The Bren gun was a series of
light machine gun
A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridges of the same caliber as the other riflemen of the sam ...
s (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and
Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, it was also used in the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
and saw service throughout the latter half of the 20th century, including the 1982
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
. Although fitted with a
bipod
A bipod is a V-shaped portable attachment that helps support and steady a device, usually a weapon such as a long gun or a mortar. The term comes from the Latin prefix ''bi-'' and Greek root ''pod'', meaning "two" and "foot" respectively.
Bipod ...
, it could also be mounted on a tripod or be vehicle-mounted.
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
The ZB vz. 26 was a Czechoslovak light machine gun developed in the 1920s, which went on to enter service with several countries. It saw its major use during World War II, and spawned the related ZB vz. 27, vz. 30, and vz. 33. The ZB vz. 26 influe ...
, which
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
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
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
, the Czechoslovak city in
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The me ...
, where the Zb vz. 26 was designed (in the
Zbrojovka Brno Factory) and
Enfield
Enfield may refer to:
Places Australia
* Enfield, New South Wales
* Enfield, South Australia
** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb
** Enfield High School (South Australia)
...
, site of the British
Royal Small Arms Factory. The designer was
Václav Holek
Václav Holek (24 September 1886, Malé Nepodřice – 13 November 1954, Brno) was a Czechoslovak firearm engineer. He had applied for more than 75 patents during his active years.
Life
Václav Holek was born in a village of Malé Nepodřice ...
, a gun inventor and design engineer.
In the 1950s, many Bren guns were re-barrelled to accept the
7.62×51mm NATO cartridge and modified to feed from the magazine for the
L1 (Commonwealth version of the
FN FAL) rifle as the L4 light machine gun. It was replaced in the British Army as the section LMG by the
L7 general-purpose machine gun
A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is an air-cooled, usually belt-fed machine gun that can be adapted flexibly to various tactical roles for light and medium machine guns. A GPMG typically features a quick-change barrel design calibered for v ...
(GPMG), a heavier
belt-fed
upright=1.35, An M60 machine gun belt loaded with 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges, aboard a U.S. Navy">7.62×51mm_NATO.html" ;"title="M60 machine gun belt loaded with 7.62×51mm NATO">M60 machine gun belt loaded with 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges, aboar ...
weapon. This was supplemented in the 1980s by the
L86 Light Support Weapon firing the
5.56×45mm NATO round, leaving the Bren gun in use only as a pintle mount on some vehicles. The Bren gun was manufactured by
Indian Ordnance Factories
Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), consisting of the Indian Ordnance Factories, now known as Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services) was an organisation, under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Gover ...
as the "Gun Machine 7.62mm 1B"
before it was discontinued in 2012.
Development
![Allied Forces in the United Kingdom 1939-45 H11120](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Allied_Forces_in_the_United_Kingdom_1939-45_H11120.jpg)
At the close of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in 1918, the British Army was equipped with two main automatic weapons; the
Vickers medium machine gun
The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more men to move and o ...
(MMG) and the
Lewis light machine gun. The Vickers was heavy and required a supply of water to keep it in operation, which tended to relegate it to static defence and indirect fire support. The Lewis, although lighter, was still heavy and was prone to frequent stoppages; its barrel could not be changed in the field, which meant that sustained firing resulted in overheating until it stopped altogether.
In 1922, to find a replacement for the Lewis, the Small Arms Committee of the British Army ran competitive trials between the
Madsen machine gun
The Madsen is a light machine gun that Julius A. Rasmussen and Theodor Schouboe designed and proposed for adoption by Colonel Vilhelm Herman Oluf Madsen, the Danish Minister of War, and that the Royal Danish Army adopted in 1902. It was the wo ...
, the
M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle
The Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) is a family of American automatic rifles and machine guns used by the United States and numerous other countries during the 20th century. The primary variant of the BAR series was the M1918, chambered for the . ...
