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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), the name is a hybrid of those of the two manufacturers, Brno and Enfield.
The Bren is a relatively slow-firing 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.
After Britain joined NATO in 1954, the Bren was modified to fire standardised 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition, with this variant becoming known as the L4.
The Bren had an incredibly long service life, with 7.62mm examples being used in combat by British forces in the Falklands War, and the Irish Reserve Defence Forces only phasing out the Bren for the FN MAG in 2006. It is still manufactured by Indian Ordnance Factories as the "Gun, Machine 7.62mm 1B."
Specifications
(In service 1938 - 2006, 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)
- Length: 42.9 in (109 cm) (Mk4)
- Barrel length: 25 in (63.5 cm)
- 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 has been used in the following films
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 | |
| 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 | |||
| Lakshya | Indian and Pakistani soldiers | Indian 1B version | 2004 | |
| LOC Kargil | Suniel Shetty | Sepoy Sanjay Kumar | Indian 1B version | 2003 |
| 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 | |
| An Ungentlemanly Act | British and Argentinian soldiers | L4A4 Bren | 1992 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 |
Videogames
| 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 | ||
| Ghost Recon: Wildlands | Veteran Bren | Bren Mk2, heavily customized, fitted with a wooden vertical grip | 2017 |
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