Mike Perry

Assault on the Merville Battery

There were 600 of them. All belonged to Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway’s 9th Parachute Battalion, and were cramped aboard thirty two transport planes winging their way over the English Channel on this momentous night of June 6, 1944. They’d gone over their assignment during maneuvers, studying maps, and photographs and replaying everything they could remember in their minds. Now, as just a small part of the thousands of paratroopers belonging to the British sixth Airborne Division, known as the ‘Red Devils’ they mentally prepared themselves a final time for what lay ahead. As for Otway he wondered if his small units already on the ground had successfully gathered further information on the target. He needed it.

The Paras’ assignment was to assault and neutralize a compound known as the Merville battery. Located just 8 miles inland from what was soon to become known to history as Sword Beach, its complex consisted of four tunnel-connected casemates believed to hold 155 mm howitzers along with command and personnel bunkers ringed by landmines, barbed wire, an antiaircraft gun and 15 machine gun nests. Such strong defenses bore witness to its importance to the Germans. But more important, its proximity to the future invasion beaches meant there was no choice but to assault and destroy the position from the ground or else the beaches could be blanketed by salvo after salvo for days on end.

Checking watches, Otway and his men made final equipment checks rose and hooked their jump lines as the door swung open. It was approximately 0050 hours as they leapt out into the night, parachutes almost instantly opening in the high easterly wind and antiaircraft bursts popping around them. Little more than a minute later they slammed onto the ground. But already there was something wrong. Unknown to the Paras already unhooking themselves, the Battalion, like so many others, were jumping out far away from their designated drop zones, with no hope of linking up in time to attack.

Otway stayed around the dropzone as long as he could as small groups of men trickled in. Even with fresh arrivals he knew he was woefully deficient on men. Only about 150 had managed to rendezvous, but with time pressing him he knew he had set out for the battery. The group managed to link up with one of the parties that had landed earlier, who told Otwar that they had managed to cut the wire, prod their way through minefields and get close enough to hear the Germans speaking. They didn’t seem alert. After a cautious advance over the countryside, the Paras neared the battery around 0400 hrs. With the force concealed in woods, Otway decided to change his plan of attack and ordered two gaps to be made in the wire, through which two assault groups would stream to attack two batteries apiece. He dispatched his platoon and company leaders, who led their men crawling over the heavily cratered landscape provided by previous days of heavy bombardment from hundreds of aircraft. They picked their way through the minefields and slipped lengths of Bangalore torpedoes through the barbed wire as quietly as possible.

Merville Battery Assault Plan — Aerial View Of Merville Battery

At about 0430 hours, huge explosions tore massive gaps in the wire, and before the smoke cleared, men were racing through firing rifles and automatic weapons at the startled Germans who ran for cover. The Germans machine guns responded quick, opening up from several different positions and crisscrossing their tracers, forming deadly mazes through which the Paras ran. Though many fell, German resistance failed to stop them from hitting their primary task, the casemates, whereupon reaching them they hurled grenades through the narrow openings where the main guns were.

Once the blasts dissipated, they breached the entrances and rushed inside. What they found surprised them. All the tons of concrete poured over the preceding months to create the casemates protected something one might consider hardly worthy of such a position: World War I-era 100 mm howitzers manufactured in Czechoslovakia. A most curious find. With the roar of battle still raging outside, they quickly dismissed the discovery and sprang back into action.

They rejoined their comrades out in the open as they assaulted each machine gun nest, hurled grenades and took one bloody position after another, often after fighting at arm’s length. Only then, after nearly an hour’s worth of battle, did the fighting start to die down and some semblance of order begin to return through the smell of smoke and battle, when casualties began to be tended to.

Over 70 men had fallen. Those wounded and unable to walk were placed on a sled and drug to a monument called Calvary’s Cross, some 700 yards away, where they could be worked on in peace, and evacuated by relief forces. At 0800 hours Otway sat on the steps of the monument and determined, with the objective neutralized, that it was time to set out for their secondary objective. He gave orders to muster and head-out for the nearby village of La Plein. Here, they attempted to clear out the German garrison, but only managed to take half the village due to the fact there were only 75 or so Paras still able to fight. They had no alternative but to wait until reinforcements arrived before completely clearing it.

