SAS Rogue Heroes: Difference between revisions - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games
SAS Rogue Heroes: Difference between revisions
SAS Rogue Heroes is a 2022 BBC drama action series, loosely based on the docu-drama book of the same name by Ben MacIntyre. The show centres on the creation of the Special Air Service by David Stirling (Connor Swindells), Lt. Jock Lewes (Alfie Allen), and Paddy Mayne (Jack O'Connell) during the North Africa campaign of the Second World War in 1941-2.
The following weapons were used in the television series SAS Rogue Heroes:
Paddy Mayne (Jack O'Connell) has a Beretta M1934 (presumably pilfered from some unfortunate Italian soldier) as a backup sidearm.
Walther P38
A Walther P38 is seen with an Axis soldier in one scene. David Stirling (Connor Swindells) and his men also use them when posing as Nazi soldiers to infiltrate Benghazi.
Revolvers
Colt New Service
Lt. Paddy Mayne (Jack O'Connell) has one of these revolvers, likely the .455 Webley variant manufactured for British troops during the First World War, although he refers to it as a "Colt .45". Capitaine Georges Bergé (Virgile Bramley) also has one, which Augustin Jordan (César Domboy) takes from his holster for a confrontation with Mayne in episode 5.
During the covert operation in Benghazi, Stirling and his men (dressed in Nazi uniform) have MP40s. The SAS men are also joined by Randolf Churchill (Ian Davies), son of UK prime minister Winston Churchill, who carries Stirling's MP40 during the ride into Benghazi.
MP38
One SAS soldier uses an MP38 appropriated from Axis forces. This episode was set in 1941, compared to episode 5 being set in 1942, so it appears the producers were showing how the weapons evolved through the campaign. Having said that, MP40s (as the name suggests) were already in the hands of soldiers by 1941.
Thompson M1928A1
Various SAS members, including Lewes, Stirling, Mayne, Sgt. Reg Seekings (Theo Barklam-Briggs), and Cpl. Mike Sadler (Tom Glynn-Carney), are seen with Thompson M1928A1 submachine guns.
German soldiers are equipped with Karabiner 98k rifles.
Lee-Enfield No.1 Mk III*
The Lee-Enfield No.1 Mk III*, known as the "SMLE" (Short Magazine Lee-Enfield) by the British, is ubiquitous among Allied troops throughout the series. It is also used by Jock Lewes at the start of the first episode.
Scoped Lee-Enfield No.1 Mk III*
In episode 5, Paddy Mayne uses an SMLE with a scope to shoot at the French paratroopers during a training exercise.
Machine guns
Breda Modello 37
When Lt. Lewes' men raid an Italian artillery encampment at the beginning of the first episode, sergeant Almonds appropriates their Breda Modello 37 against them.
Bren gun
Bren guns are used by British soldiers (including Cpl. Mike Sadler) during the series.
Browning M2 Aircraft
In the final episode, Browning M2 Aircraft heavy machine guns are given to the SAS to mount on their Jeeps. Stirling refers to these as "Vickers heavy machine guns" for some reason. Although Vickers did make a heavy machine gun (a Vickers chambered in 12.7x81 mm), they do not resemble the Browning at all. These fire incendiary ammunition, so as to destroy Nazi aircraft.
Lewis gun
Along with the Bren guns, British forces also use the Lewis gun. This includes 2nd Lt. Bill Fraser (Stuart Campbell) in one scene. In episode 5, which is set later on in the campaign in 1942, two SAS Jeeps have Lewis guns without cooling jackets around the barrel. This fits in with the fact that aircraft Lewis guns, which were being replaced by more powerful machine guns, were being given to infantry troops and light vehicles. The aircraft versions lacked cooling jackets due to the air passing over the barrels. As it transpired, the cooling jacket proved unnecessary even for infantry use, especially as it made the gun heavier and thus harder to carry and operate.
Mounted double Lewis guns
Like the Lewis guns sans cooling jackets, these double-mounted Lewis guns would have been sourced from RAF bombers, as their guns were replaced by more powerful models during 1942. As with the M2s, these are loaded with incendiary ammo to destroy Nazi aircraft.
MG34
As Lewes' men raid the Mersa Brega supply depot, an Italian soldier fires an MG34 mounted to an Sd. Kfz. 251 half-track armoured fighting vehicle. Stirling, Sadler, and Cooper are also fired upon by a Nazi with an MG34 in the final episode.
MG FF
A Messerschmitt BF-109E aircraft fires upon Lewes' unit with its pair of wing-mounted MG FF cannons.
Thrown
Fake grenade
Lt. Stirling clears a snooker room of its audience by frightening them off with a fake grenade that appears to have been adapted from a Mills Bomb, the standard-issue grenade of British forces during World War II.
Medium guns
105 mm M68
Stirling, Cooper, and Sadler are confronted by a Nazi tank at the end of the series. Rather than finding an actual German WWII tank however, the production company managed to borrow an M48A5 Patton tank from the Moroccan military and dress it up in Nazi livery. The main gun of this tank is a 105-mm M68. Needless to say, this is not historically accurate, as the M48 wasn't introduced until the 1950s.
Field gun
In the Italian encampment in the first episode, there is a field gun that appears to be somewhat based on a German 105-mm Howitzer.
Other
Archive footage
Archive footage of World War II at the beginning of the series shows various weapons.
Trivia
Painting of Jock Lewes with a Bren gun
Although Jock Lewes doesn't use a Bren gun in this series, a portrait of the real-life Lewes with a Bren gun was painted in 1940 by artist Rex Whistler (1905-1944).