..now if they could put a muzzle on a cut loose prince talking about how many people he shot..my god..if ever there is a time to train a solder..but wasn't really a soldier was he..😔😔
Wasn't the STEN the device that tried to do in Hyrich around the corner? Had it worked as advertised, the poor lads wouldn't have had to meet their fate in a sorry state they did. No thanks to the SOE in this case, and I'm still cricket over this one! The STEN? No thank you.
As a Dane, during our German occupation, we had secret factories producing Sten Guns, but also what looked like an old timer bike pump, with a wooden handle! it could be placed on a bike, as one, but with an attached, extra handle they were able to fire a single shot, intended for killing known Danish traitors. We have some preserved in our newly rebuilt "Liberation Museum" (The original, built from wood, became destroyed by an arsonist fire some years ago, but most items inside became sawed).
The Welwand is sheer brilliance - single shot that retains the brass, trigger next to the muzzle, heavy enough as a melee weapon if necessary. Thank you, Mark!
I have been lucky enough to hold/examine a Welrod and was told it is still the quietest suppressed weapon ever made. All be it rare, but still being discovered in lofts of little old ladies, who were unaware of what their other half had been up to. Never knew about the Welwand, until now. Thank you.
Mark, you must NOT forget one of the most inventive Brits of WWII-Cecil Vandeveer Clarke (Nobby Clark). Clark invented so many things for SOE like the Limpet mine, spigot gun, underground tank and many many other! He worked with many others at Aston House, SOE Station XII. YOu REALLY need to do an episode on this place-it was incredible and Nobby was incredible~
The name doesn't sounds Brittish it's not van de veer but Vandepeer is Dutch or Belgian. That's the name of his fathers familytree. From origin Vandepeer is from Belgium, Antwerpes/Anvers and north Vlamen region.
Indeed....especially the silent spigot mortar trial that went awry....and nearly killed the next door neighbour (luckily it was the local Vicar and God was pleased to spare him....and his deck chair) 😎🤪😂
The Sten mag is longer front-to-rear than the mp-40 mag. The PRC converted many steps to 7.62x25 Tokarev, and used the original 9x19mm mags. Too long for a mp-40, but perfect fit in the German Mp-28.
It depends on the manufacturing tolerances of individual guns and magazines. Some Stens will run with some MP40 mags and some MP40s will run some Sten mags.
The sten gun was pure genius in my opinion. The Brits needed sub machine guns, lots of them. But had your typical constraints on cash, and materials. It wasn't the best sub machine gun, but it was 100% suited for the need. They could pump them out and drop the behind enemy lines, and suddenly ever resistance fighter in Europe has a sub machine gun. Brilliant.
I assume that schoolboy made his replica a long time ago. I was in high school in the early 1960''s and lived in a farming area. Most of the students lived on surrounding farms. Farmers always had guns. Often their teenage children were expected to use them. My father was very strict on gun safety, teaching me when I still in primary school. I had got a .22 to replace an air rifle and sold my air gun to another student. There was no problem bringing the gun to school (disassembled and without the ammunition of course) to hand it over. These days, a teenager bringing a gun to school, regardless of it being real, air, or replica, would trigger a full scale lockdown and black-clad heavily armed police running around everywhere, helicopters, the lot.
SOE appears in several episodes of the British crime mystery "Foyle's War" set in WWII England. I initially learned about SOE from watching this excellent series. I'm thrilled that Dr. Felton is speaking on it.
I've never heard of the Welwand, but as a kid I was getting bullied to distraction by this guy on the bus home from school who kept threatening to burn me with his cigarette, holding it close to my eye or cheek, so I actually tried making something similar using a compressed gas cylinder and a nail - sort of like an up your sleeve nail gun (although we didn't have nail guns back then). In the end, I realized how crazy this was - plus I couldn't get it to work very well - so instead I just walked home from school. But had I had a welwand, I can't promise I wouldn't have used it.
Bullies? What kind of a creepy world is this where my precious children can't bully weirdos in the classroom and playground, I ask you. How else do you force kids to fit in?
Back in the nineties, I had the privilege of shooting the suppressed Sten and the Welrod. Both were interesting guns for sure, but the suppressed Sten was still pretty loud as it shoots from the open bolt. It was great to experience these fascinating weapons from WWII. Oh yeah, great video as usual Dr. Felton
Are .22's typically used for dirty work? I recall being told the Italian Mafia used to use them to take out targets at close range when someone needed to be taken care of.
Did you know the BREN gun got its name in a similar way? The Bren gun was a licensed version of the Czechoslovak ZGB 33 light machine gun which, in turn, was a modified version of the ZB vz. 26, which British Army officials had tested during a firearms service competition in the 1930s. The later Bren gun featured a distinctive top-mounted curved box magazine, conical flash hider, and quick change barrel. The name Bren was derived from Brno, the Czechoslovak city in Moravia, where the Zb vz. 26 was designed (in the Zbrojovka Brno Factory) and Enfield, the British Royal Small Arms Factory site.
The Welrod was certainly in use in the 70s. The De Lisle carbine was incredibly quiet and tested, I believe, in central London to ascertain if pedestrians noticed a rifle being fired from a roof above them - they didn't.