With the guns out of action and the British gone, a group of Germans snuck back in and reoccupied the battery. At first light, they could see the majestic invasion fleet stretching the horizon off Sword beach. However, attempts to get all four batteries back in operation proved fruitless. They did manage to get two of the guns into action, but were unable to provide accurate fire. With this occurrence, the batteries’ contribution to the Atlantic wall ultimately proved ineffective.

The British didn’t know this at the time and assumed the battery could still pose problems if left alone. On June 7, a commando attack was attempted and repulsed, allowing the Germans to hold the position until August 17, not as defenders, but as castaways from the battle of Normandy which raged all around them. They finally withdrew with the remainder of the German Army and the war as it sped out of France toward the German border, leaving the battered compound mute and only visited occasionally by servicemen interested in the story of the battle.

After the war, the events at Merville grew in importance, and the site has since become a museum. The place is essential to those wanting to know the complete story of D-Day. I know because I was able to walk the grounds where Otway’s men fought in 2010. The area and structures are impressive and highly recommended. Colonel Otway, in fact, returned on numerous occasions, sometimes asking tourists sitting near the batteries having a picnic to please move it elsewhere because as he puts it: “I don’t want people eating and drinking where my men died.” Even as the German commander of the battery who also survived the war extended his hand in friendship in 1993, Otway hesitated before taking it, commenting that he just couldn’t get the thought of his dead men, men he later found hanging in trees and still in their parachutes, out of his mind.

PP-19 Bizon: Scorpion Of The Motherland

Submachine guns had been Russia’s forte’ during the Second World War, when several million copies were produced of the PPSH-41 and PPS-43 variants. With millions available, tactician’s found that employment of such weapons spurred creation of a new doctrine of warfare, where firepower was favored over accuracy.

This innovation would peak with the development of the AK-47 assault rifle, which, for all but the most specialized operations, caused the phase-out of Russia’s pistol caliber automatic weapons. From then on, the assault rifle would rule Russian thinking for the future, leaving revival of any new submachine guns remote and almost in the realm of fantasy.

Interest in submachine guns waned until the early 1990s, when Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) sent out a request for a weapon specified for use by counter terrorism or law enforcement teams who needed a small, but accurate, firearm for close quarters combat. For the first time in decades, one of the requirements was that it fire a pistol cartridge.

In the arms-producing city of Izhmash, home of the AK-47, Victor Kalashnikov, son of Mikhail, led a design team to meet the requirements. This team included Alexi Dragunov, son of Evgeny, who designed the SVD sniper rifle. Beginning in 1993 and ending in 1995, they worked on a design, submitted it, and watched it compete against others for adoption. After being chosen the winner, the weapon was type-classified as the PP-19 ‘Bizon’ in 9x18mm Makarov caliber.

The Bizon featured commonality with the AK series, while incorporating a unique feed system almost unheard of in firearms. Looking at the gun externally, the roots in the AK are obvious. The left-folding metal stock is the same as the AK-74, and the sheet metal receiver is a derivative as well. A base to affix mounts for optical sights sits on the left side of the receiver, and the iron sights feature a rear notch reading 50 and 100 meters, and a round post for the front. Internally, the bolt carrier is the same, but the piston rod and rotary bolt are gone as the weapon operates by simple blowback instead of gas.

As stated, the feeding system is unique in that, instead of a box, it is a nylon tube that rides forward of the magazine release and ends under the front sight. 64 9×18 mm rounds feed nose-forward in a helix pattern, front to rear, before entering the receiver. Complex as it may seem, it cannot be loaded incorrectly, and the system is well thought-out as it eliminates the hang of a box magazine, allowing the gun to be more easily concealed.

The Bizon has a length of 26 inches with the stock unfolded, and 16.7 inches folded. It features a 7.7-inch barrel, and unloaded, it weighs 4.6 pounds. These are the primary features of the basic gun. The Russians went on to develop the Bizon further and designated the original the Bizon-1.

Next to come was the -2 model, with improved sights and a revised flash hider to accept a quick-detach suppressor. The -2 model is offered in eight variations, with calibers from 9mm (53 rd capacity), 380 ACP (64 rd. capacity), and 7.62X25mm Tokarev (standard 35 round magazine). Different barrel lengths are available as well. Those who wish for something more unusual can choose an internally suppressed 9×18 variant, if necessary.

