Just an FYI I'm using the term ANZAC ambiguously to refer to any joint Aussie Kiwi forces. This is generally okay but ANZAC does more specifically refer to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
Almost a great biscuit. 200 gm/1.5cups/300 mls flour 400 gm/3 cups/600 mls wholemeal flour 40 gm/5 tbls sugar 20 gm/3 tbls milk powder 1.5 gm/good pinch salt 220 mls water Or 1 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted 1 cup Rolled Oats 1/2 cup caster sugar 3/4 cup Coconut 150g unsalted butter, chopped 2 tbsp golden syrup or treacle 1 1/2 tbsp water 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate Soda. Bake @ 170 dreg C Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Should give you something between hard tack and a sweet biscuit. Something they came up with on the beaches of Turkey. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
The ANZAC corp only existed twice. On Gallipoli during the First World War and in Greece and Crete during the Second World War. There was no ANZAC Corp in the pacific because the kiwis were still in the Middle East and Italy at the time the 6th and 7th divisions were in New Guinea with the 9th division who followed after the battle of el elamein. As an Australian it irritates me when the two countries are just lumped in together instead of giving each country the individual respect it deserves.
The Owen Gun, an All Australian Gun. Shame it's not well known because of the Thompson and Sten. The Owen deserves more love. And this is coming from an American.
Contrary to popular belief, the magazine on the Owen gun isn't actually on the top, it's just the normal view from an Australian perspective that makes it look that way.
I am an Australian and my Surname is Owen. Evelyn Owen the designer or the Owen Submachine gun was a distant relative of mine. Distant cousin of my Grandfather and Great Uncle. My Grandfather, his brother and all the cousins all fought in some capacity in WW2, funnily enough my Great Uncle used this very gun while fighting in the Solomon Islands and Bougainville, although he told me when I was a small child that he picked it up off a dead fella that didn't need it. He originally had a Lee-Enfield 303. He said the gun was perfect, never jammed on him. And went into great detail of the damage it did to Japanese soldiers......
Just a pity the guy playing Kiwi FO Morrie Stanley was cast in the role and not a character actor. The guy didn’t have any resemblance in his mannerisms to the later interviews of Stanley.
@@michaelversace456 My mom's side. Her Grandfather was shot through the side defending New Guinea from the Japanese which means he could have used this gun and just might be the reason I was named Owen. Not likely but possible
I think this would only be interesting to Indonesians but Owen appears in a lot of 70s and 80s war film about Indonesian National Revolution. Usually it was carried by senior officer such as then Lt. Colonel Suharto (future President of Indonesia) in the movie Serangan Fajar (Attack at Dawn) about General Attack of 1 March at Yogyakarta, which is then a occupied capital of Indonesian Republic. I remember it was in several movie such as Janur Kuning (set in the same backdrop as Serangan Fajar), Kereta Api Terakhir (fictional story based on how Indonesians try to bring all the locomotive to new capital of Yogyakarta) and Pasukan Berani Mati (Suicide Troops, another fictional story on group of rebels commit suicide mission on Dutch territory). The usage of Owen is based on real life that this gun is so desirable that usually officer welds it. Shame that many old Indonesian war movie didn't have an official release since VCD era in 2000s, while story and effect might not be the best, but it's unique and I think you can tell a lot of story from it.
There is a 1940's movie of the Owen SMG compared to the Sten, the Tomphson and German Machine Pistol being tested under sand storm, dropped into mud pool etc. The Owen was the ONLY SMG that kept firing - ALL others jammed immediatly...
Another great video Johnny, thanks for the shout-out for "Danger Close" too. The reliability factor in close jungle fighting can't be underestimated I think. The "Digger's Darling" was the right weapon in the right place at the right time for sure.
my husband owns one from his time in South Africa when he showed me i thought it was Rhodesian because of its paint job Green and yellow. My husband calls it “his treasure” it nearly matches his FAL he inherited from his uncle who fought in the Rhodesian bush war.
The Owen gun is like the ak-47 both a very reliable event in tough weather conditions as a Australian, it’s very cool the see some love for an Aussie gun
Hey man thanks for the Australian shout out I'm Australian so it's good to get the spotlight on us for once as we supported the Brits and Americans alot during both world wars but we often just get lumped in with the Brits as part of the empire which noticeably Canada doesn't despite being the same as us.
Canadians mostly ignored by poms like australia and just about every other empire troops, we were all English as far as they were concerned in the press, make the poms feel good, england alone against the Bosch according to English history mate🤔and them alone😢😅
My grandfather swore by it. Claimed it was the most indestructible gun of the war. The most reliable automatic gun in the New Guinea campain. Thats saying something.
If I had to pick one 9mm submachinegun from WW2 to use in combat this would be it. Reliable, has select fire, comes with a foregrip, easy to disassemble and clean, easy to reload, and a comfortable stock 👍
I demonstrated competency on the Owens SMG and it was in my humble opinion a much better SMG than the F1 that replaced it. To this day I cannot understand why the Australian army replaced a reliable easy to operate weapon with something that performed no where near as well.
About 10 years ago an old guy walked into the local police station (UK) with one of these and handed it in to my dad at the front desk. Said he was searching through his attic and found it! Unfortunately it ended up being destroyed. My old man took a picture with it and as I recall it still had some of the yellow/green cam paint on it.
iirc Owen was only 23 y.o. when he finished designing his gun the gun was already rejected by the australian army before Owen's neighbor, a factory manager, found the prototype Owen gun that he'd left by the side of his house one day randomly fortunately, his neighbor was able to arrange a proper demonstration and the rest is in the video
marcusher, some organised crime gangs were found to be attempting to mass produce the owens about 20 years ago so the government went around removing info on it to try stop people reproducing it.
I worked with a guy who was an extra in Danger Close (Bravo Company Radio Man), he got a full few seconds of screen time to himself too, but he had an SLR not the Owens. According to him, they all wanted an Owens gun rather than the SLRs but there weren't enough to go around.