The DeLisle might well be the first truly "silent" weapon that actually still packed a punch. The .45ACP is relatively undisturbed by being suppressed, as it is already slow and functions mostly on mass. If you don't mind the 2-3 foot drop at 100 yards, it was quite lethal at that range. The bolt-action capability also meant you could knock off several quick shots to ensure a kill. The Welrod is .32ACP and manually loaded, so you'd better have the muzzle an inch from the back of his head when you pull the trigger, because if he survives even long enough to turn around he has an excellent chance of killing you before you can work the mechanism.
@@Rutherford_Inchworm_III : I'd suggest into the heart from behind. Much less messy. 9 mm allows captured German pistol and SMG ammo to be readily used.
I found one of these in Northwood. It didn’t have the magazine. But it did have a shell press. We used to find loads of old war stuff in our area, as we had plenty of ex army personnel residing in our area.
I take my hat off to all those brave SOE people who parachuted into enemy territory. If you haven't read any books about their bravery and dedication I recommend that you do so.
My granddad (who had been with British Intel in Denmark during the War) made a fully-functional STEN clone in his shed shortly before he died in the 1980s. Evidently it was to win a bar bet. Once he completed it and proved it operational, he voluntarily surrendered it to the West Mercia Constabulary, the members of which must have been quite surprised. They, in turn, handed it off to the (nearby) SAS. Where it is now is anyone's guess.
Probably as surprised as the Officers in Whitstable, when an old chap handed in a fully functioning MG42, along with several hundred (possibly 2K) rnds of ammo......long time ago that, back in the mid seventies!
I was thinking the other day about whether Sun Tzu's The Art of War was still relevant in modern times, but then I realised that the British took "All war is deception" to an entirely new level during WW2
@@mattakins3557 Eh, more like the US defeated itself through its own stupidity. The White House walked America into Afghanistan with no serious idea on how they were going to defeat the Taliban, or setup a stable Afghan nation in the process. To make things worse, their own military had serious lack of knowledge on how to fight an insurgency war, and most of the allies they brought along had even less (Britain and Australia being the only exception)
I appreciate your explanations of certain acronyms used on weapons. I've never heard of many of them, even after 50 years of studying firearms history! As usual, very informative!
This video was remarkably informative…! In my opinion, it would be fascinating to learn more about the SOE and other secretive methods, techniques and practices of this and other WW2 outfits and organizations be it allied or axis related. Mark Felton productions takes all his viewers up close and personal in the videos he produces. I always leave with more knowledge then I did before viewing any of his vast collection of unique and unquestionably thoughtful videos! Thank you very much Mark, we all appreciate the tremendous amount of work you do in producing all of your videos!
That would be really cool, like a spy mission where they have to go through France getting dropped off by a biplane and make their way into the east of Germany or something
A clone of the Welrod was marketed to vets, the idea being that it could be used in close proximity to other animals without disturbing them, in stables for example. I think it was featured on ‘Forgotten Weapons’ channel.
I thought the Welrod looked familiar. Its distant cousin might be the first paint ball guns used by “ bored veterans “ who in the mid to late seventies borrowed the idea from veterinarians who used a “marker” type of gun for veterinarian purposes. Hmmm 🧐
A very similar looking thing to the Welland shown in this video was featured in the British TV show "All Creatures Great and Small" - in one episode Mr Farnham has to put down a sick horse. He was shown loading the gun and discharging it into the horses' forehead. But since this show was set in the 1930's and they generally took care to get it right, I would say that the vet gun was the original, not the Welland. Vet guns including the one showed in the TV show are generally single shot (no magazine) which is all most vet surgeons need, and typically goes a very long time between uses. Sometimes a farmer will need to put down many animals - he will use his normal farm rifle for that. However, the Swiss Brügger & Thomet VP9 vetinary pistol used by government vets, which has a magazine, is said to be based on the Welrod.
@@keithammleter3824 In WW1 the British Army issued a humane horse destroyer which was a single shot pistol in the form of a tube. It was the Greener Humane Horse Killer.
The Mark Felton channel, is very interesting and always full, with a lot of unknown informations of the second world war. Nice greetings from Germany. 👍👏🇩🇪👏👍
Fantastic Mark...keep them coming. I thought I was reasonably well informed about ww2, as I've always been very interested in this period. But you take things to another level of information. I write this from my campervan in Saxony Germany 🇩🇪...regards Mick
A sten mag is not interchangeable with an mp40 mag,the sten mag is wider than an mp40 mag so will not fit the mp40 mag port..I dont know where you've got that info from..I own both examples of the weapons and tried it...it dosent work...the silencer on a sten was only used with the gun it was issued with...although it fits the sten range the silencer was matched and tested to the particular gun it was issued with,the noise of a silenced sten is unrecognisable as a small arms shot at 200 yards distance from the firer,where only the faintest click is heard..due to the efficiency of the baffled silencer of the welrod,a shot fired at 50 yards is not recognisable as a shot from a firearm,night sights could be fitted as standard...
Great look at a little-discussed subject. Most of us are familiar with the STENs, but I had never heard of the WEL weapons in spite of spending much of my life around WW2 weapons. Thank you so much
As an American, I must admit I would love to acquire a nice old Sten gun. I've always admired the simplicity & effectiveness of its design. Its profile reminds me of the old American M3 Grease gun in a way, even though the Sten has the side magazine & different caliber.
