Bren Light Machine Gun

The Bren Gun was the standard light machine gun of the Canadian Army from 1939 to the late 1950s.

In 1930, when the British Army set out to find a replacement for the Lewis Gun, and despite holding trials on several different weapons, the British military attaché in Prague sent in a report on a new weapon being built in Czechoslovakia by Brno; the Zb26. After purchasing several samples (in fact, these were improved Zb27s that actually arrived in England), and putting the guns through two years of tests, the British Army modified the weapon to .303 calibre (as well as changing the butt, barrel, magazine and gas block and removing a set of barrel-cooling fins) and named it the Bren (the first two letters of Brno, and the first two letters of Enfield, where the Royal Small Arms Factory was located).

The first British Bren Gun was assembled in September 1937, and Enfield maintained sole British production of the Bren (at first 300 guns per week, during the war increased to 400 per week and by 1943 a 1000 per week). After Dunkirk, only 2300 Brens remained in service in England. In 1940 Inglis of Canada began producing the Bren as well, and by 1943 some 60% of Bren Gun production was eventually carried out in Canada. Lithgow in Australia also built Bren Guns during the Second World War.

The Mark I went into service in August 1938. Though the Bren had been "officially" adopted earlier, in September 1939 only a handful were on inventory in Canada; by war's end some 60 percent of Bren Guns in the world would have come from Canadian manufacturers. In June 1941, the Mk II was introduced, with non-telescoping bipod legs, a ladder type rear sight instead of the dial of the Mk I, the lower pistol grip and butt strap were deleted, and other minor changes to the body. Also, the one piece gas regulator/flash hider/front sight assembly was exchanged for a three piece assembly. In July 1943 the Mk III came into production which reverted to the Mk I body, but kept the other Mk II features; it also had a shortened barrel (22.25 inches instead of 25 inches). At the same time the Mk IV was introduced, with a Mk II body and shortened barrel.

The Bren could also be fitted on a tripod, configured either as a ground weapon for firing on fixed lines or at predetermined co-ordinates, or the tripod could also be configured as an anti-aircraft mount.

The Bren was employed one per infantry section of ten men, or three per platoon. It was also used as a vehicle mounted weapon, most notably in Universal Carriers (often referred to as Bren Gun Carriers due to this armament). The Bren served throughout the Second World War, was used again in Korea, and remained the standard LMG until the adoption of the FN C2 in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

History

The Bren was a version of a Czechoslovakian design developed to British requirements for a competition in the 1930s, and originally featured a distinctive curved box magazine, conical flash hider, and quick change barrel. While Brens in British service were rebarrelled to accept the 7.62mm NATO cartridge, Canada adopted a new gun - the FN C2 - instead.

In 1930, when the British Army set out to find a replacement for the Lewis Gun, and despite holding trials on several different weapons, the British military attache in Prague sent in a report on a new weapon being built in Czechoslovakia by Brno; the Zb26. After purchasing several samples (in fact, these were improved Zb27s that actually arrived in England), and putting the guns through two years of tests, the British Army modified the weapon to .303 calibre (as well as changing the butt, barrel, magazine and gas block and removing a set of barrel-cooling fins) and named it the Bren (the first two letters of Brno, and the first two letters of Enfield, where the Royal Small Arms Factory was located).

The first British gun was assembled in September 1937, and Enfield maintained sole British production of the Bren (at first 300 guns per week, during the war increased to 400 per week and by 1943 a 1000 per week). After Dunkirk, only 2300 Brens remained in service in England. In 1940 Inglis of Canada began producing the Bren as well, and by 1943 some 60% of Bren Gun production was eventually carried out in Canada. Lithgow in Australia also built Bren Guns during the Second World War.

Description

The Mark I went into service in August 1938. Though the Bren had been "officially" adopted earlier, in September 1939 only a handful were on inventory in Canada; by war's end some 60 percent of Bren Guns in the world would have come from Canadian manufacturers. In June 1941, the Mk II was introduced, with non-telescoping bipod legs, a ladder type rear sight instead of the dial of the Mk I, the lower pistol grip and butt strap were deleted, and other minor changes to the body. Also, the one piece gas regulator/flash hider/front sight assembly was exchanged for a three piece assembly. In July 1943 the Mk III came into production which reverted to the Mk I body, but kept the other Mk II features; it also had a shortened barrel (22.25 inches instead of 25 inches). At the same time the Mk IV was introduced, with a Mk II body and shortened barrel.

Firing the Bren

The sights on the Bren were offset to the left, giving the advantage to right-handed firers; the recoil of the weapon tended to pull the weapon forward, when firing on automatic it would "walk" away from the firer. Some Bren gunners found that a bulleted cartridge driven through a hole in the bipod could temporarily keep the Bren in place.

The Bren was optimally employed from the bipod on the ground; it was a crew served weapon, and the Number 2 was tasked with changing barrels to prevent overheating and eventually warping or wearing out of the rifling. The Number 2 also reloaded the weapon by changing magazines.

The Bren could be fired from the shoulder or the hip, though with less accuracy. However, when fired from the prone or supported positions, it was easier to qualify as an LMG marksman than as a rifle marksman, and the weapon was extremely accurate when fired on semi-automatic, with effective aimed fire ranging as far as 600 to 800 yards.

Bren gunners generally fired on automatic in 2 or 3 round bursts of fire, intended to put bullets in a cone-shaped area. A 28-round magazine emptying burst would normally be used only in the anti-aircraft role, or if firing on fixed lines at night.¹