Was a great surprise to see you making a video about Australia, friendly reminder that Anzac is Australia and New Zealand (Australian New Zealand army corpj
When I first saw the Owen submachinegun I thought it was just a variation of the Sten. But the more I read about it the more I realised how much better it was. For one thing come the 1960s the Sten had been replaced by the Sterling SMG, a very much better version. Whereas the Aussies still had the Owen. They also came up with a fighter during WW2 which would have given the Spitfire, P-51, FW-190 and a number of tohers a run for their money if it had gotten into production. They even built a tank. No not the Bob Semple tank. The other one. The AC1 Sentinel, of which there was three versions. And its successor the AC3 Thunderbolt
The plane you mention is the CA-15 Kangaroo and used a Rolls Royce griffon engine. By the time it was developed jet fighters had taken over. What is even more amazing is that until 1936, Australia had no aircraft industry to speak of. War brought on the creation of the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation. They also licence built F-86 Sabres with 50% more thrust. That factory in Melbourne still exists and is now owned by Boeing, one of those products being the flaps and ailerons for all 787 aircraft made using an Australian patented technique for making carbon fibre parts more cheaply and efficiently. Basically using raw carbon fibre rather than expensive pre-preg carbon, no autoclave required. Hope you don't mind the rantings of a proud Aussie. Cheers mate!
@@bradster1708 From what i have read it was an amazing fighter. Like you said the jet era had arrived and Australia had to make a choice of either adopting the new jet technology or sticking with the prop plane. They couldn't really afford to do both. They wisely choose the Jet. The funny thing was. During the Korean war Australia was building (under license) it own P-51's. They also developed it's own bomber/torpedo bomber. Along the lines of the British beaufort bomber. Only it was faster. had twice the range and was capable of dive bombing. It was passing its test but suffered a serious crash during landing causing the whole project to be scraped. Upon investigation the cause of t he failure was due to sabotage. I wish i could remember the name of the plane.
The Sentinel was an amazing tank for a country that had never developed a tank before. Yeah it had its faults but still... Like when the thetankchieftian ( I think that his yt channel) said to lindybeige. When lindybiege said it was not a very good tank. the Chieftain replied. No. But it was a lot better than a lot of other countries first attempt at building a tank. Two things about the Sentinel. It was the first tank to have it's hull made up of one single cast. (Something which is standard practice now) And Australia due to a lack of zinc had to develop a new armoured alloy. So not bad for a small countries first attempt at building a tank. Especially when it was fighting a powerful enemy on its door step
@@wufongtanwufong5579 you have some good knowledge there, kudos. Look up the CAC Boomerang, an emergency fighter that went from concept to fly aircraft in less than 2 months (from memory). Scored no combat victories but established itself as an excellent close support aircraft. Also look up Boeing Loyal Wingman, an Aussie developed drone designed to operate in conjunction with modern fighter aircraft. Thanks for your input, good useful stuff and I am also a fan of Lindy Beige and The Chieftan.
@@wufongtanwufong5579 The Australian Sentinel Tank was actually the Inspiration for up gunning the Sherman tanks with the 17 Pounder by the British that in turn led to the development of the late war Sherman Easy Eight model, The sentinel was the first Tank that was upgraded to a higher velocity Gun anywhere in the Allied World. Of course the Germans beat all to it when they decided an 88mm Flak Gun could be useful in a tank and so right they were as many Russians found out to their demise at the shell of one a good 500 metres before they could even remotely return fire and still not effectively for another 250 metres.
Numbers were supplied to US forces in the SWPA. Interestingly, the design allows a calibre change simply by changing the front barrel assembly. Further, later models had a bayonet fitting added, which was continued in the design of the Owen's successor, the F1. Finally, the Owen (and F1) are technically 'machine carbines', according to the design nomenclature originally produced. Last point, but not specifically about the weapon, but relevant...the australian 9mm parabellum round used by the Owen and the F1 were both supercharged (I can't comment on the WW2 loading though, just Vietnam era onwards), giving the projectile a muzzle velocity slightly over 1400 fps, which was well above velocities for other handgun and SMG rounds at the time. The F1 combined a lot of feedback and features derived from australian tactical doctrine and experience...it was intended to be able to shoot someone, stab them or beat them to death, a truly fine close quarters all-rounder.
the f1 used the pistol grip/trigger mechanism from the FN SLR as well i think. when i was a kid in western aus i handled an F1 at an army display, the soldier asked me if i was going to join the army after school. i said nah im joining the RAAF, he snatched his gun back an told me to fuck off.
Also saw this gun in the Australian family soap that was timed during WW2 (The Sullivans) when I was a kid in the early 80s. I remember in the few/random scenes of the actual war some guys were using these and I honestly thought was a cheap/badly made prop from the likes of Dr Who from the 70s....little did I know then about this weapon.
@@snakeplissken2148 owes dont jam.full stop. johnny used a small part of official army footage where they didnt just lightly drizzle sand over the gun. they dunked it in mud. they did it to the sten and tommy too. they jammed, of course. the owen didnt. go looking for the footage. its on youtube. then get back to me and i'll accept your apology for not fully understanding the importance of this gun in beating the japs back from australia's borders.
Johnny, By the time I was in, the Owen was out, but we had it's successor the F1 and it was hands down my favourite small arms. I loved every shoot I ever had with the F1, and if I do say so myself I was a pretty good shot with it. Though the 9 mm was a bit underpowered. You should absolutely do a vid on the F1. Also, you can absolutely use ANZAC in that way.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq I would be very suprised if you could find any F1 movie footage. Possibly "The Odd Angry Shot" or the "Vietnam" mini series but I'm not even sure about that. I used the F1 by the way and unlike Graham W Kidd I thought is was a dog. Hard to hit anything with and used to run up and right when you fired it.
@@martinreinhold6589 I've seen the F1 used in the miniseries Blue Murder, though not fired. It was used in a payroll robbery. It also featured in a single episode of Sea Patrol, inexplicably being held like a pistol. You won't see it in the Odd Angry Shot. I haven't seen Vietnam, but I will say that the F1 wasn't popular with infantry units. In the infantry, the preferred replacement for the Owen was the M16. F1s tended to be relegated to non-infantry units. It got tossed into the video game Rising Storm 2: Vietnam for Australian Scouts, Commanders, and Combat Engineers. Only the latter would be accurate. The remainder most likely get it for balance purposes. Giving them M16s would be factually accurate, but would also make them much more powerful. Parenthetically, the Australian Machine Gunner is given an L2A1 Automatic Rifle, another non-infantry weapon, rather than the M60.