An important note about the Thompson Submachine gun.Churchill loved the Thompson, the kits sold to the British came with two round drums, and 4 stick mags, as well as a thousand rounds of 45 apc.The contractor that supplied the cases , Savage Arms in New York , sold them for $225 for each weapon set compared to the $12 Sten guns. That's a huge difference in price and materials that made these cheaper and faster made guns a necessity.
Ah, that explains it! I've heard the $225 price point before (a video of Ian's I'm sure) so I was confused when Mark said $75. But that explains sooo much! Because I was also wondering how the heck the Thompson was THAT expensive for the time. It just didn't make any sense...so I'd been assuming the Auto-Ordnance company had been over charging the gov't in wartime, which isn't a good look. But yea, thanks for your info. It really makes sense with those drums being so expensive and 4 stick mags as well.
@@extragoogleaccount6061 Thank you glad I could clear this up , they where sold by the case with the ammo and the drum mags and box (stick) mags and I am sure they made money on the shipping as well so not bad for $200 plus , but not nearly as many got into the hands of soldiers as needed.
@@extragoogleaccount6061 I would like to know the story behind that famous picture of Churchill with a Thompson and a cigar , he was a great leader in a time of trouble.
That must have been pre-war because the later Thompsons were changed to easier & cheaper to make & could only use the stick magazine & not the drums. Also, I believe that the Sten was full auto only & didn't have semi auto as a rule (from what I've watched of Forgotten Weapons).
Fun fact: Schematics for the STEN are ubiquitous online and anyone with access to some simple machine tools, basic materials and a little knowledge can easily craft one.
I worked in a gun factory and made one from scratch, its not as easy as you imagine. Plus the fact that if its illegal you face very serious prison time.
Fun fact: The Sten is basically a piece of plumbing that goes BANG! The British Army, in their search for an affordable SMG, asked for so little, and boy did they get it.
Yes! I was about to type out a comment, that without a pistol grip, the welwand would be better off with a spring operated bolt that pushes out a long sharp spike, hollow in the middle with a glass ampule of poison that would be shattered using energy from the spring as it deploys
@@danielrosic2960Hardly, at least a welwand has some distance to it even if only several feet. Otherwise you have to walk right up to someone and they would likely draw in time or at least scream or such. Poison is not as fast acting as a .32 to the noggin. There is a reason they chose what they did, don't forget they had similar devices with poisons back then before Soviets did and they still chose traditional means. So did America and others.
Absolutely cool. Thank for the lesson. I knew about the Welrod but not the other two. Forgotten weapons has an in depth video on the Welrod from a several years ago.
Fascinating video. I had not heard or read, of the Welwand, although I first read of the Welrod decades ago in an article about such weapons in an ACTION MAN annual!
I just started playing Sniper Elite 4 and my current pistol is the Welrod which I had never heard of before, it was very nice to get a description of it, thanks.
I'm very impressed with Dr. Felton's correct and precise use of weapons-related terminology. I hope that he's able to visit the USA someday, and spend some time hands-on with firing examples of these and many other period weapons.
At 0:52 you show a still from the film School for Danger aka Now it Can be Told. Seen front row facing the camera is Captain Harry Rée. Harry Rée was an absolute genuine hero, working for the SOE in occupied France and getting shot four times escaping from the Germans. Harry even got to star in the aforementioned film about the SOE. Later he had a renowned and influential career as a school teacher, being for a time Headmaster of Watford Boys' Grammar School, where I was a pupil. Alas he had moved on when I was there so sadly I never met him. Harry's portrait hangs proudly in the school hall. Mark Felton could/should do an entire episode on him.
My mum was at SOE for a while - mostly in the New forest but also, for a time, in Welwyn Garden City (where a lot of this weird stuff was developed). She said that the worst bit was being sent down to the lab where they were trying to develop something called "Dog Drag" - a stinky concoction that was meant to put off tracking dogs - it never worked but, by god, IT STANK! She also said about the explosive experiments that would have a warning siren when there was going to be an explosion - one toot, it's going to be a bang - two toots, stop writing until after the "boom" - three toots "get under the table"!
Pure Bond level gadgetry, i love it, the Wellrod is also festured in the hit role-playing game Fallout: New Vegas as the silenced .32 ACP, it can be concealed when entering any of the casinos or for stealthy take downs by players. Great to finally know its history.
You said at the beginning u were only going to talk about weapons. Please do as many videos as possible on everything that came from wel. Fascinating!!!! Nice work!
My grandfather was Q, an electrical engineer by trade, he was recruited into SOE and spent the war making exploding pens and bicycle pumps. Idea being an officer with no hands couldnt sign orders and lead. I would ask him what he did in the war and he was always dismissive and said he hid in bins a lot. He clearly spoke fluent German but i never heard him speak it once. A different breed, a very messed up generation but so brave.
Great video! SOE and OSS are my special interests, and I have approximately 150 books related to them. I also have some replica weapons and used to converse with Col Rex Applegate in the early 90's. It's also getting to be a relatively relevant subject considering the times we're living in.
Interesting video. Two other weapons could also have been mentioned : - the FP-45 Liberator in .45 ACP (an American pistol parachuted by the British) ; - the DeLisle carbine with an integrated suppressor, in .45 ACP as well.