The latest model, the Bizon -3, features perhaps the most radical modification seen, with a stock that folds over the top of the receiver and threaded barrels able to be tailored with a variety of devices for missions such as flash hiders, compensators and suppressors.

Issued to MVD forces as well as FSB Vympel and Alpha teams, the Bizon first went into combat in Chechnya during the 1990s, and has played an important though covert role in Russia’s internal conflicts ever since. With the current crisis in the Ukraine, the Bizon is sure to be staying warm either from use or from snuggling unseen in the coats of agents.

The De Lisle Carbine: Forgotten Reaper

British Air Ministry engineer William Godfray De Lisle came up with the concept of an integrally suppressed rifle while working at home in 1942. He created a prototype chambered in .22 caliber and based on a Browning semi-automatic rifle to hunt small animals for food. After much success, he realized the extreme quiet of the rifle might fulfill his intended role for it, after all… Killing men.

In early 1943, he informed Sir Malcolm Campbell, head of the secretive Combined Operations, of his invention, and Campbell suggested an interesting way to demonstrate it – in the open with unsuspecting people around.

From the roof of a building overlooking the river Thames in London, De Lisle fired several shots into the water as people strode by on sidewalks. Campbell watched with interest to see if anyone heard the shots. None did. The weapon found a buyer right then. First, though, there needed to be improvements.

Combined Operations wanted a more potent caliber. Shunning rifle cartridges, a 9mm, the standard British and German pistol round, sounded right. De Lisle disagreed and suggested something larger: the U.S. .45 caliber pistol round. Denied, he created the 9mm version based on the standard Lee-Enfield bolt action. Subsequent testing showed reliability problems with the 9mm, and De Lisle, still insisting the .45 caliber the optimum choice, at last won over the officials and built the next version. This time, the tests went much better, and established the De Lisle carbine as one of the quietest firearms in history.

35 inches long and weighing 7.8 pounds from stock to action, the carbine looked like a miniaturized Lee-Enfield rifle, then standard-issue in the British army. That is where similarities ended, for starting at the barrel, everything changed

De Lisle used a Thompson submachine gun barrel cut down to 8 inches, and ported it from the front of the chamber to almost the end of the bore. This bled gas from the already subsonic .45 bullet to where it emerged from the barrel still at lethal velocity, but without muzzle flash and almost without sound.

To give an idea of just how quiet it was, working the bolt to extract and chamber a fresh round made much more noise. The primary reason for this ability was the size of its silencer, a 2 inch diameter tube which extended well beyond the 8 inch barrel, to make up than half the length of the weapon. A forearm, which, like the stock, was made of wood, extended partway under the silencer and enabled the carbine to be handled like a rifle.

Feeding came from modified 7 or 11 round M1911A1 magazines. In testing, using the weapon’s iron sights gave the .45 round round gave adequate accuracy out to 50 meters, its most effective accurate range. Theoretically, 200 meters was the stated maximum distance, but all knew that was wishful thinking with the .45. Besides, 50 meters was more than good enough for man-sized targets, and, even more important, the weapon still remained inaudible at that distance.

Combined Operations requested a small production run soon after trials, and Ford-Dagenham factory hand-built the first 17 examples under DeLisle’s direction. Once test fired, the guns were packed and sent off to their first users, the Commandos

Initial reports from the field touted its efficiency. They did not realize it, but the De Lisle, along with the crude Welrod pistol, another purpose-built silenced model, gave the British the most efficient tools for clandestine killing the world had ever seen.

The 17 carbines continued service into 1944, when Sterling Armaments Company received a further order for 500. More improvements were made as well, though in the end only about 130 of the order saw production. Despite the low number, Special Operations Executive agents and Jedburgh teams obtained some of the guns, and it is known that two senior German officers, maybe its highest profile victims, were killed with one at some point in the year. And Europe was not the only place it harvested bodies.

In Burma, still only available in handfuls, the S.O.E. and S.A.S. employed them well, killing numerous Japanese sentries, and enabling missions, at least during the opening phase, to proceed quietly.

Meanwhile, back in Britain, work on a final model before the end of the war entered prototype stage for airborne forces. The salient feature of this version was its folding stock. But the war’s end meant this variant never saw production, and the future of all De Lisle carbines was in doubt. The surviving examples lay dormant in armories used by the S.A.S and MI-6 when some were recalled to service in Korea, the Malayan emergency, The Troubles in Northern Ireland, and perhaps classified operations into the 1980s. Apart from photographs taken during World War II, only a few exist showing use beyond that, which plays into it and the Welrod’s reputation as tools for covert special killing.