The Owen was suited for jungle warefare where vision was restricted to 3 yards to 15 yards (whoops - 3 metres to 12 metres). Beyond 30 metres you needed the men with rifles or the Bren man..
My grandfather was an Australian militia member in WW2 and after he joined, before being shipped to New Guinea he had to help with cleaning up Japanese suicides after the Cowra breakout which included them throwing themselves under trains and cutting their throats with barbed wire
Pretty much everyone loved the Owen except for the Australian Brass that absolutely did not want it. They tried to keep it out of the military but we're forced to give it a fair chance and ever since tried to get rid of it. They were willing to force worse submachine guns onto their soldiers out of spite.
The spent cartridges ejecting through the bottom of the gun, gives two other distinct advantages: 1. Less interruption to sighting and 2. Less interference to the soldier alongside. (Btw, the Thompson was an unreliable nightmare of a weapon).
Apparently Americans in Vietnam liked to get their hands on an Owen If they could because they regarded it as a quality weapon. When I was a cadet we had the Stirling from memory, which looked very much like the Sten but was much higher quality. With a magazine at the side or on the top you can get down a lot lower. :) There was a similar POW incident in NZ, but no one escaped although some were shot. It was covered up at the time.
But, it would probably have been extremely difficult to get sufficient 9mm ammunition from American logistics for an ordinary "grunt" (infantryman) to serve in the field. Nevertheless, the vid describes a caliber change is possible with a barrel change but doesn't specify if .45ACP barrels would have been made available for the Americans, although that ammunition would have been readily available. The only 9mm SMG used by Americans in Vietnam that I can easily think of, but in small numbers by MACV/SOG & Navy SEALs, was the Swedish K. There may be another I'm missing & can't remember but maybe someone else knows.
I was actually first introduced to the Owen by a fiction book of all things. The books name is Monter Hunter International, by Larry Correa. In the book, the main character comes to find out that monsters are real, and world governments are aware of this fact, but keep it a secret, and most governments, including the US, on top of their government run teams, have secret bounties on monsters that mercenary companies get for killing monsters. The main character, Owen Zastava Pitt, according to the book, his father was a green beret in Vietnam and named him after the Owen submachine gun, that saved his life in the jungles of Vietnam. Real interesting series of books. The author is a gun enthusiast and actually used to own his own gun store, so you don't get the common errors that other authors make
Many years after the 2nd World War they where building a swimming pool at Canungra jungle training camp and dog up all these Owen sub machine guns that had been buried after the War,the the sub machine guns where stipped down and cleaned reassembled and they still worked as good as the day they were buried
I love the Owen gun. People give it shit for looking the way it did, but in the end it was exactly what Australia needed. It was a simple, reliable, cost-effective weapon that was well-suited for the task, and it was well-liked by the soldiers who had to drag them through the jungles of Papua New Guinea. I personally like the Owen because it's an ingenious weapon of war that didn't need to look good to perform.
It's interesting to note its involvement in the vietnam war, its like bringing an old character of a series back after a long absence. Although at that time it was in the process of being replaced by the F1 SMG but it was still used quite a bit like the grease gun for the Americans and ARVN
The Owen was a great gun, it was a shame that the creator got so little money for it, he did it as a passion project ( Owen was a private on the army)and the government wasn't going to argue, the top fed mag also helped with reliability as any dirt in the mag would fall out when taken from the webbing, and anything that remained would fall straight out the ejection port.I would also recommend Danger close the battle of long tan as a great movie.
I never got to play with an Owen. I did get to use its successor the F1 for a short while just before the F88 (Steyr AUG) came in. The top mounted mag is no problem at all. If you're in a hole it doesn't get in the way like an underslung one. It's also more convenient when it comes to slipping the thing around corners, tree trunks & the like.
A couple of fun facts about the owen - the top magazine was also helpful in preventing snagging in the jungle undergrowth (a disadvantage of the sten & sterling). You'll also notice that there is a lot of rounded edges...this was done to prevent nicks and cuts that were frequent with the Thompson. Important given how quickly a minor wound would become seriously infected & difficult to heal when your diet was poor (tin beef & biscuits don't make for the healthiest of long term diets) & exposed to the jungle for a long time.
The Third Submachine Gun on my Favorite Submachine Gun list, with the Top going to the Thompson and, 2nd going to both the PPSH and PPS. Thank you for Tackling this Well Liked and Well Loved, but completely overshadowed and mostly left out piece of Australian Weapons Engineering Johnny! And Yes I have to Agree that the Battle of Long Tan Movie was some Good Shit to watch... Now time to watch the Cowra Breakout always wondered if there was a Movie on one of the Bloodiest Prisoner Escapes of WW2. Again, thank you for the Knowledgeable and Fun Content as always, as well as for your hard work! Keep up the Damn Fine, and Amazing Work Johnny!
As an Aussie gun owner- i got to fire one of these, running a few magazines through it. Much like the Steyr i used in the Army, the Owen really does not suit me & my Ape like arms; the M4 style rifles far better suit me. At the time, i guess it was a great gun that suited the needs required, and it was fun to shoot something that was older than my Father
The Owen gun even gives the expensive SMGs like the Suomi KP31, Beretta 38, and MP-34 a run for their money. It was pretty cheap and simple, very reliable, and doesn't sacrifice any controllability.
The Owen gun was very much like the Aussie diggers who carried and used it - it was loud, crude, rough, and a long way from elegant to look at. But it was also rugged, reliable, efficient, and when the chips were down and the lead was flying, nothing else got the job done better!
As an Aussie who loves the Owen gun, this is the best submachine gun we ever had during the Second Great War. I used it in Day of Infamy D-Day Roblox game to massacre an entire German marauding platoon to the point of being called a hacker in the game.
This is the one subgun, well also an MP5, I’d like to own. Can see them in the Australian film Danger Close which I think is a excellent Vietnam War flick. (Yes I commented before watching the entire video.)
It's also featured in "Mr Inbetween." It's given to someone as a gift, and when the recipient says: A Sterling, the giver says: No, it's an Owen. It's better."
