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Concept
Lanchester submachine gun
Summary
The Lanchester is a submachine gun ("machine carbine") manufactured by the Sterling Armaments Company between 1941 and 1945. It is a copy of the German MP28/II and was manufactured in two versions, Mk.1 and Mk.1*; the latter was a simplified version of the original Mk.1, with no fire selector and simplified sights. It was primarily used by the Royal Navy during the Second World War, and to a lesser extent by the Royal Air Force Regiment (for airfield protection). It was given the general designation of Lanchester after George Lanchester, who was charged with producing the weapon at the Sterling Armaments Company.
Following the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940, the Royal Air Force decided it required a submachine gun for airfield defence. With no time available for the usual research and development of a new weapon, it was decided to create a direct copy of the German MP 28, based on two examples from Ethiopia. The British Admiralty decided to join with the RAF in adopting the new weapon, and played a key role in its design. Ultimately, it was within the Royal Navy that most of the Lanchesters that were produced went into service.
It was given the general designation of Lanchester after George Herbert Lanchester, who was charged with producing the weapon at the Sterling Armaments Company, the same company that later produced the Sterling submachine gun.
The Lanchester was envisioned as a weapon used for guarding prisoners and accompanying naval landing and assault parties. It was a very solid, well-made submachine gun of high-quality materials, in many ways the complete opposite of its direct contemporary, the Sten.
The Lanchester had a heavy wooden butt and stock, which was for simplicity copied from the British SMLE service rifle, a machined-steel action and breech block, a magazine housing made from solid brass (later steel) and a mounting on the muzzle for use of a long-bladed 1907 bayonet. The rifling differed from the German original in details to accommodate various lots of 9mm ammunition then being acquired for service use.
Official source
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