
The bomb was toffee-apple shaped, filled with 3 lb (1.36 kg) of 808 explosive and fitted with an impact fuse which was armed automatically by the recoil on firing. The head of the bomb was sealed with a thin metal diaphragm which collapsed on impact to place the explosive in intimate contact with the target.
The detailed design of the gun evolved with time and by October 1942 four complete guns were available for tests, two with folding sights and two with removable sights. Further modifications aimed at stabilising the trajectory continued into 1943: it is not clear why the bomb was not fitted with fins. It was accurate to a range of only 50 yards, beyond which it needed a much larger target (see Chapter 10).
By mid-1943 requests were being submitted by returning agents for anti-tank weapons. The Boys Anti-Tank Rifle was considered too cumbersome; the Army
wanted to keep the PIAT anti-tank weapon as a surprise; the American one-man rocket was in the experimental stage; and the breech-loading mortar was still under development. The SOE spigot mortar was just coming into production. It was envisaged that it might be used against stationary tanks brought to a halt by a road block and fired by an operator hidden nearby; against parked tanks using a time delay; against slow-moving tanks using either a trip wire or an operator. Although considerable numbers were despatched to the field, there are few reports of its successful use. (The need for an anti-tank weapon was met later by the Tyreburster/AT mine. See Chapter 5.)
THE WELPEN, WELPIPE, WELWOODBINE AND WELCHEROOT
Once SOE had begun infiltrating agents into enemy-held countries and the Resistance had started their clandestine build-up, experience was obtained of the mode of arrest and interrogation by the Gestapo and other Nazi security organisations. Upon arrest and search an agent would be stripped of any items, such as a penknife, which could be used as a weapon, but there was a reasonable chance that certain personal possessions would be overlooked. If a very small weapon could be concealed as one of these commonplace and innocuous items it might give the captive an opportunity to make a surprise attack on his interrogator and escape. It was with this in mind that work started on a series of miniature disguised weapons.
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