My grandfather was an agent for the OSS. He left my mother's family when she was only 5. Ovr 50 years later the red cross contacted us with some information about her father where they learned that he had to leave them to protect them, he was captured, escaped, was captured on another mission, and executed.
I read one time, the sten had an issue whereby when the shooter fires a burst it would go into full auto, even it your finger was off the trigger. Don't know if it was in all of them.
The perfect weapons for stealthy wet work. SOE and related allied organizations sure had a knack for creating effective yet practical weapons for their operatives.
I have collected full auto machine guns in the past. In the US you can purchase and own these weapons with additional steps, paperwork, and of lots of money. I had a few 5.56 select fire guns (AC556) I owned a MAC10, M11,(2) M11A1 (.380) complete garbage by the way, and a Sten MK2 with a pretty long suppressor attached to it. It was the most reliable select gun I have ever owned. It did not like aluminum or steel cased ammo, but any brass ammo it would eat up. I unfortunately no longer own any of those machine gun any longer. I had to sell them many years ago, but I still have fawned memories of my Sten that I owned.
Would love to have a Welrod or Welwand but still have say despite the Sten's issues the fact it was only $11($4 less than the Grease gun) and functional is the best part about it.
The Thomson company was charging the British government $250 for each M1928 Thomson gun delivered. The $75 dollar price was what they were charging the US government for the later simplified M1 version.
“Ministry of ungentlemanly warfare” is perhaps the most British thing I’ve heard
Henry Cavill movie under production.
..now if they could put a muzzle on a cut loose prince talking about how many people he shot..my god..if ever there is a time to train a solder..but wasn't really a soldier was he..😔😔
And it’s phenomenal.
Seriously 😂
Gotta love it! Leave it to the Brits to come up with perfectly appropriate but unmistakeable in their meanings euphemisms!
Never a dull video with Mark Felton!
He's been heavily into prostitution
Here here... or I mean agreed.
Wasn't the STEN the device that tried to do in Hyrich around the corner? Had it worked as advertised, the poor lads wouldn't have had to meet their fate in a sorry state they did. No thanks to the SOE in this case, and I'm still cricket over this one! The STEN? No thank you.
My favorite for WWII weapons history.
Mark Von Felton👍
Hands down the best World War II historian, I am now reading The Devil's Doctors, shocking book btw
As a Dane, during our German occupation, we had secret factories producing Sten Guns, but also what looked like an old timer bike pump, with a wooden handle! it could be placed on a bike, as one, but with an attached, extra handle they were able to fire a single shot, intended for killing known Danish traitors. We have some preserved in our newly rebuilt "Liberation Museum" (The original, built from wood, became destroyed by an arsonist fire some years ago, but most items inside became sawed).
Watch the movie Munich with Daniel Craig and others and tell me what you see similarity wise!
Bravo Dr Mark! This is the only military history show my wife will watch with me. Bravo!
Mark Felton always has a great job. He works hard and delivers great content!
The Welwand is sheer brilliance - single shot that retains the brass, trigger next to the muzzle, heavy enough as a melee weapon if necessary. Thank you, Mark!
Dr. Mark is one of the best educational channels, in my opinion
Love the username
You again
Absolutely 💯 . I’ve seen bits on the television too !
@@maybev1nce It's a bot of some type.
I have been lucky enough to hold/examine a Welrod and was told it is still the quietest suppressed weapon ever made. All be it rare, but still being discovered in lofts of little old ladies, who were unaware of what their other half had been up to. Never knew about the Welwand, until now. Thank you.
Mark, you must NOT forget one of the most inventive Brits of WWII-Cecil Vandeveer Clarke (Nobby Clark). Clark invented so many things for SOE like the Limpet mine, spigot gun, underground tank and many many other! He worked with many others at Aston House, SOE Station XII. YOu REALLY need to do an episode on this place-it was incredible and Nobby was incredible~
The name doesn't sounds Brittish it's not van de veer but Vandepeer is Dutch or Belgian. That's the name of his fathers familytree. From origin Vandepeer is from Belgium, Antwerpes/Anvers and north Vlamen region.
Indeed....especially the silent spigot mortar trial that went awry....and nearly killed the next door neighbour (luckily it was the local Vicar and God was pleased to spare him....and his deck chair) 😎🤪😂
Agreed! ❤
I didn’t realize that the Sten submachine gun could use MP40 mags as well. Thats brilliant! Always an amazing gem from Dr. Felton, thanks!!
Waterproof too!
Call of Duty didn't know either lol
The Sten mag is longer front-to-rear than the mp-40 mag. The PRC converted many steps to 7.62x25 Tokarev, and used the original 9x19mm mags. Too long for a mp-40, but perfect fit in the German Mp-28.
It depends on the manufacturing tolerances of individual guns and magazines.
Some Stens will run with some MP40 mags and some MP40s will run some Sten mags.
A guy at my secondary school made a replica Sten gun in metalwork class, we were amazed but looking back that was exactly what the design was about.
I just finished rebuilding a Sten MK IV from a parts kit. They’re so neat and simple.
The sten gun was pure genius in my opinion. The Brits needed sub machine guns, lots of them. But had your typical constraints on cash, and materials. It wasn't the best sub machine gun, but it was 100% suited for the need. They could pump them out and drop the behind enemy lines, and suddenly ever resistance fighter in Europe has a sub machine gun. Brilliant.
