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Bren gun
The Bren Gun was the main light machine gun used by British Commonwealth forces throughout the Second World War. A derivative of the Czech ZB26 Machine Gun (much like the Japanese Type 97 light machine gun) designed by Václav Holek, the name is a hybrid of those of the two manufacturers, Brno and Enfield. During WW2, Brens were also manufactured by John Inglis and Company and Long Branch Arsenal in Canada, the Lithgow Small Arms Factory in Australia, and the Ishapore Rifle Factory in India.
The Bren is a relatively slow-firing gas-operated machine gun (480-540rpm depending on variant) with an overhead-loading magazine, ejecting spent casings downwards. This forces the weapon's sights to be offset to the left side. It was known throughout its service life for its reliability and accuracy; while some claim that the earlier versions were actually too accurate to the point it impacted their usefulness as suppression weapons, these claims are largely unfounded.
The Mk1 Bren is the first production version, with a dovetail mount for a scope that does not seem to have actually been issued, a rear grip and a folding buttstrap. Canadian-produced variants lacked the dovetail mount, grip and buttstrap and had a slightly different flash hider, and were known as Mk1 (M). In 1941 a simplified version, the Mk2, was produced, primarily by Inglis in Canada: this featured extensive changes to reduce the amount of milling required to produce each gun: they also featured some concessions to lightening including a distinctive hole drilled in the magazine release catch, had a simplified flip-up ladder-type rear sight with an adjustment knob at the top rather than the large adjustment drum of earlier models that controlled an aperture sight, a simplified carry handle, a fixed charging handle rather than the folding one of previous versions, lacked the Mk1's expensive stainless steel barrel, had a sheet metal buttplate instead of a buffer, and guns made in England deleted the ability to mount the Vickers K-style 100 round pan magazine, which had rarely been used anyway. The Mk3 and Mk4 were light variants for paratroop use developed in 1944, with a slightly shortened barrel and various parts milled down further than a standard Bren to reduce weight: Mk3 was the term for a Mk1 modified in this fashion, while the Mk4 was the same done to a Mk2. After Britain joined NATO in 1954, the Bren was modified to fire standardised 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition using inch-pattern FAL magazines, with this variant becoming known as the L4.
Captured Brens were pressed into use by Nazi Germany under the designation 7.7mm Leichtes MG 138(e).
A belt-fed Bren derivative, the Taden Gun, was produced in 1951 using the .280 British intermediate round, but was axed along with the Enfield EM-2 due to the standardisation of the 7.62x51mm NATO round.
The Bren had an incredibly long service life: while it was partially supplanted by the FN MAG in British use, 7.62mm examples continued to serve and were used in combat by British forces in the Falklands War: they continued to be used to train British cadets until the introduction of the L98A1 Cadet Rifle in 1987. The Irish Reserve Defence Forces did not fully phase out the Bren until 2006, and the Indian Army not until 2012. It is still manufactured by Indian Ordnance Factories as the "Gun, Machine 7.62mm 1B."
Specifications
(In service 1938 - 2012, still manufactured by third parties)
- Type: Light machine gun
- Caliber: .303 British, 8mm Mauser (China), 7.62x39mm (China) .30-06 (Italian police), 7.62x51mm NATO (L4 and later)
- Weight: 24.8 lbs (11.3 kg) loaded (Mk1 & Mk2), 21.5 lbs (9.8 kg) (Mk3 & Mk4)
- Length: 45.5 in (115.6 cm) (Mk1 & Mk2), 42.9 in (109 cm) (Mk3 & Mk4)
- Barrel length: 25 in (63.5 cm) (Mk1 & Mk2), 22.4 in (56.9 cm) (Mk3 & Mk4)
- Capacity: 30 round box (usually only loaded with 27-28 due to spring issues), 100-round pan (Mk1 only, rare), 20 / 30-round inch-pattern FN FAL magazine (L4)
- Fire Modes: Semi-Auto / Full-Auto
The Bren gun and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunkirk | British soldiers | Mk1 | 2017 | |
| The Siege of Jadotville | Irish soldiers | 2016 | ||
| Cockneys vs. Zombies | 2012 | |||
| The Flowers of War | Nationalist Chinese Soldiers | 7.92x57mm Mauser variant | 2011 | |
| Shaolin | Nicholas Tse | Cao Man | 7.92x57mm Mauser variant | 2011 |
| Shaolin | Cao Man's soldiers | 7.92x57mm Mauser variant | 2011 | |
| New Kids Turbo | Flip van der Kuil | Barry | 2010 | |
| John Rabe | Nationalist Chinese Soldiers | 7.92x57mm Mauser variant | 2009 | |
| Red and White (Merah Putih) | Dutch soldier | 2009 | ||
| Tobruk | 2008 | |||
| Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The | John Hannah | Jonathan | 2008 | |
| Frontier(s) | Samuel Le Bihan | Goetz | 2007 | |
| Black Book | 2006 | |||
| Kokoda (2006) | Christopher Baker | Blue | 2006 | |
| Kokoda (2006) | Travis McMahon | Darko | 2006 | |
| The Last Drop | Nick Moran | Pvt. Alan Ives | 2005 | |
| Lakshya | Indian and Pakistani soldiers | Indian 1B version | 2004 | |
