I've heard that in some cases, American soldiers were issued with Sten guns.

Anyone clarify this?

 

no I have never heard of american soldiers being issued stens in any case only the thompson and the m3 grease gun

 

Do you have references or some kinda of literature that we can refer too?

I have never heard of this, since why would they need to, they certainly didn't have problems producing them.

 

In all my Airborne research I've never seen reference to this, so provenance would be useful.

Steve W.

 

I've spent some time searching and researching mention of American troops using the Sten Gun. The troops or people of many countries are mentioned using the Sten, but not Americans. The British, Canadian, and other Commonwealth soldiers in the Mediterranean theatre were not issued Sten guns because it would stretch already limited supply lines combined with the fact that the British 8th Army continued to use the .45 calibre Thompson SMG.

After it was first used by the Canadians at Dieppe, the Sten gun was provided to resistance troops due to the speed of its manufacture, that it was possible to use captured German 9mm ammunition, and that it was also easier to ship.

Since American troops came well-supplied with American manufactured weapons, in my opinion it was unlikely they would be issued a British- or Canadian-made weapon. An American soldier might have ended up using a Sten gun if they ended up with the Resistance or were in the SOE/OSS and behind enemy lines.

 

Still... even in that case, they would probably go equipped with a M-3A1 if ammunition supply might be an issue. It could be easily adapted to fire the 9mm and take STEN magazines. I have a vague recollectin of an airborne action in 1945 shortly before the end of the war in which a company of airborne soldiers were issued M-3 SMGs on the spot before assaulting fixed fortified positions. Supply of guns don't look like an issue in the US Army.

 

On Wikipedia in the users section heres the countries listed.
Commonwealth of Nations
Finland
France
Norway
Poland
United Kingdom
United States
Canada
China

 

The article says that some American soldiers used the suppressed version in Vietnam.

Steve W.

 

At that stage they would be more likely to be Sterling L34A1. or the mdern Australian SMG the F1 assuming there is a silenced version of the F1, if not Australian special forces (in Vietnam) would probably use L34A1.

The only "foreign" western SMGs that I know of that were used by the US in Vietnam were M45 for special service use and that caused problems with the Swedes and possibly the M50 masden (but this could be miss identification with the M45). However there were some photos in a web site a while ago (maybe even in this one) showing the disposal by burning of large quanties of weapons probably in Vietnam, with many surprising weapons, Thompson, Brens, lee enfields, no Stens that I recall but Stens (except Mk5) don't have wood or plastic so would go straight to the smelter.

The only reference I have seen to Stens in U.S. are comparitive trials during the M3 development programme, the Stens were the subject of much interest because of the ease of manufacture which is something the U.S. wanted for the next generation of SMG.

 

Found this photo whilst browzing

View attachment 5736

The weapon is a Mk2 Sten

 

Interesting pic........it appears to be part of a series as it looks to have catalogue reference numbers in the lower corner. My guess is that it is a "Red Ball Express" photo as it appears to be taken in the back of a Deuce and a half.

The Red Ball Express Information Page

DefenseLink News Article: African Americans Gain Fame as World War II Red Ball Express Drivers

I would say that Americans being issued Stens would be more the exception than the rule. With that in mind there may have been a reason that African American troops "could have" been issued Stens, although it looks like the guy in the back is holding a Thompson or Carbine.

Brad

 

they probably acquired them at some point

 

Totally agree. I assume he found it and liked it. It would be interesting to hear his explanation why he wanted it in place of a M1 carbine or M3.

I just hope by posting this photo I don't start a load of misinformed people making kits of GMCs in Redball scenes with guys riding shotgun with Stens.

Steve

 

We can only hope for the best

 

I have a number of photographs of US Soldiers using STENS in Vietnam.


Who knows where or how he acquired it. I'd be willing to bet that where he's at, any suppressed weapon is better than no suppressed weapon.

 

alex kaeda

Great photos -nice to be proven wrong again. When I posted the Silenced Owen SMG on the silenced weapons post, it was said that the Silenced Owen was in use by the Australians in Vietnam. It surprises people that the Sten was an accurate semi-auto weapon.

Steve

 

Perhaps they were some of the troops that worked on the Al-Can highway. While probably Red Ball Express guys this is just another suggestion as they seem to be dressed for cold weather.

 

They are most likely dressed for cold weather on the Red Ball run time since it ran until Nov. of 1944 remember. It was a record cold fall and winter in Europe that year (1944), so it is not out of the realm of possibility that those "colored" troops were simply dressed appropriately for the weather in Europe at the time.

 

More on postwar US Special Forces Sten issue:
Springfield Armory Museum - Collection Record, - MK.IIS
Springfield Armory Museum - Collection Record, - MK.II

~A