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The Thomson submachine gun is a famous gun of a generation, and in the collecting world, the collection of instruction manuals about it is also very popular, just as this Swedish version of the manual is rare and expensive...
That year, instructors at the Swedish Infantry Combat School demonstrated the Thomson submachine gun
The Thomson submachine gun has become famous in history, and the classic story about it has been passed down for a long time, and gun collectors around the world have competed to collect the Thomson submachine gun, and many fanatical fans even own many versions of the submachine gun. Many collectors collect not only submachine guns, but also various attachments and paper materials about it.
Generally speaking, the Thomson submachine gun is divided into several periods according to the order in which they are manufactured: warner & swasey, colt, maguire, willis and numrich arms company, and auto-ordnance Corporation) period and the Kahr Arms period. Among them, the paper materials of the Colt company period are loved by collectors, of course, their prices are also very expensive.
Since Colt produced the Thomson submachine gun for twenty years, the paper materials attached to the gun are also very diverse. However, a complete sample of all paper material from this period is not available to date. Therefore, in the collecting world, once a new Colt period paper material is discovered, it will always cause a sensation. The Swedish version of the Thomson Submachine Gun Instruction Manual that will be introduced in this article is included in this list.
Automatic Arms Company 1940
Thomson Submachine Gun Manual in Swedish
The origin of this manual dates back to the early days of World War II. On January 25, 1940, the Royal Swedish Army signed an order for 500 M1928a1 Thomson submachine guns to the Automatic Arms Company (the automatic arms company founded by the American John Thomson in 1916 and did not have manufacturing equipment, and its business was mainly completed by cooperation with the Colt Company, that is, the Colt Company manufactured and the automatic arms company was responsible for sales), planning to equip the Swedish Volunteer Corps (sfk) for the Finnish battlefield against the Soviet army – a war known as the "Soviet-Finnish Winter War". The United States completed the order, but before the Swiss side could issue it, the war was over. However, the Royal Swedish Army received the weapons and renamed them the kul-sprutepistol m/40 (i.e. m/40 11.43mm submachine gun). These submachine guns were all manufactured by Colt and were the only Thomson submachine guns in Sweden.
It should be noted that the submachine guns ordered by Sweden were manufactured by Colt, but their sales were completed by the automatic arms company. This is why the manual presented in this article is considered to be a source of submachine guns produced by Colt, but refers to the automatic arms company.
For many years, most collectors simply knew that the Automatic Arms Company had published a Swedish version of the Thomson Submachine Gun Manual in 1940. However, these manuals are extremely rare and are hardly found in Sweden. It was only recently discovered in Sweden that a Swedish version of the Thomson Submachine Gun Manual, published by the Automatic Arms Company, contained the name of a former Swedish Army officer: Erik Ahlberg. According to Swedish military archives, Alberg was born on November 18, 1908, a bookseller who served in a reserve infantry regiment of the Swedish Army during World War II. In January 1956, Alberg was promoted to Captain Reserve Officer and transferred to the 17th Reserve Infantry Regiment of the Royal Swedish Southern Military District. Alberg recently passed away, and the family discovered the manual while sorting through his belongings.
On the cover of the Swedish edition of the Thomson Submachine Gun Handbook, published by the Automatic Arms Company in 1940, note the signature of "Erik Ahlberg" on it
The Swedish version of the Thomson Submachine Gun Manual, published in Swedish in 1940, consists of 21 pages, and the Swedish Chinese of the manual cover are translated as follows: upplaga 1940 (1940 edition), uppgifter (profile), om (about), thompson (Thomson), kulspruterpistol (submachine gun), modell 1928 (m1928), auto-ordnance corporation 270 broadway (270 Broadway).
It is worth mentioning that the words "Broadway 270" on the cover are the address of the branches of the Automatic Arms Company, and only a few manuals are marked with this address, and most of the company addresses given in the manuals are "Bridgeport, Connecticut". The Swedish version of the manual appears to have been produced in a hurry, and first of all, judging by the number of pages, it is clear that it is not a full translation of the 1940 English version of the manual. According to records, American cargo ships set sail on February 19, 1940, carrying 500 assembled submachine guns and accessories. If the manuals were shipped by ship, there would be only a little more than 20 days left for design, writing, revision, printing and delivery (order placed on January 25, 1940). Secondly, traces of the hasty production time of the manual can also be found on the cover. For example, in the swedish word "tryck i u.s.a. (printed in the United States)" in the lower right corner, the correct spelling should be "tryckt i u.s.a." Another example is that the Swedish version of the manual uses a structural diagram of the Thomson m1921a submachine gun (with a vertical front grip), rather than the m1928a1 ordered in Sweden; for example, the m1928 submachine gun given has a vertical front grip (the early Thomson submachine gun has a vertical front grip, which was later changed to a horizontal handguard), and the picture of the ammunition supply is 100 rounds drum, 50 round drum and 20 round magazine. In fact, most of these pictures are from the early manuals of the automatic arms company, and the 500 submachine guns ordered by Sweden are only equipped with 20 magazines and 50 drums, but not 100 drums. Moreover, Automatic Arms long ago discouraged the military from using a 100-round drum on the Thomson M1928A1 submachine gun.