| LOC Kargil | Sunil Shetty | Sepoy Sanjay Kumar | Indian 1B version | 2003 |
| Ajay Devgn | Lt. Maroj Kumar Pandey | |||
| Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels | Huggy Leaver | Paul | 1998 | |
| Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels | Suzy Ratner | Gloria | 1998 | |
| Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels | Ronnie Fox | Mickey | 1998 | |
| Seven Years in Tibet | British-Indian | Mk 1 | 1997 | |
| An Ungentlemanly Act | British and Argentinian soldiers | L4A4 Bren | 1992 | |
| Tumbledown | Scotish guard soldier | L4A4 | 1988 | |
| Empire of the Sun | Imperial Japanese soldiers | 1987 | ||
| Hell Raiders (1985) | Dutch Soldiers | 1985 | ||
| Death Raiders | 1984 | |||
| Les Morfalous | Jean-Paul Belmondo | Sergeant Pierre Augagneur | 1984 | |
| The Africain (L'Africain) | The poacher | L4 | 1983 | |
| Bukit Kepong | Bukit Kepong police officers | Mk I | 1982 | |
| Police Jungle Squad | ||||
| Communist terrorists | ||||
| The Wild Geese | Various mercenaries | 1978 | ||
| A Bridge Too Far | British soldiers | 1977 | ||
| Paper Tiger | British soldiers | 1975 | ||
| The Last Grenade | British soldier | On Jeep mounted | 1970 | |
| Too Late the Hero | Sean MacDuff | Private Rogers | 1970 | |
| The Last Escape | L4, visually modified as Degtyaryov DT; top mounted on a Soviet tank | 1970 | ||
| Kill Rommel! | Anton Diffring | Captain Richard Howell | 1969 | |
| Kill Rommel! | Carl Parker | Lieutenant George Morris | 1969 | |
| Kill Rommel! | Renato Romano | Sergeant Atwell | 1969 | |
| If... | Malcolm McDowell | Mick Travis | 1968 | |
| How I Won the War | Michael Crawford | Lt. Goodbody | 1967 | |
| How I Won the War | Lee Montague | Sgt. Transom | 1967 | |
| How I Won the War | Musketeers (British soldiers) | Mounted on Dodge M-37, Daimler Dingo, Ford F-60 | 1967 | |
| Cast a Giant Shadow | Stathis Giallelis | Ram Oren | 1966 | |
| Judith | Peter Finch | Aaron Stein | 1966 | |
| Judith | Shraga Friedman | Nathan | 1966 | |
| Judith | Haganah fighters | 1966 | ||
| So Darling So Deadly | Seen in Golden Dragon's lair | 1966 | ||
| Death is Nimble, Death is Quick | Joe Abey | Inspector Khamar | 1966 | |
| The Unvanquished (L'Insoumis) | French legionnaires and Algerian insurgents | 1964 | ||
| The Longest Day | Sean Connery | Private Flanagan | 1963 | |
| From Russia With Love | 1963 | |||
| Dr. No | Crab Key guard | 1962 | ||
| Escape from Zahrain | Police | 1962 | ||
| Konga | British soldier | 1961 | ||
| The Guns of Navarone | James Darren | Private Spiros Pappadimos | 1961 | |
| Gorgo | British troops | Mounted on Centurion tank | 1961 | |
| The Giant Behemoth | British soldiers | 1959 | ||
| Yesterday's Enemy | British soldiers | Mk 1 | 1959 | |
| Dunkirk | British soldiers | Mk 1 | 1958 | |
| The Young Lions | British soldiers | 1958 | ||
| Desert Rats, The | Australian commandos | 1953 | ||
| Paratrooper | British paratroopers | 1953 | ||
| Went the Day Well? | German Paratroopers | 1942 | ||
| Somewhere in France | 1942 |
Television
| Show Title / Episode | Actor | Character | Note | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Prisoner | Patrick McGoohan | No. 6 | 1968 | |
| Sahara (1995) | Alan David Lee | Bates | 1995 | |
| Foyle's War - Season 1 | British soldiers | "The White Feather" (S1E2) | 2002 | |
| Foyle's War - Season 2 | British soldiers | "Fifty Ships" (S2E1) | 2003 | |
| Atonement | British soldiers | Mk1 | 2007 | |
| Kokoda | Australian soldiers | 2010 | ||
| The Promise | British paratroopers | Mk1 | 2011 | |
| Parer's War | Australian Commandos | 2014 | ||
| Endeavour - Season 2 | A reenactor of British Army of WW2 | Mk.1; "Trove" (S02E01) | 2014 | |
| The Crown | British military | episode: "Misadventure" (S02E01) | 2017 | |
| Madiba | South African Police | 2017 | ||
| The Mandalorian | Gina Carano | Cara Dune | mocked up to resemble a blaster | 2019 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Modifications | Notes | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| World War II Online: Battleground Europe | Bren Mk2 | 2001 | |
| Battlefield: 1942 | Secret Weapons of WWII Expansion pack | 2002 | |
| Forgotten Hope | Man-portable, mounted in machine gun nests and bunkers and on the Universal Carrier and M3A1 Halftrack | 2003 | |
| Call of Duty | 2003 | ||
| Hidden & Dangerous 2 | 2003 | ||
| Call of Duty 2 | 2005 | ||
| Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 | With deployable bipod | Mounted on Bren Carrier | 2006 |
| Call of Duty 3 | 2006 | ||
| Clive Barker's Jericho | w/ bayonet | unusable | 2007 |
| The Royal Marines Commando | Bren Mk2 | 2008 | |
| Mare Nostrum | 2008 | ||
| Karma Online | 2011 | ||
| Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades | Bren Mk2 | 2016 | |
| Ghost Recon: Wildlands | Heavily customized, fitted with a wooden vertical grip | Bren Mk2 | 2017 |
| Call of Duty: WWII | Bren Mk1 (M) | 2017 | |
| Battlefield V | Bren Mk1 | 2018 |
Anime
| Film Title | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strike Witches | Perrine Clostermann | 2008-present | |
| Girl Und Panzer | Mounting on a APC | 2012 |
See Also
- Royal Small Arms Factory - A list of weapons produced by RSAF Enfield