The De Lisle shall remain an oddity. Few were made, ensuring that it stays a little-known weapon outside of WWII history books, where even there, it receives rare mention. While never a firearm expected to compete with the likes of a Garand, STEN, or Mauser, in its role it did the job, and according to those who used it, did it well.

When Recon Team Python ruled the Valley of Death

Situated in the northwestern portion of South Vietnam, along the border with Laos, lies the A Shau Valley. At 25 miles long and one mile wide, A Shau the valley consists of tall and thick elephant grass flanked on either side by steep mountain ranges, dense with jungle, that rise between 3,000 and 6,000 feet.

During the Vietnam War, this area was a key entry point of men and matériel being funneled along the Ho Chi Minh Trail from North Vietnam. For this, numerous battles took place from the start of the American involvement to its end, with the most notable being, perhaps, the bloody assault in May, 1969, of Hill 937 by the 101st Airborne Division, which later became famous as “Hamburger Hill,” due to the tremendous amount of casualties suffered.

Even before that though, the area had received the apt nickname “Valley of Death.” And both sides knew that whenever they dared to venture into the area, no matter what size unit they belonged to or commanded, they were guaranteed a tough fight. For this reason, neither opponent could ever claimed the A Shau for any length of time. Those who tried to stay put had to be battalion-sized or larger before they two were pulled out, usually with heavy casualties.

In the case of the U.S., when these larger units were absent from trying to sweep the area, they kept eyes on the place as best they could by launching numerous reconnaissance missions with Rangers and Special Forces personnel to monitor enemy strength and movements. Due to their small size, these teams often tempted fate, sometimes being pulled out just after they landed, or managing to complete several days’ worth of information gathering before extracting.

In either case, no one bothered to stick around one minute longer than necessary for fear of being overrun. Except for one team that landed on a mountain peak and deliberately hung around as bait, endured two days’ worth of constant enemy assaults and artillery barrages, yet never budged. They were called Recon Team Python, or RT Python for short.

As part of the secret Studies and Observation Group (SOG), RT Python was one of six SOG teams selected to support Lam Son 719, the three-division South Vietnamese Army invasion of Laos on February 8, 1971 to destroy North Vietnamese Army (NVA) stockpiles and cut the Ho Chi Minh trail. These teams would land in the A Shau Valley and attempt to divert North Vietnamese units in the area.

According to intelligence, among the large enemy presence there, were many counter recon teams specially trained to hunt down the seasoned Green Berets and indigenous forces that operated in SOG These men knew the NVA had placed them in high regard for years due to their effectiveness. A rich bounty awaited the lucky ones who could wipe out a group or take one alive. Doing so would mean they had triumphed over the best jungle fighters in the world, and in the A Shau Valley, nowhere were they more eager to prove it.

Commanded by Captain Jim Butler, known by the designation One-Zero, or leader, along with his second-in-command, or One-One, Staff Sergeant Leslie Chapman, RT Python’s fourteen-man unit boarded two Hueys on the morning of February 18, and lumbered into the sky bound for that deadly AO, or Area of Operation. They came prepared, with a little extra. In addition to short-barreled CAR-15 5.56mm carbines, M-79 grenade launchers, hand grenades, claymore and toe popper mines, they carried four M-60 light machine guns with around 5,000 rounds, and a 60mm mortar as well. They intended to set up this arsenal on a peak where the remains of a small firebase known as Thor lay.

Everyone aboard expected action, maybe even before they set down. By this stage of the war, the chance of being shot out of the sky had increased exponentially ever since the majority of American ground forces had withdrawn. Places like the A Shau underwent reinforcement against every possible threat by its new landlords, who now worked almost unhindered. The NVA had little to fear from the South Vietnamese, whose offensives in the area often shattered before they achieved anything. Indeed, the only real threat they still worried about was American air power… and the men of SOG.

After nearing a set of peaks, the pilots located the derelict remains of Thor and flared their birds into a hover. RT Python jumped down onto the sandbags and empty gun pits and scattered amid the whirling dust to assigned positions as the choppers throttled away. Butler was under no illusion – the NVA had to know that something was up. It didn’t matter. He removed an American flag from his pocket, unfurled it and ran it up the wooden pole where it fluttered proudly in a light breeze. It was almost as if RT Python was saying to the NVA, “We’re here, and we’re staying.”