(BAR), the
Hotchkiss M1909 machine gun, the
Beardmore-Farquhar rifle, and the Lewis itself. Although the BAR was recommended, the sheer number of Lewis guns available and the difficult financial conditions meant that nothing was done. Various new models of light machine gun were tested as they became available, and in 1930, a further set of extensive trials commenced, overseen by
Frederick Hubert Vinden. This time the weapons tested included the
SIG Neuhausen KE7, the
Vickers-Berthier and the Czechoslovak ZB vz. 27. The latter didn't meet high requirements for durability and reliability, mainly because
gunpowder residue from British
cordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom since 1889 to replace black powder as a military propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burn ...
was obstructing the gas tube (ZB vz. 27 was also sent in 7.92 Mauser instead of .303 British, but ZB already held a patent for a staggered magazine for rimmed rounds).
The Vickers-Berthier was later adopted by the
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...
because it could be manufactured at once, rather than wait for the British Lewis production run to finish; it too saw extensive service in World War II.
A modified variant with a shortened gas tube was tested again in June 1932, and then newly developed
ZB-30 in .303 yet again tested in November.
Receiving more feedback and incorporating it into the design by January 1933, yet two other modifications were tested by British representatives in
Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
in July.
One of the variants was selected, designated ZGB 33 (for Zbrojovka, Great Britain, 33), and 10 its samples were sent to England in autumn 1933.
After additional trials in early 1934, more samples were ordered during the summer of 1934, and on May 24, 1935 the license for British manufacture was finally acquired, and the design was adopted under the Bren name.
The major changes were in the magazine and barrel and the lower pistol grip assembly which went from a swivelling grip frame pivoted on the front of the trigger guard to a sliding grip frame which included the forward tripod mount and sliding ejection port cover. The magazine was curved in order to feed the rimmed
.303 inch SAA ("Small Arms Ammunition") cartridge, a change from the various
rimless
A rim is an external flange that is machined, cast, molded, stamped, or pressed around the bottom of a firearms cartridge. Thus, rimmed cartridges are sometimes called "flanged" cartridges. Almost all cartridges feature an extractor or headspacing ...
Mauser-design
cartridges such as the
7.9-mm Mauser round previously used by Czech designs. These modifications were categorised in various numbered designations, ZB vz. 27, ZB vz. 30, ZB vz. 32, and finally the ZGB 33, which was licensed for manufacture under the Bren name.
The Bren was a gas-operated weapon using the same .303 ammunition as the standard British
bolt-action rifle
Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed).
Most bolt-action ...
, the
Lee–Enfield
The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the British Army's sta ...
, firing at a rate between 480 and 540 rounds per minute (rpm), depending on the model. Propellant gases vented from a port towards the muzzle end of the barrel through a regulator (visible just in front of the bipod) with four quick-adjustment apertures of different sizes, intended to tailor the gas volume to different ambient temperatures (smallest flow at high temperature, e.g. summer desert, largest at low temperature, e.g. winter Arctic). The vented gas drove a piston which in turn actuated the breech block. Each gun came with a spare barrel that could be quickly changed when the barrel became hot during sustained fire, though later guns featured a
chrome-lined barrel, which reduced the need for a spare. To change barrels, the release catch in front of the magazine was rotated to unlock the barrel. The carrying handle above the barrel was used to grip and remove the hot barrel without burning the hands.
The Bren was magazine-fed, which slowed its rate of fire and required more frequent reloading than British belt-fed machine guns such as the larger .303 Vickers machine gun. The slower rate of fire prevented more rapid overheating of the Bren's air-cooled barrel, and the Bren was much lighter than belt-fed machine guns, which typically had cooling jackets, often liquid filled. The magazines also prevented the ammunition from getting dirty, which was more of a problem with the Vickers with its 250-round canvas belts. The
sights
A sight is an aiming device used to assist in visually aligning ranged weapons, surveying instruments or optical illumination equipments with the intended target. Sights can be a simple set or system of physical markers that have to be aligne ...
were offset to the left, to avoid the magazine on the top of the weapon. The position of the sights meant that the Bren could be fired only from the right shoulder.
