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An in-depth history of the small arms made by the Sterling Company of Dagenham, Essex, England, from 1940 until the company closed in 1989. The Lanchester and the Patchett Machine Carbines were both developed at Sterling Engineering Co Ltd during World War II. With the appearance of the earliest Patchett prototypes the military began testing them in ever more rigorous trials, wherein the Patchett kept proving its merits. This led to limited UK adoption of the MkII Patchett as the L2A1 in 1953, and the “first Sterling,” the MkII, as the L2A2 in 1955. Then came Sterling’s “Crown Jewel,” the superb Mk4, adopted as the general-issue UK “Gun, Sub-Machine, L2A3” in September, 1955. M...
This is the story of the manufacture, development and usage of one of the most famous submachine Guns ever produced by a British Firm Designed at the end of WW2 it saw limited use on a trial basis, carried by paratroopers during the battle of Arnhem, but since the British Forces had plenty of Sten guns at the time, and tests between the two types of weapon were inconclusive, it was not until 1953, that with a few adjustments, the Weapon was formally adopted by the British Army Whilst not the most accurate of weapons, it was extremely useful in urban warfare and regarded as one of the most reliable submachine Guns throughout the world until it was withdrawn in 1988. A total of over 400,000 were manufactured. Sterling built them for the British armed forces and for overseas sales. The Sterling Guns was used as the basis for the weapons used by Storm Troopers in the Star Wars films.
The untold true story of James Edmiston who suffered an extraordinary miscarriage of justice in 1983 when senior officials blocked vital witnesses coming to his trial which led to a personal tragedy; a broken marriage, and the loss of a business. The book explains how he was wrongly charged with alleged illegal exports to Iraq, and then took on the establishment against seemingly impossible odds for 25 years, to establish his innocence and to win record compensation from the British government in a truly remarkable case. Divorced and bankrupted, he is now rebuilding a shattered life, nearly 30 years later. In 1993, the Scott Inquiry unearthed serious misconduct by senior officials who collud...
The Allied bombing of Berlin was the longest and most sustained bombing offensive against one target in the Second World War. The Berlin Blitz By Those Who Were There is a compelling, gripping and thought-provoking story of the Allied bombing forces and the ordinary people on the ground, told in their own tongue and with meticulous attention to detail. The result is a coherent, single story which unfolds in a straightforward and incisive narrative. This work draws attention in some detail to the major raids on the Reich capital by RAF Bomber Command from the late summer of 1940 to September 1943. It begins with the reliable but largely ineffective twin-engined Blenheims, Hampdens, Wellington...
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Designed by a motorcycle racer turned small-arms engineer, George Patchett, the submachine gun that eventually became known as the Sterling was developed during World War II. Some suggest it first saw action during Operation Infatuate with No. 4 Commando, before becoming fully adopted by the British Army in 1953 as the Sterling Machine Carbine (L2A1). It was centre stage for many of Britain's post-colonial conflicts from Malaya to Kenya and from Yemen to Northern Ireland. The silenced L34A1 Sterling-Patchett entered service in 1966 and first saw action deep in the jungles of Vietnam in the hands of the elite special forces of Australia, New Zealand and the United States during prisoner snatches and reconnaissance patrols. Employing first-hand accounts and painstaking technical analysis, this engaging account features carefully selected archive photography and specially commissioned colour artwork depicting the submachine gun that armed British and other forces for nearly 60 years.
“Expertly researched . . . 20 different narratives in which these heroes venture out night after night on sorties throughout World War II Europe.” —Plane and Pilot Three weeks after Stirling air gunner Doug Fry was reported missing over Germany his mother was still clinging to the vain hope that he was alive. Then a neighbor said she had seen him in the cinema just down the road. The airman and his crew had been filmed for a Bomber Command documentary shortly before they took off from Mildenhall to attack Remscheid. Three hours later four of the crew were killed, but it was another two months after she had also seen the poignant film that widowed mother of eight Winnie Fry knew her nin...
This outrageously informative book is packed full of fascinating nuggets of history, science, literature, technology, sports, geography, culture and miscellanea from every corner of the world – enough mind-blowing trivia to ensure you’re never short of a jaw-dropping conversation starter (or stopper) again.