I assume that schoolboy made his replica a long time ago. I was in high school in the early 1960''s and lived in a farming area. Most of the students lived on surrounding farms. Farmers always had guns. Often their teenage children were expected to use them. My father was very strict on gun safety, teaching me when I still in primary school. I had got a .22 to replace an air rifle and sold my air gun to another student. There was no problem bringing the gun to school (disassembled and without the ammunition of course) to hand it over.
These days, a teenager bringing a gun to school, regardless of it being real, air, or replica, would trigger a full scale lockdown and black-clad heavily armed police running around everywhere, helicopters, the lot.
@@keithammleter3824 Early 1980s, at a school with a Cadet force where most of us had some shooting lessons.
@@EdMcF1 Ah! That makes sense.
SOE appears in several episodes of the British crime mystery "Foyle's War" set in WWII England. I initially learned about SOE from watching this excellent series. I'm thrilled that Dr. Felton is speaking on it.
I've never heard of the Welwand, but as a kid I was getting bullied to distraction by this guy on the bus home from school who kept threatening to burn me with his cigarette, holding it close to my eye or cheek, so I actually tried making something similar using a compressed gas cylinder and a nail - sort of like an up your sleeve nail gun (although we didn't have nail guns back then). In the end, I realized how crazy this was - plus I couldn't get it to work very well - so instead I just walked home from school. But had I had a welwand, I can't promise I wouldn't have used it.
Bullies? What kind of a creepy world is this where my precious children can't bully weirdos in the classroom and playground, I ask you. How else do you force kids to fit in?
Back in the nineties, I had the privilege of shooting the suppressed Sten and the Welrod. Both were interesting guns for sure, but the suppressed Sten was still pretty loud as it shoots from the open bolt. It was great to experience these fascinating weapons from WWII. Oh yeah, great video as usual Dr. Felton
You don't have to lie to hangout here
@@RogerThat787people do get to shoot firearms dude.
I've read once about Soviet tests of captured suppressed Erma EMP. They claimed that it was about as loud as a rimfire plinker.
Odd... The suppressed Sten is one of the quietest guns ever. It and the Sterling are still in use today...
jealous, I really want one of those welrods
my great uncle worked for High Standard here in USA and made surpressors for .22s during the war and after for OSS
The first pistol I ever shot was pas high standard .it's wonderful to me .
Get his stories wrote down or on video. Bet he has some interesting ones!
Are .22's typically used for dirty work? I recall being told the Italian Mafia used to use them to take out targets at close range when someone needed to be taken care of.
I never knew what STEN meant until today! Nor have I heard of any of the other weapons. Good Show Mr. Felton!
And you still don’t. The inventor said it stood for England
Jolly good show
Did you know the BREN gun got its name in a similar way?
The Bren gun was a licensed version of the Czechoslovak ZGB 33 light machine gun which, in turn, was a modified version of the ZB vz. 26, which British Army officials had tested during a firearms service competition in the 1930s. The later Bren gun featured a distinctive top-mounted curved box magazine, conical flash hider, and quick change barrel.
The name Bren was derived from Brno, the Czechoslovak city in Moravia, where the Zb vz. 26 was designed (in the Zbrojovka Brno Factory) and Enfield, the British Royal Small Arms Factory site.
Mr. Felton, your using the correct terminology shows your professionalism and knowledge of the topic.
The Welrod was certainly in use in the 70s. The De Lisle carbine was incredibly quiet and tested, I believe, in central London to ascertain if pedestrians noticed a rifle being fired from a roof above them - they didn't.
The DeLisle might well be the first truly "silent" weapon that actually still packed a punch. The .45ACP is relatively undisturbed by being suppressed, as it is already slow and functions mostly on mass. If you don't mind the 2-3 foot drop at 100 yards, it was quite lethal at that range. The bolt-action capability also meant you could knock off several quick shots to ensure a kill.
The Welrod is .32ACP and manually loaded, so you'd better have the muzzle an inch from the back of his head when you pull the trigger, because if he survives even long enough to turn around he has an excellent chance of killing you before you can work the mechanism.
@@Rutherford_Inchworm_IIII think that's why Mark said the end of the Welrod's Muzzle is purposely inset so it can be held tight against something.
@@Rutherford_Inchworm_III : I'd suggest into the heart from behind. Much less messy. 9 mm allows captured German pistol and SMG ammo to be readily used.
It is not a "rifle"
@@KaliLite Well aware of that - but it is how someone walking in the street would see it.
I found one of these in Northwood. It didn’t have the magazine. But it did have a shell press. We used to find loads of old war stuff in our area, as we had plenty of ex army personnel residing in our area.
Was it dug up or in an abandoned property?
I take my hat off to all those brave SOE people who parachuted into enemy territory. If you haven't read any books about their bravery and dedication I recommend that you do so.
Dr. Felton your videos are consistently interesting and fascinating. The photos you used to illustrate your narrative were outstanding. Much obliged!
My granddad (who had been with British Intel in Denmark during the War) made a fully-functional STEN clone in his shed shortly before he died in the 1980s. Evidently it was to win a bar bet. Once he completed it and proved it operational, he voluntarily surrendered it to the West Mercia Constabulary, the members of which must have been quite surprised. They, in turn, handed it off to the (nearby) SAS. Where it is now is anyone's guess.