Service
Second World War
In the British and Commonwealth armies, the Bren was generally issued on a scale of one per rifle section. An infantry battalion also had a "carrier" platoon, equipped with
Universal Carrier
The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier and sometimes simply the Bren Carrier from the light machine gun armament, is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrongs and othe ...
s, each of which carried a Bren gun. Parachute battalions from 1944 had an extra Bren in the Anti-tank platoon. The 66-man "Assault Troop" of
British Commandos
The Commando, Commandos, also known as the British Commandos, were formed during the World War II, Second World War in June 1940, following a request from Winston Churchill, for special forces that could carry out Raid (military), raids against ...
had a nominal establishment of four Bren guns. Realising the need for additional section-level firepower, the British Army endeavoured to issue the Bren in great numbers, with a stated goal of one Bren to every four private soldiers. The Bren was operated by a two-man crew, sometimes commanded by a
Lance Corporal
Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equi ...
as an infantry section's "gun group", the remainder of the section forming the "rifle group". The gunner or "Number 1" carried and fired the Bren, and a loader or "Number 2" carried extra magazines, a spare barrel and a tool kit. Number 2 helped reload the gun and replace the barrel when it overheated, and spotted targets for Number 1.
Generally, the Bren was fired from the prone position using the attached bipod. On occasion, a Bren gunner would use his weapon on the move supported by a sling, much like an automatic rifle, and from standing or kneeling positions. Using the sling, Australian soldiers regularly fired the Bren from the hip, for instance in the
marching fire
Marching fire, also known as walking fire, is a military tactic – a form of suppressive fire used during an infantry assault or combined arms assault. Advancing units fire their weapons without stopping to aim, in an attempt to pin down enemy d ...
tactic, a form of
suppressive fire
In military science, suppressive fire is "fire that degrades the performance of an enemy force below the level needed to fulfill its mission". When used to protect exposed friendly troops advancing on the battlefield, it is commonly called cov ...
moving forward in assault. A
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
was awarded to Private
Bruce Kingsbury
Bruce Steel Kingsbury, VC (8 January 1918 – 29 August 1942) was an Australian soldier of the Second World War. Serving initially in the Middle East, he later gained renown for his actions during the Battle of Isurava, one of many battles form ...
for such use at
Isurava, New Guinea, in 1942, during the Australians' fighting retreat from Kokoda.
Each British soldier's equipment normally included two magazines for his section's Bren gun. The large ammunition pouches on the
1937 Pattern Web Equipment were designed around the Bren magazine. The Bren was regarded as the principal weapon of an infantry section, providing the majority of its firepower. As such, all ranks were expected to be "experts in its use".
The Bren had an effective range of around when fired from a prone position with a
bipod
A bipod is a V-shaped portable attachment that helps support and steady a device, usually a weapon such as a long gun or a mortar. The term comes from the Latin prefix ''bi-'' and Greek root ''pod'', meaning "two" and "foot" respectively.
Bipod ...
. It could deliver a beaten ground of by at on the bipod. A 'rapid' fire rate of 120 rounds per minute (four magazines a minute) was sustainable with a barrel change after ten magazines (or reduction in fire rate) to limit wear but doctrine was to fire in 4-5 round bursts. Soldiers were instructed to fired single-shot in imitation of rifle fire to conceal the presence of an automatic weapon.
For a light machine gun of the interwar and early World War II era, the Bren was about average in weight. On long marches in non-operational areas it was often partially disassembled and its parts were carried by two soldiers. The top-mounted magazine vibrated and moved during fire, making the weapon more visible in combat, and many Bren gunners used paint or improvised canvas covers to disguise the prominent magazine.
The 30-round magazine was in practice usually filled with 27 or 28 rounds to prevent jams and for magazines kept full for a long time 20 rounds to avoid wearing out the magazine spring. Care needed to be taken when loading the magazine to ensure that each round went ahead of the previous round, so that the .303 cartridge rims did not overlap the wrong way, which would cause a jam. The spent
cartridge case
A cartridge or a round is a type of pre-assembled firearm ammunition packaging a projectile ( bullet, shot, or slug), a propellant substance (usually either smokeless powder or black powder) and an ignition device ( primer) within a metal ...
s were
ejected downwards, which was an improvement on the Lewis gun, which ejected sideways, since the glint of them flying through the air could compromise a concealed firing position.
