British Lanchester Submachine Gun Pouches (1941)

Cold War, Early Cold War (1945 - 1968), Great Britain and Commonwealth, Pouches, Webbing, World War 2 (1939 - 1945), WW2

The British Royal Navy and Air Force adopted the Lanchester submachine gun in 1941 after losing vast amounts of materiel during the retreat from France and the Dunkirk evacuation. The Lanchester was a reverse-engineered copy of the German MP-28 Bergmann submachine gun with only some minor changes like a corrosion-resistant brass magazine housing for maritime environments and simpler production [1], and a stock shape based on the existing Lee-Enfield rifle’s. Otherwise, like most pre-WW2 era submachine guns, the design required a significant amount of fine machine work so it was largely superseded by the much simpler STEN which was cruder, but optimized for mass production. The Lanchester served throughout WW2 and into the 1970’s. It was widely exported overseas with surplus Royal Navy ships bought by other countries like Egypt. [2]

Lanchester pouches were originally made to fit the World War 1 era P08 belts widely in circulation in the Royal Navy. When all services adopted Pattern 37 webbing, the pouches were re-fit at the factory to the new webbing’s specifications some time around September 9, 1943 with Admiralty Fleet Order (AFO) 4187. [3]

Blanco was applied to the front for camouflage.
Tailoring marks still present on the back. This is common in re-manufactured examples. [4]

This set was altered at the factory to fit Pattern 37 specification belts. The pouches are supposed to be asymmetric since the one with the smaller pouch sewn to the front is meant to carry the magazine reloading tool, which was rarely used in reality. This pouch is supposed to be worn on the user’s right side. [3]

Reloader Tool Pouch:

Sides:

Top:

Bottom:

Inside:

Subdivided into three cells for carrying 3 50-round magazines.

Stamps:

Top Strap:

Usage Photos:

Commonwealth:

Commonwealth Navies extensively used the Lanchester for boarding and landing parties.

Great Britain:

June 1943: Ammunition being handed out to Royal Marines on a practice landing party on the HMS Duke of York in Northern Waters. [5]
September – November 1945: British sailors of an ashore party from the cruiser HMS Cumberland in the Dutch colony of Java, modern day Indonesia, with freed European civilians. [6][7]

Canada:

World War II:

July 20, 1944: Able Seaman Armand Therien from the Royal Canadian Navy Beach Commando W training in the UK. [8][9]

The Royal Canadian Navy Beach Commando W secured Juno Beach in Normandy after the D-Day landings, helping to bring in vital supplies onshore. It was deployed between July 7 and August 22, 1944, seeing little action before returning to the UK, where it was disbanded on August 30, 1944. [10]

Korean War:

1952: Royal Canadian Navy small boat raiding party during the Korean War. This photo of #2 Sampan Boarding Party appeared in a 1953 newspaper clipping. During a night raid, this party stopped and boarded a North Korean mine laying junk off the west coast of Korea. In the engagement, one Korean who resisted capture was killed and five others surrendered. Each of the North Koreans was armed with a machine gun when captured. [11]
1952: Royal Canadian Navy small boat raiding party during the Korean War. [11]
Photos feature Lt. Cdr. Frank Saunders, the HMCS Nootka’s Executive Officer during her two tours of duty in Korea in 1951 and 1952. He was also the temporary CO for the Nootka in October 1951 until Captain Steele took over. Photos and captions from [11]. The reloader tool pocket is not present on their Lanchester pouches.

Australia and New Zealand:

1940’s: A rating of the Rotal Australian Navy saluting while armed with a Lanchester submachine gun during World War 2. [1][12]
August 9, 1944: Crew members of the destroyer HMAS Napier undergoing weapon drill on the ship’s deck. [1][13]
September 1945: After searching a store in the Japanese Naval Base of Yokosuka, troops of the British Landing Force mark up on a door that it is safe. They are Able Seaman (AB) Clifford Cooper, RN, of Middleton, Manchester, England (left), and Petty Officer Colin Frew, RNZN, of Ponsonby, Auckland, NZ. AB Cooper is holding a 9mm Lanchester sub-machine gun with fixed bayonet. [1][14]

Netherlands (Dutch East Indies):

May 1947: A patrol member of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) crouches by the bank of a river near Modjokerto, Indonesia. He is armed with a Lanchester type submachine gun. [1][15]

The Netherlands was one recipient of surplus Lanchesters after World War 2, which they used during the Dutch Indonesian War/Indonesian National Revolution (1945 – 1950). [2][16]