That’s an Australian this is my favorite gun along with the AK-47 and I’ve been to a gun museum in Queensland which has this gun I wasn’t allowed to shoot it but I was allowed to see it and many other historical firearms
Shop keep: you going to purchase this fine fantastic firearm with the magazine sticking up? Myself: thinking about it. I dont Owen one just yet. 😅😅😅 Strong work as always brother man. 🔥🔥💪💪👍👍
When Australia entered the war they already had three submachine guns. Not 3 styles, but 3 actual weapons. An MP38, an MP28 (I think) & one other, all confiscated off ships that docked in Australian towns or cities. Thanks to Mr Owen & Lysaght for building such an effective weapon.
Australia: makes the best smg of ww2, makes the best tank design of ww2 (AC IV Sentinal), gave the Japanese their first land defeat, gave the Italians their first land defeat, gave the germans their first land defeat, takes no credit for any of these. United States: joined the war late, takes credit for everything mentioned above
Well, good thing the Australians have you to cry for them in the UA-cam comment section. Australia should be thankful, if it wasn't for the United States all those descendants of inbred criminals would be speaking Japanese today 🤣
A SMG with a bottom- mounted magazine is great for urban combat, but it is pretty nigh impossible to use from the prone position. The Sten and similar weapons were great for firing from ditches, etc and made a great ambush weapon for resistance fighters. The side-mounted magazine restricted movement in forest, or moving building to building. The top-mounted magazine on the Owen eliminated both of these problems. While it did require offset sights, that was a minor disadvantage. I think that it is the best SMG design for jungle fighting.
If you are thinking of the most underrated of the gun,then I think nothing will fit it perfectly more than the Type 100 SMG. Coz even though Owen SMG served in millions with commonwealth and allied forces during and post WW2, Only 8,000+ of the Type 100 were built. And even then , the type 1 and type 2 paratrooper Arisakas were more preferred over The type 1000
Also used by Royal Dutch East Army and subsequently after various captures, the Indonesian Army, alongside Stens, Thompsons, Austens, M3s, and even MP40s. Now that's a list 😅
I was honestly surprised to see the Australians and New Zealanders still using this gun in some instances during the Vietnam War movie 'Danger Close: Battle of Long Tan' as I assumed the gun had been retired from service immediately after the end of World War II
Just an FYI I'm using the term ANZAC ambiguously to refer to any joint Aussie Kiwi forces. This is generally okay but ANZAC does more specifically refer to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
This is how you should use ANZAC :) Thanks for another great video I have a couple new films to watch :)
At least you don't use ANZAC to just mean Australia, as many do.
Almost a great biscuit.
200 gm/1.5cups/300 mls flour
400 gm/3 cups/600 mls wholemeal flour
40 gm/5 tbls sugar
20 gm/3 tbls milk powder
1.5 gm/good pinch salt
220 mls water
Or
1 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted
1 cup Rolled Oats
1/2 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup Coconut
150g unsalted butter, chopped
2 tbsp golden syrup or treacle
1 1/2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate Soda.
Bake @ 170 dreg C Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Should give you something between hard tack and a sweet biscuit.
Something they came up with on the beaches of Turkey.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
The ANZAC corp only existed twice. On Gallipoli during the First World War and in Greece and Crete during the Second World War. There was no ANZAC Corp in the pacific because the kiwis were still in the Middle East and Italy at the time the 6th and 7th divisions were in New Guinea with the 9th division who followed after the battle of el elamein. As an Australian it irritates me when the two countries are just lumped in together instead of giving each country the individual respect it deserves.
@@Skipper.17 we found the John Curtin supporter in the comments.
I mean it's only Singapore the 8th division wasn't that important was it
The Owen Gun, an All Australian Gun. Shame it's not well known because of the Thompson and Sten. The Owen deserves more love. And this is coming from an American.
Gets my vote...must look up all my long lost relatives who were deported there from Ireland in the penal days...
Actually I have long known and admired the Owen.
@@bigblue6917 Actually nobody cares.
@@dudedog884 Actually I do care, and so does @Big Blue.
The Owen gun was admired and appreciated by those who counted, the men who used them.
Contrary to popular belief, the magazine on the Owen gun isn't actually on the top, it's just the normal view from an Australian perspective that makes it look that way.
As someone once said about the pineapple upside down cake. In Australia it was just called the pineapple cake.
Australians call the rest of the world "The Lands Up Over".
Well in that case it should be invisible because Australia doesn’t exist.
Are you joking it is on top, it is the Sten gun with the side magazine and the Owen is not a Sten held sideways.
@@gooraway1 it’s a joke about how Australia is upside down because they’re on the “bottom” of the Earth.
I am an Australian and my Surname is Owen. Evelyn Owen the designer or the Owen Submachine gun was a distant relative of mine. Distant cousin of my Grandfather and Great Uncle. My Grandfather, his brother and all the cousins all fought in some capacity in WW2, funnily enough my Great Uncle used this very gun while fighting in the Solomon Islands and Bougainville, although he told me when I was a small child that he picked it up off a dead fella that didn't need it. He originally had a Lee-Enfield 303.
He said the gun was perfect, never jammed on him. And went into great detail of the damage it did to Japanese soldiers......
Danger Close is such an amazing movie. Fantastic record of Australian IMT (Infantry Minor Tactics), and Arty FO'ing.
Just a pity the guy playing Kiwi FO Morrie Stanley was cast in the role and not a character actor. The guy didn’t have any resemblance in his mannerisms to the later interviews of Stanley.
I like the Owen. It’s as simple a design as you can make and have it still work. It’s as close to soldier proof as any gun I’ve seen.
As a half Australian and personally being named Owen, I have to say that this gun is the best sub-machinegun out there.
Which half?
@@michaelversace456 My mom's side. Her Grandfather was shot through the side defending New Guinea from the Japanese which means he could have used this gun and just might be the reason I was named Owen. Not likely but possible
@@bagelsforbreakfast4014 You do realise that being American, Australian, Kiwi, Canadian are nationalities not ethnicities right?
@@michaelversace456
Where did he say that?
You are either Australian or your not. No such thing as a half Australian.