In general, the Bren was considered a reliable and effective light machine gun, though in
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
it was reported to jam regularly unless kept very clean and free of sand or dirt. It was popular with British troops, who respected its reliability and combat effectiveness. The quality of the materials used would generally ensure minimal jamming. When the gun did jam through fouling caused by prolonged firing, the operator could adjust the four-position gas regulator to feed more gas to the piston increasing the power to operate the mechanism. The barrel needed to be unlocked and slid forward slightly to allow the regulator to be turned. It was even said that all problems with the Bren could simply be cleared by hitting the gun, turning the regulator or doing both. It was "by general consent the finest light machine gun in the world of its period, and the most useful weapon provided to the (French) "maquis" ... accurate up to 1,000 meters, and (it) could withstand immense maltreatment and unskilled use. "Resistants" were constantly pleading for maximum drops of Brens".
![Tysklandsbrigaden, øvelse Skandia III - Fo30141603020010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Tysklandsbrigaden%2C_%C3%B8velse_Skandia_III_-_Fo30141603020010.jpg)
Although they were generally well-liked, the high cost of £40 each gun was an issue for the British Army leadership. This became a greater issue when it was discovered that only 2,300 of the 30,000 Bren guns issued to the
British Expeditionary Force came back to Britain after the defeat of France. As the result, cost savings and increased rate of production became two main goals for subsequent variant designs. The Bren Mk II design simplified production by replacing the drum rear sight with a ladder design, making the bipod legs non-adjustable, simplifying the gun butt, reducing the use of
stainless steel
Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...
, among other steps that reduced the cost by 20% to 25%; Mk II was approved in September 1940 and entered production in 1941. While the Bren Mk III design also aimed at reducing cost, it also had the concurrent goal of being lightened for jungle warfare; the final product weighed , 3 pounds lighter than the original Bren Mk I design; it was standardised in July 1944 and saw a production of 57,600. Also standardised in July 1944 was the Bren Mk IV, which was further lightened to ; however, it did not enter production until July 1945, and only 250 were built before the end of the war. While Enfield was able to produce only 400 Bren Mk I guns each month, with the various simplification efforts production numbers rose to 1,000 guns per week by 1943. Among the variant designs were two speciality prototypes that never entered production: The belt-fed
Taden gun for stationary defence use, and the ultra-simplified
Besal
The Besal, properly named "Gun, Light, Machine, Faulkner, .303-inch", was a light machine gun of British origin. The weapon was intended as an alternative to the Bren gun as it was lighter, simpler, cheaper and easier to manufacture and therefo ...
gun to be produced in case a German invasion of Britain actually took place (which would hinder British production efforts). Later designs of production Bren guns featured chrome-lined barrels that offered less resistance, preventing overheating and reducing the need for quick changes of barrels.
Bren guns were produced outside of Britain as well. In Canada, the
John Inglis plant in Toronto began tooling its facilities for production in 1938; the first of 186,000 examples was completed in March 1940. Some of the Inglis-built Bren guns were chambered for the 7.92-mm Mauser ammunition; these were destined for export to
Nationalist Chinese forces rather than for British and Commonwealth forces. In Australia, the
Lithgow Small Arms Factory
The Lithgow Small Arms Factory, or Lithgow Arms, is an Australian small arms manufacturing factory located in the town of Lithgow, New South Wales. It was created by the Australian Government in 1912 to ease reliance on the British for the sup ...
in New South Wales began building Bren guns in 1940; a total of 17,249 were built. In India, the
factory at Ishapore began building Bren guns in 1942 (it had produced Vickers-Berthier machine guns prior to this time), and would continue producing them for decades long after the end of the Second World War. Many of the Bren guns produced at Ishapore went to Indian troops, who had lost a great number of automatic weapons during the disastrous campaigns against the Japanese in Malaya and Burma;
17th Indian Infantry Division, for example, found itself with only 56 Bren guns after
fleeing out of Burma in 1942.
![1944 Bren light machine gun](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/1944_Bren_light_machine_gun.jpg)
A tripod mount with 42 degrees of traverse was available to allow the Bren to be used on "fixed lines" of fire for defensive shooting at pre-determined areas in the dark or if obscured by fog or smoke. The Bren was also used on many vehicles, the
Universal Carrier
The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier and sometimes simply the Bren Carrier from the light machine gun armament, is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrongs and othe ...
also known as the "Bren Gun Carrier", and on tanks and armoured cars. The Carrier was intended to use its "armour, speed and cross country performance" to bring the gun team into position from where it would fire dismounted; firing from the vehicle only in an emergency.