Some operator is probably still using it to inconvenience enemies of the Crown.
Maybe in the Royal Armouries Museum. They have quite the collection of homemade guns.
Probably as surprised as the Officers in Whitstable, when an old chap handed in a fully functioning MG42, along with several hundred (possibly 2K) rnds of ammo......long time ago that, back in the mid seventies!
Maldon's Combined Services Museum is a must-visit!!
"The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare"--How distinctively British!
I was thinking the other day about whether Sun Tzu's The Art of War was still relevant in modern times, but then I realised that the British took "All war is deception" to an entirely new level during WW2
The British are the masters of deception and bluff. It was amazing what the Germans fell for , culminating in the D day landings
I think Sun Tzu is based on human nature and will therefore always be relevant.
Well the Taliban defeated the entire United States military despite ENORMOUS disadvantages
@@mattakins3557 Eh, more like the US defeated itself through its own stupidity. The White House walked America into Afghanistan with no serious idea on how they were going to defeat the Taliban, or setup a stable Afghan nation in the process. To make things worse, their own military had serious lack of knowledge on how to fight an insurgency war, and most of the allies they brought along had even less (Britain and Australia being the only exception)
I appreciate your explanations of certain acronyms used on weapons. I've never heard of many of them, even after 50 years of studying firearms history! As usual, very informative!
This video was remarkably informative…! In my opinion, it would be fascinating to learn more about the SOE and other secretive methods, techniques and practices of this and other WW2 outfits and organizations be it allied or axis related. Mark Felton productions takes all his viewers up close and personal in the videos he produces. I always leave with more knowledge then I did before viewing any of his vast collection of unique and unquestionably thoughtful videos!
Thank you very much Mark, we all appreciate the tremendous amount of work you do in producing all of your videos!
"...like a magicians wand to dispense its own particular form of magic." I love it.
I would like to see a WW2 movie with an agent using all the modern gadgets at that time - silenced pistols, carbins, night vision devices etc.
Hmm, Basil Don-Bond, Manfred Von Bond or Bondimoto of Kyoto? (so sorry : )
That would be really cool, like a spy mission where they have to go through France getting dropped off by a biplane and make their way into the east of Germany or something
@@sadlife8495 or, 'just' helping to organizze middle F, via drops, (many of which remain stockpiled to this day).
Another great video Mark, thanks for making it. Please follow this one up with a video about SOE sabotage devices.
I second that 👍
If you do please try not to omit Brigadier 'Billy' Beytes, RIP, but last heard of out of Landsdowne House. Thank you.
A clone of the Welrod was marketed to vets, the idea being that it could be used in close proximity to other animals without disturbing them, in stables for example. I think it was featured on ‘Forgotten Weapons’ channel.
Brugger & Thomet VP-9. (Veterinary Pistol - 9mm)
A 45 caliber version is also available as the “Station SIX”.
I thought the Welrod looked familiar. Its distant cousin might be the first paint ball guns used by “ bored veterans “ who in the mid to late seventies borrowed the idea from veterinarians who used a “marker” type of gun for veterinarian purposes. Hmmm 🧐
A very similar looking thing to the Welland shown in this video was featured in the British TV show "All Creatures Great and Small" - in one episode Mr Farnham has to put down a sick horse. He was shown loading the gun and discharging it into the horses' forehead. But since this show was set in the 1930's and they generally took care to get it right, I would say that the vet gun was the original, not the Welland. Vet guns including the one showed in the TV show are generally single shot (no magazine) which is all most vet surgeons need, and typically goes a very long time between uses. Sometimes a farmer will need to put down many animals - he will use his normal farm rifle for that.
However, the Swiss Brügger & Thomet VP9 vetinary pistol used by government vets, which has a magazine, is said to be based on the Welrod.
@@keithammleter3824 In WW1 the British Army issued a humane horse destroyer which was a single shot pistol in the form of a tube. It was the Greener Humane Horse Killer.
@@allangibson8494 Ah, that name rings a bell. That will be the one shown in the TV show, not a Welland look-alike.
0:30 great shot, the slow zoom out. The revolver in the other hand took me by surprise.
I fired the Sten gun when I was in the TA in the 1980's. I also went to school in Enfield!
Dr Mark is most important educational channel
You call them "murder guns." I prefer to call them Opposition Human Resource Managers.
Sneaky bastard guns.
little freedom fighters.
About "downsizing" the org then 😂
Dr Felton is the BEST..
The Mark Felton channel, is very interesting and always full, with a lot of unknown informations of the second world war.
Nice greetings from Germany. 👍👏🇩🇪👏👍
This was probably one of your best episodes thank you so much Mark.
Fantastic Mark...keep them coming. I thought I was reasonably well informed about ww2, as I've always been very interested in this period. But you take things to another level of information. I write this from my campervan in Saxony Germany 🇩🇪...regards Mick
A sten mag is not interchangeable with an mp40 mag,the sten mag is wider than an mp40 mag so will not fit the mp40 mag port..I dont know where you've got that info from..I own both examples of the weapons and tried it...it dosent work...the silencer on a sten was only used with the gun it was issued with...although it fits the sten range the silencer was matched and tested to the particular gun it was issued with,the noise of a silenced sten is unrecognisable as a small arms shot at 200 yards distance from the firer,where only the faintest click is heard..due to the efficiency of the baffled silencer of the welrod,a shot fired at 50 yards is not recognisable as a shot from a firearm,night sights could be fitted as standard...