I think this would only be interesting to Indonesians but Owen appears in a lot of 70s and 80s war film about Indonesian National Revolution. Usually it was carried by senior officer such as then Lt. Colonel Suharto (future President of Indonesia) in the movie Serangan Fajar (Attack at Dawn) about General Attack of 1 March at Yogyakarta, which is then a occupied capital of Indonesian Republic. I remember it was in several movie such as Janur Kuning (set in the same backdrop as Serangan Fajar), Kereta Api Terakhir (fictional story based on how Indonesians try to bring all the locomotive to new capital of Yogyakarta) and Pasukan Berani Mati (Suicide Troops, another fictional story on group of rebels commit suicide mission on Dutch territory). The usage of Owen is based on real life that this gun is so desirable that usually officer welds it. Shame that many old Indonesian war movie didn't have an official release since VCD era in 2000s, while story and effect might not be the best, but it's unique and I think you can tell a lot of story from it.
Janur Kuning is better in terms of filmography, political aspects aside
There is a 1940's movie of the Owen SMG compared to the Sten, the Tomphson and German Machine Pistol being tested under sand storm, dropped into mud pool etc. The Owen was the ONLY SMG that kept firing - ALL others jammed immediatly...
Another great video Johnny, thanks for the shout-out for "Danger Close" too. The reliability factor in close jungle fighting can't be underestimated I think. The "Digger's Darling" was the right weapon in the right place at the right time for sure.
British: “why is the Sten so bad? How do we fix this?”
Australians: “lol this right side up magazine is great”
Strewth....the strewth hurts....
In down under, everything is upside down :P
@@GameFuMaster Especially after some yummy Aussie beer. 😅
@@User_Un_Friendly the tinies are in the fridge...
@@eamonnclabby7067 Actually, I’m drinking some ginger beer right now. I’m having my real beer later. 🙂
such an underrated gun. Some of the camp patterns they came up with were damn cool too!
The most gloriously simple, inelegant and reliable bit of metal piping to exist in the Australian armoury :)
A triumph of function over form
Sten "who are you?"
Owen "I'm you but better"
But not British
my husband owns one from his time in South Africa when he showed me i thought it was Rhodesian because of its paint job Green and yellow. My husband calls it “his treasure” it nearly matches his FAL he inherited from his uncle who fought in the Rhodesian bush war.
FINALLY, some well deserved recognition of this unique firearm! And the film Danger Close is an excellent film!
Went to the Australian War Museum in Canberra. Wonderful museum. Great exhibits. Tons of amazing artifacts including some Owens. Top notch.
The Owen gun is like the ak-47 both a very reliable event in tough weather conditions as a Australian, it’s very cool the see some love for an Aussie gun
Hey man thanks for the Australian shout out I'm Australian so it's good to get the spotlight on us for once as we supported the Brits and Americans alot during both world wars but we often just get lumped in with the Brits as part of the empire which noticeably Canada doesn't despite being the same as us.
Salty little Australian desperate for attention, quiet down and go back to your hole 🤣🤏
Canadians mostly ignored by poms like australia and just about every other empire troops, we were all English as far as they were concerned in the press, make the poms feel good, england alone against the Bosch according to English history mate🤔and them alone😢😅
The Aussies were the first ones to stop the Japanese, at Milne Bay and the Kokoda track. I'm a Yank, but I appreciate what Australia did in WWII.
My grandfather swore by it. Claimed it was the most indestructible gun of the war. The most reliable automatic gun in the New Guinea campain. Thats saying something.
The Owen gun was so well loved by Australian soldiers, it was nick named 'Digger's Darling'. Digger is the term for an Australian infantryman.
If I had to pick one 9mm submachinegun from WW2 to use in combat this would be it. Reliable, has select fire, comes with a foregrip, easy to disassemble and clean, easy to reload, and a comfortable stock 👍
Yeah, Johnny. Another good one dude. Keep it up.
You’re an absolute legend for talking about this weapon Aussie approved👍🏻🇦🇺
This was probably the BEST smg of the war
One of for sure the Soviets had a few exceptionally good ones as well
Thank you for including Danger Close, such a good action film and one of the first times I saw the Owen Gun.
I demonstrated competency on the Owens SMG and it was in my humble opinion a much better SMG than the F1 that replaced it. To this day I cannot understand why the Australian army replaced a reliable easy to operate weapon with something that performed no where near as well.
They had to justify their existance!
About 10 years ago an old guy walked into the local police station (UK) with one of these and handed it in to my dad at the front desk. Said he was searching through his attic and found it! Unfortunately it ended up being destroyed. My old man took a picture with it and as I recall it still had some of the yellow/green cam paint on it.
I know the law is the law but it hurt to read that it was destroyed, especially since it still had the camo on it.
Didn't even commit it to a museum, heartbreaking
The classic rule of -I found a machine gun- what?
The Brits are such good sheep.They do what they're told.Been sheared all the way to the skin.
@@trolllife1431I’m British and I agree with that lmao
iirc Owen was only 23 y.o. when he finished designing his gun
the gun was already rejected by the australian army before Owen's neighbor, a factory manager, found the prototype Owen gun that he'd left by the side of his house one day randomly
fortunately, his neighbor was able to arrange a proper demonstration and the rest is in the video
Ian from forgotten weapons tells the story well
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq where do you think i heard it from?
In Australia they still show up as modern ‘homemade’ copies often without the wooden stock being used. 🇦🇺
marcusher, some organised crime gangs were found to be attempting to mass produce the owens about 20 years ago so the government went around removing info on it to try stop people reproducing it.
I worked with a guy who was an extra in Danger Close (Bravo Company Radio Man), he got a full few seconds of screen time to himself too, but he had an SLR not the Owens. According to him, they all wanted an Owens gun rather than the SLRs but there weren't enough to go around.
Was a great surprise to see you making a video about Australia, friendly reminder that Anzac is Australia and New Zealand (Australian New Zealand army corpj
Thanks man! 🙏
When I first saw the Owen submachinegun I thought it was just a variation of the Sten. But the more I read about it the more I realised how much better it was. For one thing come the 1960s the Sten had been replaced by the Sterling SMG, a very much better version. Whereas the Aussies still had the Owen.