The Bren could not be used as a co-axial weapon on tanks, as the magazine restricted its depression and was awkward to handle in confined spaces, and it was therefore used on a
pintle mount
A weapon mount is an assembly or mechanism used to hold a weapon (typically a gun) onto a platform in order for it to function at maximum capacity. Weapon mounts can be broken down into two categories: static mounts and non-static mounts.
Static ...
only. (The belt fed
Vickers
Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...
or
Besa, the latter being another Czechoslovak machine gun design adopted by the British, were instead used as co-axial weapons.) An unfortunate problem occurred when the Bren was fired from the
Dingo Scout Car
The Dingo Scout Car was a light armoured car built in Australia during World War II. They were produced by the Ford motor company during 1942.
History
Australia as a nation was ill-prepared for the Second World War and possessed little in th ...
; the hot cartridge cases tended to be ejected down the neck of the driver, whose position was next to the pintle. A canvas bag was designed to catch the cartridges and overcome the problem, but it seems to have been rarely issued.
![Anti-aircraft BrenGun](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Anti-aircraft_BrenGun.jpg)
The Bren was also employed in the
anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
role with the tripod reconfigured for high angle fire. There were also several designs of less-portable mountings, including the ''Gallows'' and ''Mottley'' mounts. A 100-round
pan magazine
A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device for a repeating firearm, either integral within the gun (internal/fixed magazine) or externally attached (detachable magazine). The magazine functions by holding several cartridges with ...
was available for the Bren for use in the anti-aircraft role.
The Bren's direct ancestor, the Czechoslovak ZB vz. 26, was also used in World War II by German and Romanian forces, including units of the
Waffen SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands.
The grew from th ...
. Many
7.92 mm ZB light machine guns were shipped to China, where they were employed first against the Japanese in World War II, and later against UN forces in Korea, including British and Commonwealth units. Some ex-Chinese Czech ZB weapons were also in use in the early stages of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. Production of a 7.92 mm round model for the Far East was carried out by Inglis of Canada. The Bren was also delivered to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
as part of the
lend-lease program.
Post-war
The British Army, and the armies of various countries of the
Commonwealth, used the Bren in the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, the
Malayan Emergency, the
Mau Mau Uprising
The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', an ...
and the
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation or Borneo confrontation (also known by its Indonesian / Malay name, ''Konfrontasi'') was an armed conflict from 1963 to 1966 that stemmed from Indonesia's opposition to the creation of the Federation of ...
, where it was preferred to its replacement, the belt-fed
L7 GPMG, on account of its lighter weight. In the
conflict in Northern Ireland (1969–1998), a British Army squad typically carried the L4A4 version of the Bren as the squad automatic weapon in the 1970s. During the
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
in 1982,
40 Commando Royal Marines
The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
carried one LMG and one GPMG per section. Its final operational deployment with the British Army, on a limited scale, was in the
First Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
in 1991.
![Armamento - Museo de Armas de la Nación 09](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Armamento_-_Museo_de_Armas_de_la_Naci%C3%B3n_09.JPG)
When the British Army adopted the
7.62 mm
The 7.62 mm caliber is a nominal caliber used for a number of different cartridges. Historically, this class of cartridge was commonly known as .30 caliber, the imperial unit and customary unit equivalent, and was most commonly used for ...
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
cartridge, the Bren was re-designed to 7.62 mm calibre, fitted with a new bolt, barrel and magazine. It was re-designated as the "L4 light machine gun" (in various sub-versions) and remained in British Army service into the 1990s. A slotted flash hider similar to that of the contemporary L1 rifle and L7 general purpose machine gun replaced the conical flash hider. The change from a rimmed to rimless cartridge and nearly straight magazine improved feeding considerably, and allowed use of 20-round magazines from the 7.62 mm
L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle. Bren gunners using the L4A1 were normally issued with the 30-round magazine from the SAW L2A1.
Completion of the move to a
5.56 mm NATO cartridge led to the Army removing the Bren/L4 from the list of approved weapons and then withdrawing it from service.
