A Thompson for Sweden

[Annihilator]

New Thompson book

[Adg105200]

Where, when, by who?

 

Andrew

[Annihilator]

Found it in Germany

[Adg105200]

How did you manage to find it? Unless you do a specific search with the author's name nothing came up. It would be nice if it was on Amazon. Definitely want that book to add to my collection.

 

Andrew

[Annihilator]

I got an information mail from the bookstore, I will order one, it's quite expensive.

 

here is the link to the bookstore in Germany

 

http://shop.usbooks.de

 

Best regards

 

Pierre

[Adg105200]

Thanks! It may be expensive, but once you have it, you have it. I will definitely be getting one.

 

Andrew

[TD.]

Let me know if this new book contains any information not found in my story, Colt Thompsons in Swedish Service, beginning on page 289 of The Ultimate Thompson Book. ​I have also written a few additional stories on the Swedish Thompson guns in Small Arms Review magazine dealing with the Swedish manuals and Colt's era late style horizontal fore grips. At 188 pages, I want to see if any additional information has come to light, especially the disposition of the guns. I would also like to know if any of the book is in English.

 

Thanks for sharing!

[full auto 45]

It's also $90.34 USD.

[Bob]

This might assist;

 

PER MATHES; Bilingual: Norwegian and English, 21,5 x 30 cm, 188 pages, hardcover, many color photos! The exciting story of THOMPSON Machinegun delivered to Sweden during the Second World War is told. The author spent a lot of time in the Swedish military archive in Stockholm, where he found an amazing amount of files and letters. In addition, he was allowed to catalog and photograph the extensive THOMPSON collection of the Stockholmer Armee museum!

[dalbert]

I will be ordering a copy. I just tried from my phone, and ran into some address alignment issues. I'll try again tonight from my MAC.

 

David

[dalbert]

It came out to $137.61 USD total with tax and shipping.

 

Must have every Thompson book....

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

[rpbcps]

It came out to $137.61 USD total with tax and shipping.

 

Must have every Thompson book....

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

 

​David,

Thank fully, as I live in Europe, when I get around to ordering a copy, this one it is going to be cheaper than Gordons Colt Thompson book set was for me

 

​Looks like I may have a training job coming up in west Africa, so if that does comes off, it'll give me some cash to replenish reserves and invest a little in the habit.

 

​Have a good weekend

 

Richard

[Annihilator]

Ordered mine yesterday

[Annihilator]

Got the book today and had my first swedish lesson: kulsprutepistoler is the swedish designation for submachine gun

 

Lots of documents in the book are swedish, impossible to read, but the second part of the book is the english version of the swedish texts in chapter one

 

There is also a chapter about the Bergmann MP35 , the S&W 1940 light rifle, the IRA and british Thompson and the serial numbers of the 1921 Thompsons in the swedish army museum (13 Thompsons) ranging from 6354 to 14732

[AlanDavid]

Annihilator. Thanks for posting about this new book I would not have known about this book otherwise. The company has one other interesting book I noticed, on the 13mm German anti-tank rifle of WW1, had not seen this book before.

 

I have ordered a copy, 47 Euro's for the postage to Australia(!).

 

I will be interested to see if the author found out that the British were reading Swedish cypher's in the war and tried to nab the 500 Thompson's but missed out.

Also interested to see what the book says on the S&W 9mm Light Rifle. Sweden ordered about a dozen of these, I have a list of the serial numbers.

 

Regards

 

AlanD

Sydney

[Arthur Fliegenheimer]

I will be interested to see if the author found out that the British were reading Swedish cypher's in the war and tried to nab the 500 Thompson's but missed out.

 

Not sure why the Brits cared about 500 Colt TSMG in the hands of the Swedes when in April, 1940, The British War Cabinet supported Sweden's arrangement with the U.S. to buy 300 aircraft. In March or 1944, the British confiscated four destroyers that Sweden purchased from Italy. Then two weeks later, the Brits returned the ships to Sweden. As these transactions were not clandestine, there was no need to rely on the talents of Bletchley Park to decipher communication intercepts. Of course the Brits had their hands full with their own intelligence agencies (SOE, MI5, Foreign Office) working at cross purposes throughout WWII. The insane rivalry between Claude Dansey and General Buckmaster proved fatal for many agents operating in France and Holland.

[AlanDavid]

The 500 Thompson's were wanted as there was a chronic shortage of SMG's which was thought to be the best weapon to combat Blitzkrieg, at the time. This was before the design of the Sten gun.

 

Buckmaster achieved the rank of Colonel at wars end, rather than General.

 

Regards

 

AlanD

Sydney

[Arthur Fliegenheimer]

@AlanD

 

Yes, Buckmaster actually stalled at Colonel. It would have been better for all concerned had he served his country as an ARP Warden. Do you have a link to a British operation that would have intercepted the Swedish crates of TSMGs? The obvious risk of revealing the British ability to decode foreign country ciphers at the start of WWII for a cache of submachine guns runs contrary to Major General Menzies zealous protection of Bletchley capabilities.

[Mk VII]

The commercial transatlantic cable lines from Europe all went through Britain (we grappled for, and trawled up all the ones that didn't, just as in 1914). I think AlanD refers to this, which is just a commercial cable and not difficult to read if they just used one of the commercially available cable codes.

 

http://www.fototime.com/5F60D942F8A5E5A/medium800.jpg

[Arthur Fliegenheimer]

@MkVII

 

Thank you for the information. The Swedish transactions for weapons were not clandestine operations. That is why I wondered why AlanD characterized the monitoring of open communication traffic as "cipher reading." Now all we need is a reference to the British plan that would have intercepted the 500 TSMGs between USA and Sweden.

[AlanDavid]

Yes that's the document, I should have used the word cable not cypher.

 

My copy of the book has arrived and the serial numbers of 13 guns known to have been part of the Swedish order of 500 guns, are shown.

 

I don't think I should copy them out on this forum but does anyone have this book and a copy of Gordon H's book of the Colt serial numbers , to see if there are any new serial numbers to add to Gordon's quest?

 

Regards

 

AlanD

Sydney

[rpbcps]

There is a photo of Model of 1921 SN 7882 on the Swedish website:

 

http://www.gotavapen.se/gota/artiklar/kpist/thompson/heavy.htm

 

Well, the receiver is 7882, but the trigger frame is from a 1928A1 and looks like it has a M1 / M1A1, sear / fire control lever.

 

Stay safe

Richard

[gijive]

Richard,

I'm pretty sure that the gun you mention is a display piece. The color of the Lyman sight base doesn't match the receiver. Receiver finish (grain) isn't right for a Colt gun either.

[rpbcps]

Chuck,

You could be right, what ever it is though, it is Frankenstein made up from several guns.

 

I wonder what happened to all of the Swedish Thompsons. A while back, I read somewhere that they were sold to Israel in the 1950's, but never found any confirmation of that.

 

Stay safe

 

Richard