They also came up with a fighter during WW2 which would have given the Spitfire, P-51, FW-190 and a number of tohers a run for their money if it had gotten into production. They even built a tank. No not the Bob Semple tank. The other one. The AC1 Sentinel, of which there was three versions. And its successor the AC3 Thunderbolt
The plane you mention is the CA-15 Kangaroo and used a Rolls Royce griffon engine. By the time it was developed jet fighters had taken over. What is even more amazing is that until 1936, Australia had no aircraft industry to speak of. War brought on the creation of the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation. They also licence built F-86 Sabres with 50% more thrust. That factory in Melbourne still exists and is now owned by Boeing, one of those products being the flaps and ailerons for all 787 aircraft made using an Australian patented technique for making carbon fibre parts more cheaply and efficiently. Basically using raw carbon fibre rather than expensive pre-preg carbon, no autoclave required.
Hope you don't mind the rantings of a proud Aussie. Cheers mate!
@@bradster1708 From what i have read it was an amazing fighter. Like you said the jet era had arrived and Australia had to make a choice of either adopting the new jet technology or sticking with the prop plane. They couldn't really afford to do both. They wisely choose the Jet. The funny thing was. During the Korean war Australia was building (under license) it own P-51's. They also developed it's own bomber/torpedo bomber. Along the lines of the British beaufort bomber. Only it was faster. had twice the range and was capable of dive bombing. It was passing its test but suffered a serious crash during landing causing the whole project to be scraped. Upon investigation the cause of t he failure was due to sabotage. I wish i could remember the name of the plane.
The Sentinel was an amazing tank for a country that had never developed a tank before. Yeah it had its faults but still... Like when the thetankchieftian ( I think that his yt channel) said to lindybeige. When lindybiege said it was not a very good tank. the Chieftain replied. No. But it was a lot better than a lot of other countries first attempt at building a tank.
Two things about the Sentinel. It was the first tank to have it's hull made up of one single cast. (Something which is standard practice now) And Australia due to a lack of zinc had to develop a new armoured alloy. So not bad for a small countries first attempt at building a tank. Especially when it was fighting a powerful enemy on its door step
@@wufongtanwufong5579 you have some good knowledge there, kudos. Look up the CAC Boomerang, an emergency fighter that went from concept to fly aircraft in less than 2 months (from memory). Scored no combat victories but established itself as an excellent close support aircraft. Also look up Boeing Loyal Wingman, an Aussie developed drone designed to operate in conjunction with modern fighter aircraft. Thanks for your input, good useful stuff and I am also a fan of Lindy Beige and The Chieftan.
@@wufongtanwufong5579 The Australian Sentinel Tank was actually the Inspiration for up gunning the Sherman tanks with the 17 Pounder by the British that in turn led to the development of the late war Sherman Easy Eight model, The sentinel was the first Tank that was upgraded to a higher velocity Gun anywhere in the Allied World.
Of course the Germans beat all to it when they decided an 88mm Flak Gun could be useful in a tank and so right they were as many Russians found out to their demise at the shell of one a good 500 metres before they could even remotely return fire and still not effectively for another 250 metres.
Numbers were supplied to US forces in the SWPA. Interestingly, the design allows a calibre change simply by changing the front barrel assembly. Further, later models had a bayonet fitting added, which was continued in the design of the Owen's successor, the F1. Finally, the Owen (and F1) are technically 'machine carbines', according to the design nomenclature originally produced. Last point, but not specifically about the weapon, but relevant...the australian 9mm parabellum round used by the Owen and the F1 were both supercharged (I can't comment on the WW2 loading though, just Vietnam era onwards), giving the projectile a muzzle velocity slightly over 1400 fps, which was well above velocities for other handgun and SMG rounds at the time. The F1 combined a lot of feedback and features derived from australian tactical doctrine and experience...it was intended to be able to shoot someone, stab them or beat them to death, a truly fine close quarters all-rounder.
SWPA?
the f1 used the pistol grip/trigger mechanism from the FN SLR as well i think. when i was a kid in western aus i handled an F1 at an army display, the soldier asked me if i was going to join the army after school. i said nah im joining the RAAF, he snatched his gun back an told me to fuck off.
@@danielponiatowski7368 rofl
The Owen gun is definitely one of my top guns, i'd love to fire one some day. i'm also somewhat distantly related to Evelyn Owen.
Also saw this gun in the Australian family soap that was timed during WW2 (The Sullivans) when I was a kid in the early 80s. I remember in the few/random scenes of the actual war some guys were using these and I honestly thought was a cheap/badly made prop from the likes of Dr Who from the 70s....little did I know then about this weapon.
Outstanding historical presentation! Never knew. Thank you!!!
My grandfather used to make the barrels on these fine weapons in ww2, the weapon is close to my families heart.
Intersting Fact:
The Owen Gun qualities were appealing to the Americans which McArthur requesting several of them for their use.
probably to have a look at em. but they werent any better than a sten or a greasegun.
@@snakeplissken2148 owes dont jam.full stop. johnny used a small part of official army footage where they didnt just lightly drizzle sand over the gun. they dunked it in mud. they did it to the sten and tommy too. they jammed, of course. the owen didnt. go looking for the footage. its on youtube. then get back to me and i'll accept your apology for not fully understanding the importance of this gun in beating the japs back from australia's borders.
McArthur wouldn't have known anything about the front line action - he was pure Headquarters through & through.
@@snakeplissken2148yep McArthur never got anything right
Johnny, By the time I was in, the Owen was out, but we had it's successor the F1 and it was hands down my favourite small arms. I loved every shoot I ever had with the F1, and if I do say so myself I was a pretty good shot with it.
Though the 9 mm was a bit underpowered.
You should absolutely do a vid on the F1.
Also, you can absolutely use ANZAC in that way.
Thanks Graham! Will most definitely make an F1 video down the line for ya
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq I would be very suprised if you could find any F1 movie footage. Possibly "The Odd Angry Shot" or the "Vietnam" mini series but I'm not even sure about that. I used the F1 by the way and unlike Graham W Kidd I thought is was a dog. Hard to hit anything with and used to run up and right when you fired it.
@@martinreinhold6589 I've seen the F1 used in the miniseries Blue Murder, though not fired. It was used in a payroll robbery. It also featured in a single episode of Sea Patrol, inexplicably being held like a pistol.