The Mark III Bren remained in limited use with the
Army Reserve
A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...
of the
Irish Defence Forces until 2006, when the 7.62 mm GPMG replaced it. The Bren was popular with the soldiers who fired it (known as Brenners) as it was light and durable, and had a reputation for accuracy. The most notable use of the Bren by Irish forces was in the
Congo Crisis
The Congo Crisis (french: Crise congolaise, link=no) was a period of political upheaval and conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost immediately after ...
during the 1960s, when the Bren was the regular army's standard section automatic weapon.
Bren guns were in service with the
Rhodesian Security Forces
The Rhodesian Security Forces were the military forces of the Rhodesian government. The Rhodesian Security Forces consisted of a ground force (the Rhodesian Army), the Rhodesian Air Force, the British South Africa Police, and various personnel a ...
during the
Rhodesian Bush War
The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia).
The conflict pitted three for ...
, including a substantial number re-chambered for 7.62 mm cartridges similar to those examples in the British Army.
The Rhodesian Bren guns continued to see frequent action until the 1970s, when they were largely replaced by the
FN MAG
The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale (FN) by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries and it has been made under licence in several countries, inc ...
.
A few were captured and re-issued by the
Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army
Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was the military wing of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), a Marxist–Leninist political party in Rhodesia. It participated in the Rhodesian Bush War against white minority rule of Rho ...
(ZIPRA).
Some examples were still in service with reservists of the
British South Africa Police
The British South Africa Police (BSAP) was, for most of its existence, the police force of Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe in 1980). It was formed as a paramilitary force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, fro ...
in 1980, and were inherited by the
Zimbabwe Republic Police
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) is the national police force of Zimbabwe, having succeeded the British South Africa Police on 1 August 1980.
History
The predecessor of the Zimbabwe Republic Police was the British South Africa Police of Rhod ...
upon the country's internationally recognised independence.
Zimbabwean policemen continued to deploy Bren guns during operations against ZIPRA dissidents throughout the early 1980s.
The
South African Defence Force
The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...
deployed Bren guns during the
South African Border War
The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...
alongside the more contemporary FN MAG as late as 1978.
Variants
Mark 1
Introduced September 1937; the original Czechoslovak designed ZGB 33. Overall length , barrel length. Weight .
Features:
* Drum-pattern rear aperture sight
* Buttstrap for use over-the-shoulder when firing
* Rear grip under butt
* Telescoping bipod
* Folding cocking handle
An Enfield-made .303 Bren Mk 1 was converted to
7.92mm in 1938 due to the suggestion of a possibility of a British Army change over to a rimless cartridge for machine guns being mooted.
Mark 2
Introduced 1941. A simplified version of the Mk1 more suited to wartime production with original design features subsequently found to be unnecessary deleted. Produced by Inglis of Canada and the Monotype Group through a number of component manufacturing factories. Sometimes known as the "Garage hands" model. Overall length , barrel length. Weight .
Features:
* Folding-leaf rear sight
* Buttstrap deleted
* Rear grip deleted
* Fixed height bipod
* Fixed cocking handle
The Bren Mk2 was much simplified in the body, which although still being milled from a solid billet of steel, required significantly fewer milling operations than the Mk1, resulting in a much cleaner appearance. The bipod was simplified in design as well as not having extending legs. Most Mk2 bipods resembled a simple A-frame and were more 'soldier proof'. The Mk2 also featured a slightly higher rate of fire than the Mk1.
The woodwork on the Mk2 was simplified by being less ornate and ergonomic, which sped up the manufacturing process. The barrel was also simplified by means of a non-stepped removable flash hider and, in some cases, a barrel fore-end that was matte instead of highly polished. The buffered buttplate of the Mk1 was omitted and replaced with a sheet metal buttplate.
A small number of Inglis-made .303 Bren Mk 2 were converted post-war to fire the
.280 in (7 mm) Mk 1Z round used by the
EM-2 rifle
The EM-2, also known as Rifle, No.9, Mk.1 or Janson rifle, was a British assault rifle. It was briefly adopted by British forces in 1951, but the decision was overturned very shortly thereafter by Winston Churchill's incoming government in an ...
.
