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:
A Walther P38 is seen with a German soldier in one scene. David Stirling (Connor Swindells) and his men also use them when posing as Nazi soldiers to infiltrate Benghazi.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingSoviet twin "Lewis Model 1924" on Tur-6 mounting on TB-1 bomber. "Model 1924" is a Soviet designation of infantry Lewis machine guns, converted for aircraft service.Error creating thumbnail: File missingDouble Lewis guns, as well as single Lewis guns, Browning M2 Aircraft, and a soldier with an SMLE(!)Error creating thumbnail: File missingDouble Lewis guns mounted to a Jeep that Stirling, Cooper, and Sadler are riding in.
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.
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.
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.
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).