You won't see it in the Odd Angry Shot. I haven't seen Vietnam, but I will say that the F1 wasn't popular with infantry units. In the infantry, the preferred replacement for the Owen was the M16. F1s tended to be relegated to non-infantry units.
It got tossed into the video game Rising Storm 2: Vietnam for Australian Scouts, Commanders, and Combat Engineers. Only the latter would be accurate. The remainder most likely get it for balance purposes. Giving them M16s would be factually accurate, but would also make them much more powerful. Parenthetically, the Australian Machine Gunner is given an L2A1 Automatic Rifle, another non-infantry weapon, rather than the M60.
The Owen was suited for jungle warefare where vision was restricted to 3 yards to 15 yards (whoops - 3 metres to 12 metres).
Beyond 30 metres you needed the men with rifles or the Bren man..
3:22
"Oi, watch it there!"
3:18 Guy firing full auto next to a crowd - hey! let’s throw some sand in his eyes! 😂
probably a grub politician
I was beginning to wonder if you where gonna reference danger close. You did not disappoint
My grandfather was an Australian militia member in WW2 and after he joined, before being shipped to New Guinea he had to help with cleaning up Japanese suicides after the Cowra breakout which included them throwing themselves under trains and cutting their throats with barbed wire
The Owen gun is basically taking something with an use like a mag, and adding another use to it.
The Owen sub machine is an interesting weapon saw one at the museum in Auckland last year
Pretty much everyone loved the Owen except for the Australian Brass that absolutely did not want it. They tried to keep it out of the military but we're forced to give it a fair chance and ever since tried to get rid of it. They were willing to force worse submachine guns onto their soldiers out of spite.
The spent cartridges ejecting through the bottom of the gun, gives two other distinct advantages: 1. Less interruption to sighting and 2. Less interference to the soldier alongside.
(Btw, the Thompson was an unreliable nightmare of a weapon).
Danger Close is such a good movie!
It certainly is....
Apparently Americans in Vietnam liked to get their hands on an Owen If they could because they regarded it as a quality weapon. When I was a cadet we had the Stirling from memory, which looked very much like the Sten but was much higher quality. With a magazine at the side or on the top you can get down a lot lower. :) There was a similar POW incident in NZ, but no one escaped although some were shot. It was covered up at the time.
Also there was a bit of bartering going on in New Guinea(WWII) and the Malayan Emergency
But, it would probably have been extremely difficult to get sufficient 9mm ammunition from American logistics for an ordinary "grunt" (infantryman) to serve in the field. Nevertheless, the vid describes a caliber change is possible with a barrel change but doesn't specify if .45ACP barrels would have been made available for the Americans, although that ammunition would have been readily available. The only 9mm SMG used by Americans in Vietnam that I can easily think of, but in small numbers by MACV/SOG & Navy SEALs, was the Swedish K. There may be another I'm missing & can't remember but maybe someone else knows.
You definitely should do the Lee Enfield next, since you’ve covered the other commonwealth guns such as the Sten, Vickers, and PIAT
I was actually first introduced to the Owen by a fiction book of all things. The books name is Monter Hunter International, by Larry Correa. In the book, the main character comes to find out that monsters are real, and world governments are aware of this fact, but keep it a secret, and most governments, including the US, on top of their government run teams, have secret bounties on monsters that mercenary companies get for killing monsters. The main character, Owen Zastava Pitt, according to the book, his father was a green beret in Vietnam and named him after the Owen submachine gun, that saved his life in the jungles of Vietnam. Real interesting series of books. The author is a gun enthusiast and actually used to own his own gun store, so you don't get the common errors that other authors make
You made vanguard look somewhat competent in its weapon customization and not even by accident. Bravo.
as an Australian thanks for the vid!
Excellent choice....
Thanks for quite an informative essay
Thanks for another great video, Johnny. Cheers from Australia.
Many years after the 2nd World War they where building a swimming pool at Canungra jungle training camp and dog up all these Owen sub machine guns that had been buried after the War,the the sub machine guns where stipped down and cleaned reassembled and they still worked as good as the day they were buried
I love the Owen gun. People give it shit for looking the way it did, but in the end it was exactly what Australia needed. It was a simple, reliable, cost-effective weapon that was well-suited for the task, and it was well-liked by the soldiers who had to drag them through the jungles of Papua New Guinea. I personally like the Owen because it's an ingenious weapon of war that didn't need to look good to perform.
I legit attempted to search this up on my kindle, and whaddya know it, it’s here!
Amazing video! Are you ever gonna do one regarding the Browning Hi-Power or Welrod in WWII?
I do owe the Browning Hi-Power a video for sure.
i thought the mag was an Aussie joke by the inventor and just ran with it
The most underrated ww2 gun is the mauser c96 with all its chinese variants
Sten: Who are ya, lad?
Owen gun: Oi! I'm ya, mate. But more reliable.
It's interesting to note its involvement in the vietnam war, its like bringing an old character of a series back after a long absence. Although at that time it was in the process of being replaced by the F1 SMG but it was still used quite a bit like the grease gun for the Americans and ARVN
The Owen was a great gun, it was a shame that the creator got so little money for it, he did it as a passion project ( Owen was a private on the army)and the government wasn't going to argue, the top fed mag also helped with reliability as any dirt in the mag would fall out when taken from the webbing, and anything that remained would fall straight out the ejection port.I would also recommend Danger close the battle of long tan as a great movie.
I never got to play with an Owen. I did get to use its successor the F1 for a short while just before the F88 (Steyr AUG) came in. The top mounted mag is no problem at all. If you're in a hole it doesn't get in the way like an underslung one. It's also more convenient when it comes to slipping the thing around corners, tree trunks & the like.
A couple of fun facts about the owen - the top magazine was also helpful in preventing snagging in the jungle undergrowth (a disadvantage of the sten & sterling). You'll also notice that there is a lot of rounded edges...this was done to prevent nicks and cuts that were frequent with the Thompson. Important given how quickly a minor wound would become seriously infected & difficult to heal when your diet was poor (tin beef & biscuits don't make for the healthiest of long term diets) & exposed to the jungle for a long time.