The Inglis version of the Bren Mk 2 chambered for the
.30-06 (7.62 mm) cartridge and known as the M41 was also manufactured in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
after the end of the Chinese Civil War.
Mark 3
A shorter and lighter Bren made by Enfield from 1944 for the war in the East and for Airborne Forces. This was similar to the Mk2 but with the light weight features of the early Mk1. With the main distinguishing feature being a shorter barrel and serrated area in front of the barrel nut. Overall length , barrel length. Weight .
Mark 4
As with the Mk3 but this was a conversion of a Mk2. Overall length , barrel length. Weight .
L4
The Bren was converted to
7.62×51mm NATO in the 1950s, and designated the L4. L4 Brens can easily be identified by their straighter magazine and cylindrical flash hider. The British-issue L4 magazine retains the 30-round capacity and has a slight curve. The L4 magazine was interchangeable with the L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle, L1A1 SLR magazine, so the L4 Bren can be seen fitted with straight 20-round magazines from the SLR or with the straight 30-round magazine from the Australian L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle#Australia, L2A1 or Canadian C2A1 heavy-barrel SLR. The flash suppressor was changed from the cone type of .303 variants to a slotted, cylindrical type similar in appearance to that used on the SLR and L7 GPMG. The L4 remained in British service until the 1990s.
Taden gun
The Taden gun was a development of the Bren to use with the .280 British (7 mm) intermediate round proposed to replace the .303 in British service. The Taden was belt-fed with spade grips and would have replaced both the Bren and the Vickers machine gun. Although reliable it was not accepted due to the US-driven standardization within NATO on the larger
7.62×51mm NATO round.
Semiautomatic Bren guns
Many nations' militaries have disposed of their Bren guns as surplus to their needs. Surplus Brens have been imported to the United States for sale to collectors, but due to US gun laws restricting the importation of automatic weapons such guns must be legally destroyed by cutting up the receivers. A number of US gunsmiths have manufactured new semiautomatic Brens by welding the pieces of destroyed receivers back together, with modifications to prevent the use of full automatic parts, and fitting new fire-control components capable of only semiautomatic fire. The balance of the parts are surplus Bren parts. Such "semiautomatic machine guns" are legally considered rifles under US Federal law and the laws of most states.
Production
![VeronicaFoster-RonnieBrenGunGirl-smoke](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/VeronicaFoster-RonnieBrenGunGirl-smoke.jpg)
;United Kingdom
Bren guns were produced at the
Royal Small Arms Factory, in Enfield, London. The first Bren guns were built in September 1937, and by December, a total of 42 had been produced. Weekly production was 300 Brens a week in July 1938, and 400 a week in September 1939.
The Monotype Group produced Mark 2 Brens. Enfield produced a total of 220,000 Mark I Bren guns, 57,600 in Mark III, and 250 in Mark IV.
;Canada
John Inglis and Company received a contract from the British and Canadian governments in March 1938 to supply 5,000 Bren machine guns to the UK and 7,000 Bren machine guns to Canada. Both countries shared the capital (economics), capital costs of bringing in this new production facility. Production started in 1940; by August 1942, the Inglis plant was averaging 10,000 Brens per month, and produced 186,000 Bren guns of all variants by the end of the war, including 43,000 chambered in 7.92×57mm Mauser for export to the Chinese National Revolutionary Army.
;India
![Keeping Watch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Keeping_Watch.jpg)
In 1942, the Ishapore Arsenal began to produce Bren guns, and continued to do so long after the end of World War II, also manufacturing variants in
7.62×51mm NATO.
A shadow factory for Ishapore was set up at Kanpur and produced .303 Brens before it was later rechambered to fire 7.62 NATO ammo in 1964 as the 1A LMG.
;Australia
In 1940, the
Lithgow Small Arms Factory
The Lithgow Small Arms Factory, or Lithgow Arms, is an Australian small arms manufacturing factory located in the town of Lithgow, New South Wales. It was created by the Australian Government in 1912 to ease reliance on the British for the sup ...
in New South Wales began to manufacture Bren guns, producing a total of 17,249 by 1945.