True to Butler’s senses, the NVA did see their arrival. Several patrols received orders to head up through the steep, forested mountain and scour the summit. As they started, RT Python began readying a welcome in the form of 57 Claymores ringing Thor, with the M-60s deployed at four points of the compass.

Firebase Thor, Where RT Python Held Out For Two Days

Contact came a few hours after sunset, when Python heard NVA approaching the perimeter. They detonated the first Claymores at the unseen sounds to shred several enemy and drive the others away with automatic weapons fire. The startled NVA just managed a few shots before retreating back down to the valley.

A couple hours later, a few errant mortar rounds were sent their way, wounding two. Calls for a MEDEVAC revealed none could be sent due to another SOG mission underway. The men patched their wounds while, far below them on the valley floor, they saw vehicle headlights moving, along with flashlights on either side. It seemed business as usual, endless men and supplies streaming into the South, but they knew the NVA would be back. And unknown to Python, they were preparing a battalion of several hundred men along with mortars and recoilless rifles to sweep them off the mountain the next night.

An eerie calm settled over Thor the next day. A few mortar rounds came again but hurt no one. Butler received word that Spectre, the powerful AC-130 gunship would be on station that night. It was reassuring for Python, knowing that Puff The Magic Dragon’s far more powerful descendant would be orbiting above when the NVA returned that night.

When the sun set again, hundreds of NVA began climbing the mountain, spreading out to surround the summit, then rush it. A much heavier mortar barrage whooshed over their heads to cover their approach. Again, more Claymores exploded and the deeper steady drum of the M60s added to the higher pitched reports of the CAR-15s and AK-47s. The 60mm mortar lobbed shells at the highest and closest trajectory, while Spectre sent streams of 20mm and 40mm tracers down into the jungle around Python, tearing away the foliage and any enemy who tried to rush the top. Each time they were stopped, just a few meters away from Python, retreating with more dead to where by the morning, the NVA had to resort to more shelling as a new sight started to take shape. The heavy fire from Spectre meant the bareness of the mountaintop started to extend hundreds of yards down the slopes. This was the first of metamorphosis the mountain would undergo as more ordnance fell upon it.

When the sun rose on the second day, a Covey Rider Forward Air Controller, who was also a fellow SOG Green Beret, appeared overhead and coordinated tactical airstrikes against lines and waves of NVA trying to start back up the slopes. A-1 SkyRaiders, prop-driven Close Air Support, roared in, dropping napalm and strafing to cover most of the mountain in flames and thick black smoke. With exception of the top, the whole mountain disappeared for hours as its landscape was rearranged. Small bands of enemy who somehow made it through were quickly mowed down by Python.

A-1 SkyRaider Close Air Support Aircraft

Vehicle traffic in the area closed down. The smoldering mountain looked like a volcano seeping magma from its sides, as still more napalm exploded to burn and drip among the dead and dying enemy.

The remainder of the battalion received more reinforcements and cut loose with their most intense shelling yet. Several of Python’s men were wounded, but still, none evacuated. The Covey Rider called in more air assets, including Huey Cobras, and prepared for another wave.

At around 8:30a.m., through the smoke and gasoline smell of the napalm, the NVA charged in their largest assault. Hundreds emerged shouting and firing AKs from the hip, just as Python opened up. Throngs of enemy fell, but more got closer. Chapman saw a Montagnard get hit and roll down the slope a ways. He rose from his position and leaped over the edge, sliding down the embankment, firing his carbine to kill four NVA who suddenly appeared a few feet away. He retrieved the wounded ‘Yard, threw him over a shoulder, climbed back up to safety and resumed firing.

Butler knew they were on borrowed time, so he lowered the flag, requested extraction and received word two choppers were inbound. The Cobras rocketed and strafed in ever widening circles around the firebase, the pilots able to see the little band of men at the top bravely returning fire in all directions against an enemy who seemed endless.

From one direction, NVA stormed to within a few yards, this time starting to keep Python pinned down as they prepared to charge one final time and crest the summit. Grenades and automatic weapons kept them at bay long enough for choppers to emerge from the smoke and speed by just above their heads to rear back and hover above the ground. Python’s men piled aboard in record time just as the NVA started to come over the top.