As ever, amazing. Incredible but simple technology.
Thanks again.
Great look at a little-discussed subject. Most of us are familiar with the STENs, but I had never heard of the WEL weapons in spite of spending much of my life around WW2 weapons. Thank you so much
Welwand looks like a lightsaber. Truly magical.
Avada Kadava
As an American, I must admit I would love to acquire a nice old Sten gun. I've always admired the simplicity & effectiveness of its design. Its profile reminds me of the old American M3 Grease gun in a way, even though the Sten has the side magazine & different caliber.
An important note about the Thompson Submachine gun.Churchill loved the Thompson, the kits sold to the British came with two round drums, and 4 stick mags, as well as a thousand rounds of 45 apc.The contractor that supplied the cases , Savage Arms in New York , sold them for $225 for each weapon set compared to the $12 Sten guns. That's a huge difference in price and materials that made these cheaper and faster made guns a necessity.
Ah, that explains it! I've heard the $225 price point before (a video of Ian's I'm sure) so I was confused when Mark said $75. But that explains sooo much! Because I was also wondering how the heck the Thompson was THAT expensive for the time. It just didn't make any sense...so I'd been assuming the Auto-Ordnance company had been over charging the gov't in wartime, which isn't a good look. But yea, thanks for your info. It really makes sense with those drums being so expensive and 4 stick mags as well.
@@extragoogleaccount6061 Thank you glad I could clear this up , they where sold by the case with the ammo and the drum mags and box (stick) mags and I am sure they made money on the shipping as well so not bad for $200 plus , but not nearly as many got into the hands of soldiers as needed.
@@extragoogleaccount6061 I would like to know the story behind that famous picture of Churchill with a Thompson and a cigar , he was a great leader in a time of trouble.
That must have been pre-war because the later Thompsons were changed to easier & cheaper to make & could only use the stick magazine & not the drums. Also, I believe that the Sten was full auto only & didn't have semi auto as a rule (from what I've watched of Forgotten Weapons).
@@peterkerr4019 you're correct !
Fun fact: Schematics for the STEN are ubiquitous online and anyone with access to some simple machine tools, basic materials and a little knowledge can easily craft one.
I worked in a gun factory and made one from scratch, its not as easy as you imagine. Plus the fact that if its illegal you face very serious prison time.
Neat, time to become a spy 🤵♂️
Fun fact: The Sten is basically a piece of plumbing that goes BANG! The British Army, in their search for an affordable SMG, asked for so little, and boy did they get it.
Same with the M3 grease gun, brilliance in simplicity.
How do you make the barrel? Are they smooth bores?
The Soviets had some pretty devious weapons in the Cold War too, like the compressed air cyanide gun and not forgetting the poison-tipped umbrella.
Yes! I was about to type out a comment, that without a pistol grip, the welwand would be better off with a spring operated bolt that pushes out a long sharp spike, hollow in the middle with a glass ampule of poison that would be shattered using energy from the spring as it deploys
@@danielrosic2960Hardly, at least a welwand has some distance to it even if only several feet. Otherwise you have to walk right up to someone and they would likely draw in time or at least scream or such. Poison is not as fast acting as a .32 to the noggin. There is a reason they chose what they did, don't forget they had similar devices with poisons back then before Soviets did and they still chose traditional means. So did America and others.
yet another phenomenal video, cheers mark.
Ty Dr MRk. Another well researched and delivered “lesson”..
Fascinating as always Dr. Felton! Thanks!
One of my favorite episodes, Mark. Would Love to see more like that….
Interesting video as always, thank you Dr. Mark
You never cease to amaze me Mark! This was so interesting thank you
A wonderful historical coverage
Absolutely cool.
Thank for the lesson.
I knew about the Welrod but not the other two.
Forgotten weapons has an in depth video on the Welrod from a several years ago.
Fascinating video. I had not heard or read, of the Welwand, although I first read of the Welrod decades ago in an article about such weapons in an ACTION MAN annual!
Your videos are gold Mr Felton. Many thanks to you!!
Really enjoying your videos on firearms Dr Felton. Thanks for sharing.
6:47 An elegant weapon for a more civilized age.
Another very fascinating documentary. Well done.
I just started playing Sniper Elite 4 and my current pistol is the Welrod which I had never heard of before, it was very nice to get a description of it, thanks.
I'm very impressed with Dr. Felton's correct and precise use of weapons-related terminology. I hope that he's able to visit the USA someday, and spend some time hands-on with firing examples of these and many other period weapons.
At 0:52 you show a still from the film School for Danger aka Now it Can be Told. Seen front row facing the camera is Captain Harry Rée. Harry Rée was an absolute genuine hero, working for the SOE in occupied France and getting shot four times escaping from the Germans. Harry even got to star in the aforementioned film about the SOE. Later he had a renowned and influential career as a school teacher, being for a time Headmaster of Watford Boys' Grammar School, where I was a pupil. Alas he had moved on when I was there so sadly I never met him. Harry's portrait hangs proudly in the school hall.