Thomson M1928A1 submachine gun structure diagram on page 2 of the 1940 Swedish edition of the Manual of the Automatic Arms Company. It has a vertical front grip, from which it can be judged that the figure should actually be a structural drawing of the Thomson M1921 submachine gun
The illustration on page 10 of the 1940 Swedish edition of the Automatic Arms Company Manual lists the ammunition supplies used in the Thomson submachine gun, including: 50 drums, 100 drums, and 20 magazines. In fact, the submachine gun ordered by Sweden did not come with a 100-round drum
Written by swedes
Thomson Submachine Gun Manual
After receiving the Thomson submachine gun, the Royal Swedish Army soon organized its own people to write a Swedish version of this set of American-made weapons, which was published and distributed in 1941. According to the War Archives in Stockholm, Sweden, the manual is only 11 pages long, began printing on December 3, 1940, and was first printed in 2,000 copies, with only a handful surviving.
In this manual, the structure of the Thomson submachine gun is still based on the Thomson m1921 in the Swedish version of the Automatic Arms Company's 1940 manual, but the vertical front grip is changed to a horizontal handguard.
Structural drawing of the submachine gun in the Swedish Army's 1941 manual. It still follows the structural drawing of the Thomson m1921 submachine gun in the Swedish version of the Automatic Arms Company's 1940 manual, but the vertical front grip is modified to a horizontal handguard
In the process of collecting manuals for military weapons, it is often seen that the manuals have the user's name on them. The 11-page manual launched by the Swedish Army is no exception, with one such as one with the words "ljtn. thisell (Lieutenant Tysel)". According to archival records, Lieutenant Tissell was born on May 8, 1908, and served in the same reserve infantry regiment as Captain Alberg during World War II. Further investigation revealed that the two were not only of similar age, but had also been appointed as reserve lieutenant officers during World War II and were transferred to the 17th Reserve Infantry Regiment of the Royal Swedish Southern Military District on the same day (1 January 1956). As Sweden increased production of the domestic Sumi M37/39 9mm submachine gun during World War II, the 500 Thomson submachine guns (i.e. m/40 submachine guns) were no longer used in the Swedish regular army and were soon distributed to the reserve infantry regiments on the second line. This is why the Swedish version of the Thomson submachine gun manual is always found in the hands of people who have served in the reserve infantry regiment.
Manual of the M/40 submachine gun published by the Swedish Army in 1941. Notice that the cover has the signature of "ljtn.thisell" (Lieutenant Tysel).
Lieutenant Tysell also wrote on the cover of the manual: "g ller 1/3 1960", which means:"Valid until 1 March 1960". This sentence indicates that although the contents of the manual were published in 1941, they were valid until March 1, 1960. This sentence makes people wonder, is it true that the Swedish military intends to use the Thomson submachine gun until 1960? Or at least until 1960 in stock for emergencies? Of course, given the age, the answer to this question is unknown.
Swedish Handbook for Infantry Soldiers
The Swedish 1941 edition of the Handbook for Infantry Soldiers (Soldatinstruktion f r infanteriet) also contained instructions on the M/40 submachine gun. The content includes two images (quoted directly from the 11-page manual prepared in Sweden) and related instructions. The Handbook of Infantry Soldiers, published in 1941, consisted of three editions: the first, second and third editions. In 1943, a new edition of the Infantry Soldier's Manual was introduced.
Cover of the second edition of the Handbook of Infantry Soldiers, 1941
Cover of the 1942 edition (left) and the 1943 edition (right) Of the Infantry Soldier's Manual
In the 1941 and 1942/1943 Handbook of Infantry Soldiers, the introduction of the m/40 submachine gun was not exactly the same, and the difference was mainly in wording. As the annex to the m/40 submachine gun in the 1941 manual reads: "The appendages are: spare parts box and spare parts, harness, belt with pockets that hold the spare parts box, 4 magazines and 1 drum. In the 1942 manual, the same content was stated: "The appendages are: boxes and spare parts for spare parts, m/40 submachine gun carrier straps, belts containing 20-round magazines and 50-round magazine bags, 4 20-round magazines and 1 50-round drum." "The two-year manual, though different, is not very different in nature — but for collectors, they want to collect all the editions.
The last Manual for Infantry Soldiers was published in 1944. The manual mentions the M/40 as one of the three submachine guns installed by the Swedish Army, while stating that it is "not described in detail here". The manual also gives this description of other weapons purchased by the Swedish army in small quantities during World War II.
(This article was published in the second half of the 8th issue of "Light Weapons" in 2011, and the public account article has been deleted and revised)
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