Then, Covey Rider heard something no one wanted to hear.

“We’ve still got a man on the ground!”

Immediately, Covey Rider brought his bird in, feigning strafing and bombing runs as another Huey dove down to pick up the man. As bullets peppered its sides, the man crawled aboard and the pilot tilted his bird forward and climbed away over the smoke. Thor disappeared behind them, consumed by the raging enemy who, to their extreme displeasure, found no dead to mutilate or wounded to torture.

All of RT Python survived the Valley Of Death. Even better, they could say they ruled it for a brief period. Proof of this was at Firebase Thor, where large and small batches of over 300 enemy dead lay encircling it. It is also confirmed, on top of this, that Python alone killed an additional 42 NVA in their 48 hours on the ground. Forever unknown, the actual total number is likely far greater.

Weeks Later, after headquarters read of Chapman’s braving enemy fire to recover the wounded ‘Yard, the Staff Sergeant was called to attention in front of his unit as the Distinguished Service Cross was awarded to him.

Sadly, though their diversion worked, the great offensive of Lam Son 719 did not, and the South Vietnamese army’s first test of going it alone on the ground proved an unmitigated disaster. Its ordeal became a grim prediction of what lay in store for the country a little more than four years later.

SMAW: The Big Stick of the Corps

Israel’s B-300 provided the basis that evolved into the SMAW (Shoulder launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon), first fielded by the United States Marine Corps in 1984. Versatile, with a lot of punch as a support weapon, seven years later it saw first combat during Operation Desert Storm, and proved even more useful since the War on Terror began in 2001. Prized for its ability to take out buildings, houses and other structures at 500 meters, the SMAW has spawned a number of evolutionary improvements.

Sporting a diameter of 83mm and a length of 29.9 inches unloaded, and 54 inches loaded, the SMAW originally came in a package weighing 16.9 pounds without rocket, and 34-35 pounds with. The SMAW is a two part system comprising a launch tube made of fiberglass epoxy that is loaded by attaching encased rounds at the rear.

The two primary rounds available are the High Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP) Mark 3 and High Explosive Anti-Armor (HEAA) Mark 6 rockets. The Mk3 round can penetrate 7.9 inches of concrete, 12 inches of brick or up to 6.9 feet of wood-reinforced sandbags. The Mk6 uses a standoff rod to focus the explosive on a small point, helping penetration. Reportedly, it can slice through 24 inches of cold rolled homogenous steel with little difficulty. When fired, both rockets leave the tube at a velocity of about 720 feet per second and provide one of the loudest discharges on the battlefield.

To ensure the projectile’s accuracy, the sights provided were standard iron or both day or night optical. The firer used a 9mm magazine-fed spotting rifle affixed to the tube and matched to the SMAW’s round to get the proper range to ensure first-round hits. Once fired, the empty case was removed and another placed back in the tube. This was standard procedure for the entire range of the SMAW family, save for the disposable version, the 32 inch, 15.7 pound SMAW-D or M141 Bunker Defeat Munition, which used the HEDP round.

As good as the SMAW performed, the Corps felt there was room for improvements and in 2008 the SMAW II emerged, along with a new encased round permitting firing from enclosed areas. The SMAW II’s primary difference is in its launcher weight, at a svelte 11.7 pounds. Combined with a round, this brings its weight to just over 30 pounds, depending on the warhead.

Still another upgraded version of SMAW II became available in 2012. Dubbed the SMAW II Serpent, this improvement replaced the spotting rifle with a much more effective electronic fire control system enclosed in a roll cage. The cage also serves as a carrying handle for a launcher that increasingly uses a new and improved round available for the entire SMAW family.

Known as the Novel Explosive round, it has provided fantastic results when used against bunkers, caves and buildings. Essentially an anti-structure munition, it uses thermobaric effects of heat and over-pressure to completely destroy such installations, rarely leaving survivors. Developed by the Naval Surface Warfare center in conjunction with Marine Corps Systems Command, it first went into action at Fallujah in 2004 and continues wreaking havoc against insurgents today.