The Third Submachine Gun on my Favorite Submachine Gun list, with the Top going to the Thompson and, 2nd going to both the PPSH and PPS. Thank you for Tackling this Well Liked and Well Loved, but completely overshadowed and mostly left out piece of Australian Weapons Engineering Johnny! And Yes I have to Agree that the Battle of Long Tan Movie was some Good Shit to watch... Now time to watch the Cowra Breakout always wondered if there was a Movie on one of the Bloodiest Prisoner Escapes of WW2.
Again, thank you for the Knowledgeable and Fun Content as always, as well as for your hard work!
Keep up the Damn Fine, and Amazing Work Johnny!
Thanks brother. Always love reading your feedback.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq No Problemo my Friend! All in a Days work!
Watch "Janur Kuning", the would be Indonesian president used an Owen, when fighting Dutch.
Righto Johnny... well played mate.
As an Aussie gun owner- i got to fire one of these, running a few magazines through it.
Much like the Steyr i used in the Army, the Owen really does not suit me & my Ape like arms; the M4 style rifles far better suit me.
At the time, i guess it was a great gun that suited the needs required, and it was fun to shoot something that was older than my Father
About 3:24: I was expecting the V/O guy to say "... and it's made of a space-age polymer!" 😂😂😂
Some other underrated SMGs of WW2
1) Type 100 SMG
2) United Defense M42
3)MAS 38
4)Reising M50/55
5) Danuvia 39M/43M
6)M2 Hyde
7)ERMA SMGS
8)TZ45
News flash: just because they were in your favorite video game doesn't mean they're worth mentioning.
@@dudedog884 When did I say they were my favorite?
Fun Fact: The magazine is upsidedown on the owen gun, because everything in Australia is upsidedown
Now that is fact. So much so I didn't think I needed to include it 🙃
You are a legend Johnny
Thanks Martin I appreciate your support all along this journey 🙏
I have a cousin with that name. It always drew me to it
Owen, Bren and Sten sounds like the name of musicians in a band.
In that case the percussion section is accounted for.
The Owen gun even gives the expensive SMGs like the Suomi KP31, Beretta 38, and MP-34 a run for their money. It was pretty cheap and simple, very reliable, and doesn't sacrifice any controllability.
The Owen gun was very much like the Aussie diggers who carried and used it - it was loud, crude, rough, and a long way from elegant to look at. But it was also rugged, reliable, efficient, and when the chips were down and the lead was flying, nothing else got the job done better!
As an Aussie who loves the Owen gun, this is the best submachine gun we ever had during the Second Great War. I used it in Day of Infamy D-Day Roblox game to massacre an entire German marauding platoon to the point of being called a hacker in the game.
This is the one subgun, well also an MP5, I’d like to own. Can see them in the Australian film Danger Close which I think is a excellent Vietnam War flick. (Yes I commented before watching the entire video.)
It's also featured in "Mr Inbetween." It's given to someone as a gift, and when the recipient says: A Sterling, the giver says: No, it's an Owen. It's better."
Cool, I never knew that and now I am a bit sad we didn't see it in BF V. (At least I think so). Thank you!
That’s an Australian this is my favorite gun along with the AK-47 and I’ve been to a gun museum in Queensland which has this gun I wasn’t allowed to shoot it but I was allowed to see it and many other historical firearms
American got Tommy gun & grease gun
British got Sten gun
Aussie got Owen which combo of both Sten, Tommy and Bren gun like features
Best sub machine gun we had, still a few around at the start of Vietnam.
Shop keep: you going to purchase this fine fantastic firearm with the magazine sticking up?
Myself: thinking about it. I dont Owen one just yet. 😅😅😅
Strong work as always brother man. 🔥🔥💪💪👍👍
Another place to see the Owen in the media is the old tv series Rat Patrol.
Quite an excellent Australian accent at the end. Top marks⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
When Australia entered the war they already had three submachine guns. Not 3 styles, but 3 actual weapons. An MP38, an MP28 (I think) & one other, all confiscated off ships that docked in Australian towns or cities. Thanks to Mr Owen & Lysaght for building such an effective weapon.
Australia: makes the best smg of ww2, makes the best tank design of ww2 (AC IV Sentinal), gave the Japanese their first land defeat, gave the Italians their first land defeat, gave the germans their first land defeat, takes no credit for any of these.
United States: joined the war late, takes credit for everything mentioned above
Well, good thing the Australians have you to cry for them in the UA-cam comment section. Australia should be thankful, if it wasn't for the United States all those descendants of inbred criminals would be speaking Japanese today 🤣
You just took credit for them. Aussies take credit for these all the time. We never stop.
Sentinel with Centurion never quite made it
I thought the Bob Semple was from New Zealand.
@@grizwoldphantasia5005 It was, and I never mentioned the Bob Semple.
Woooo! Australia represent!
The Beretta M33 is such an underrated Italian pistol and actually pretty good too
A SMG with a bottom- mounted magazine is great for urban combat, but it is pretty nigh impossible to use from the prone position. The Sten and similar weapons were great for firing from ditches, etc and made a great ambush weapon for resistance fighters. The side-mounted magazine restricted movement in forest, or moving building to building. The top-mounted magazine on the Owen eliminated both of these problems. While it did require offset sights, that was a minor disadvantage. I think that it is the best SMG design for jungle fighting.
If you are thinking of the most underrated of the gun,then I think nothing will fit it perfectly more than the Type 100 SMG. Coz even though Owen SMG served in millions with commonwealth and allied forces during and post WW2, Only 8,000+ of the Type 100 were built. And even then , the type 1 and type 2 paratrooper Arisakas were more preferred over The type 1000
Type 100 would be an interesting weapon to do a video on! I'll see what I can do
When people talk about sub machine guns, in particular the simple blowback, the most important part is the magazine and its feeding reliability.
Aussie make it up as you go along. But it worked the trick
Also used by Royal Dutch East Army and subsequently after various captures, the Indonesian Army, alongside Stens, Thompsons, Austens, M3s, and even MP40s. Now that's a list 😅
I was honestly surprised to see the Australians and New Zealanders still using this gun in some instances during the Vietnam War movie 'Danger Close: Battle of Long Tan' as I assumed the gun had been retired from service immediately after the end of World War II
Nope, it was in service until 1971