Mark Felton could/should do an entire episode on him.
Dr. Felton always comes through with interesting tidbits of history such as the connection between Q in the James Bond movies and a real life person
Awesome upload with interesting n least known info on the secret spy world. Kudos. Looking forward to ur next one.
Thanks! Love these gun videos! Please make MOAR videos of this kind... Do videos of each service and what weapons they use... Folks will LOVE it!
Love Dr Felton's content!
My mum was at SOE for a while - mostly in the New forest but also, for a time, in Welwyn Garden City (where a lot of this weird stuff was developed). She said that the worst bit was being sent down to the lab where they were trying to develop something called "Dog Drag" - a stinky concoction that was meant to put off tracking dogs - it never worked but, by god, IT STANK! She also said about the explosive experiments that would have a warning siren when there was going to be an explosion - one toot, it's going to be a bang - two toots, stop writing until after the "boom" - three toots "get under the table"!
Dr. Felton needs a weekly time slot on the History Channel!
Dr Felton is too good for the aliens/Alaska/ ice road truckers channel, he actually deals with history
@@theghostofsabertache9049 You are correct! I stand corrected! It used to be a history channel. Miss those days.
Pure Bond level gadgetry, i love it, the Wellrod is also festured in the hit role-playing game Fallout: New Vegas as the silenced .32 ACP, it can be concealed when entering any of the casinos or for stealthy take downs by players. Great to finally know its history.
I believe in that game the welrod is chambered for .22 ammunition as opposed to .32
Unless your using mods the welrod is not in the game, its a ruger silenced 22.
7:05 That Maj. Reeves certainly had some deadly tricks up his sleeve. 😊
Thank you. Very interesting weapons, and a great story.
Always learning something new! Awesome video. Never heard that term either "The Ministry of ungentlemanly warfare" lol
Amazing engineering under such pressure.
Well done. I've heard of the Welrod and enjoyed your discourse on this historic weapon. Kudos!
You said at the beginning u were only going to talk about weapons. Please do as many videos as possible on everything that came from wel. Fascinating!!!! Nice work!
My uncle had a Welbike.
Thanks! Always excellent!
“…such as the back of a German’s head…” was not a line I was expecting but is understandable given the context of the video.
My grandfather was Q, an electrical engineer by trade, he was recruited into SOE and spent the war making exploding pens and bicycle pumps. Idea being an officer with no hands couldnt sign orders and lead. I would ask him what he did in the war and he was always dismissive and said he hid in bins a lot. He clearly spoke fluent German but i never heard him speak it once. A different breed, a very messed up generation but so brave.
( A "Q")
Great video! SOE and OSS are my special interests, and I have approximately 150 books related to them. I also have some replica weapons and used to converse with Col Rex Applegate in the early 90's. It's also getting to be a relatively relevant subject considering the times we're living in.
You'll have heard of, in passing, 'Billy' Beytes, yes. ¿?
@@suzyqualcast6269 Actually, I haven't. But, I'm interested.
Nice Video Dr MarK!! Thx 4 Sharing! Cheers JJ
AWESOME Video!!
Please make more such videos about weird weapons and gadgets used in WWII
Another great video. Thanks.
Fantastic video! Love your videos and keep up the work!
You've done it again, another great informative presentation.
Interesting video. Two other weapons could also have been mentioned :
- the FP-45 Liberator in .45 ACP (an American pistol parachuted by the British) ;
- the DeLisle carbine with an integrated suppressor, in .45 ACP as well.
Mark Felton is certainly one of my top G's.
“ to dispense its own particular kind of magic” lol. Such a good line
Professor Mark is brilliant.
Very interesting. Do more videos of other weapons. Great video.
FOR EVER LEARNING , PLEASE KEEP UP THIS GOOD WORK 😮.
My grandfather was an agent for the OSS. He left my mother's family when she was only 5. Ovr 50 years later the red cross contacted us with some information about her father where they learned that he had to leave them to protect them, he was captured, escaped, was captured on another mission, and executed.
He was a true hero.
Outstanding. Carry on, Sir Felton.
I read one time, the sten had an issue whereby when the shooter fires a burst it would go into full auto, even it your finger was off the trigger. Don't know if it was in all of them.
I so enjoy your videos! Please don't stop!!
The perfect weapons for stealthy wet work. SOE and related allied organizations sure had a knack for creating effective yet practical weapons for their operatives.
I have collected full auto machine guns in the past. In the US you can purchase and own these weapons with additional steps, paperwork, and of lots of money. I had a few 5.56 select fire guns (AC556) I owned a MAC10, M11,(2) M11A1 (.380) complete garbage by the way, and a Sten MK2 with a pretty long suppressor attached to it. It was the most reliable select gun I have ever owned. It did not like aluminum or steel cased ammo, but any brass ammo it would eat up. I unfortunately no longer own any of those machine gun any longer. I had to sell them many years ago, but I still have fawned memories of my Sten that I owned.
Brilliant stuff. thank you to the good doctor once again.! 👊💛👍
Would love to have a Welrod or Welwand but still have say despite the Sten's issues the fact it was only $11($4 less than the Grease gun) and functional is the best part about it.
The Thomson company was charging the British government $250 for each M1928 Thomson gun delivered.
The $75 dollar price was what they were charging the US government for the later simplified M1 version.