Users
![Operation URGENT FURY DN-SN-84-11981](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Operation_URGENT_FURY_DN-SN-84-11981.jpg)
* : National Liberation Army (Algeria), National Liberation Army received 500 Brens from Egypt
* : during World War II and Korean War.
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation or Borneo confrontation (also known by its Indonesian / Malay name, ''Konfrontasi'') was an armed conflict from 1963 to 1966 that stemmed from Indonesia's opposition to the creation of the Federation of ...
(as L4A4). Continued in limited service until about the time of the general introduction of the F88 Steyr (ca 1990).
*
*
*
* : post-war
*
*
* : received Czech-made Brens in 8×56mmR, designated kartěnice 39
*
* Chadian FROLINAT
* : used by Law enforcement in the Central African Republic, Gendarmerie and Republican Guard (Central African Republic), Republican Guard
* : Mark 2 version known to be used in the Croatian War of Independence.
* : Many guns captured from Kuomintang. Used during
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
. Some converted to fire 7.62x39 caliber ammunition from ammo supplied by their Soviet allies. They used regular AK-47 magazines.
* : used by National Revolutionary Army 43,000 guns produced in 7.92×57mm Mauser by John Inglis and Company, Inglis in Canada. Later in 1952,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
produced a .30-06 Springfield version of Bren Mk II, the ''Type 41''.
*
*
*
* : post-war
*
*
** : Used by the Free French Forces and French Resistance.
** : Captured Brens were issued to the Milice.
** French Far East Expeditionary Corps
*
*
*
* : People's Revolutionary Armed Forces
*
* : Used by the Royal Hong Kong Regiment.
* : manufactured by the Ordnance Factories Board
Phased out of Indian military service in 2012.
* :
* Kingdom of Iraq, Iraq
* : Irish Defence Forces, replaced by the
FN MAG
The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale (FN) by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries and it has been made under licence in several countries, inc ...
in 1960s. Remained in use with Irish military reserve forces until the early 2000s.
* : During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and for some time thereafter by the Haganah and the Israeli Defense Forces. Replaced after Operation Kadesh (1956).
* : airdropped to Resistenza, partisans and also issued to the Italian Co-Belligerent Army in the latter part of WWII. It continued to see post-war use with the Italian Army.
Also used by the Polizia di Stato, Italian Police in .30-06 caliber.
*
* : captured weapons.
* : Arab Legion
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* : used captured examples under the designation ''7.7 mm Leichtes MG 138(e)''
* : Bren L4
* : post-war
* : WWII and L4 post war
*
* : post-war
*
*
* : Used by the Polish Underground State and Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II.
* : ''m/43''
*
*
*
*
* : Used by Ceylon Defence Force in World War II
*
* (now Eswatini)
* : 294 guns were purchased by the Tibetan Army in 1950.
*
*
*
* : British and Commonwealth forces, and cadet forces until the introduction of the L98 Cadet Rifle
* State of Vietnam
*: used by Viet-Minh acquired from China and the Soviet Union or by capture
* : Supplied by the United Kingdom during the Lend-Lease program.
* : Yugoslav Partisans and Chetniks during World War II;
* :
Gallery
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-720-0318-04, Frankreich, Parade der Milice Francaise.jpg, Members of the Milice with captured Bren guns.
File:8th Royal Scots halted 27-10-1944.jpg, Bren near Tilburg, October 1944
File:Twin Bren gun anti-aircraft mounting at RAF Duxford.jpg, Twin Bren anti-aircraft mounting
File:The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 H37157.jpg, Universal Carrier
The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier and sometimes simply the Bren Carrier from the light machine gun armament, is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrongs and othe ...
with Vickers machine gun and two Brens
See also
*CZ 805 BREN
* Charlton Automatic Rifle
* Degtyaryov machine gun
* FM 24/29 light machine gun
* Mendoza RM2
* Type 73 light machine gun
* Type 96 light machine gun
* Type 99 light machine gun
* Vickers K machine gun
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Modern Firearms (additional information)
{{Notelist
History of the London Borough of Enfield
Light machine guns
Machine guns of the United Kingdom
World War II infantry weapons of the United Kingdom
World War II machine guns
.303 British machine guns
Czechoslovakia–United Kingdom relations
Military equipment introduced in the 1930s