However great its abilities though, the SMAW still finds its home in only three militaries. Apart from the USMC, with some interest from the U.S Army, it has been exported to just two countries, Lebanon and Taiwan. Part of the reason may be due to the wide selection of similar systems from other nations, such as Russia with its RPG-29, and Sweden with the 84mm Carl Gustav, for example. Whatever the cause is, the SMAW family will continue to pull rank in USMC infantry support units until a suitable replacement, probably one with a reloadable fire-and-forget guided ability, is found.

The VSS Vintorez: Whisper Of Spetsnaz

As the Sochi Olympics in Russia approaches, there is sure to be one firearm finding employment behind the scenes against known and perceived threats wanting to interrupt Vladimir Putin’s showcase to the world. It’s an unusual looking selective-fire weapon called the VSS (Vintovka Snayperskay Spetsialnaya), or Special Sniper Rifle.

In use since 1987, the Vintovka Snayperskay Spetsialnaya finds its home in Special Forces, conducting clandestine missions when targets need to be taken out from close range up to distances of 400 meters. Nicknamed the ‘Vintorez,’ or thread cutter, it’s an extremely effective design, and uses two important elements that enable it to live up to its role as a silent killer.

Chief among these is the way the VSS is designed. Featuring a short 7.9 inch barrel, with holes strategically located to bleed off gas into a suppressor, it helps keep the discharge virtually silent, save for the movement of the action when subsonic rounds, the preferred projectile, are used. A piston action derived from a little-known rifle, called the AS, ensures a reliable operation and limits fouling, a common byproduct in suppressed weapons.

Another is the round itself. The 9x39mm cartridge appeared at nearly the same time as the VSS, which uses a 7.62x39mm AK-47 case with a widened neck to accommodate the larger and much heavier projectile. Despite using the same diameter bullet as many Western pistols, it should not be compared as it is essentially a slow moving subsonic rifle round that is much heavier and lethal at greater distances.

Currently, the VSS uses the most widely available variant of the round, designated the SP–5, a 250-grain bullet traveling at 1,000 fps and equipped with a hardened penetrator, which is capable of penetrating 6mm of steel plate at 100 meters, and a standard Russian army helmet out to 500 meters. These stubby rounds ride in 10- or 20-round box magazines that provides operators fast follow-up shots with a type of round absent of sonic boom and muzzle flash. This makes the operator difficult to locate and even more so as range increases.

Of course, when engaging at hundreds of meters a decent scope is necessary, and for this the PSO family of glass is used. Made famous on the Dragunov SVD sniper rifle, varying magnifications up to 9x power are available Most often though, a 4x power variant is sufficient enough and attaches to a rail that connects to the left side of the receiver. Also if needed, a night vision scope may be mounted in tandem, and both can be detached and backup iron sights used in case of emergency.

The gun also takes another inspiration from the SVD, by using a shorter skeletonized wooden stock that limits its length to just 32 inches and helps keep the weight at just 5.7 pounds.

It is known that Russia first combat-tested the VSS during the final days of its Afghan involvement in the 1980s, and since then it has served with distinction through Chechnya wars beginning in the mid-90s, and more recently in the South Ossetia conflict in 2008, as well as the last few weeks against Muslim extremists in Dagestan.

No one will ever know just how many enemies of the motherland have fallen to the Vintovka Snayperskay Spetsialnaya, but it’s safe to say it will continue its work far into the future providing, Russia’s answer to all those who threaten her. Roundly appreciated by Spetsnaz and MVD internal troops, it’s a classic example of the perfect weapon for ‘Black Operations,’ and shows just how willing Russia is to bloody its hands whenever the need arises, and speak only in a whisper.

The Terrible Ones: South Africa’s ’32 Battalion’

I had followed 32 Battalion’s exploits throughout the 1980s in Soldier of Fortune magazine when they embedded journalists to go on missions and conduct interviews with the fabled unit. I remembered reading about their effectiveness in the field against their primary enemy at the time, which was communist Southwest Africa People’s Organization, or SWAPO, a guerilla unit that found themselves time and again, supremely outclassed by these remarkable men. 32 Battalion battered SWAPO so badly on the plains and in the jungles of what is now Namibia, that SWAPO’s fighting abilities in comparison were little more than an embarrassment. No matter how hard they tried to best ’32’, the end result was always the same: Dead insurgents and their AK-47s placed in piles after an ambush by what would become the most highly decorated, and controversial, unit of apartheid South Africa’s war on communism.

32 Battalion’s origins actually began, not as a recruitment of South African soldiers, but mercenaries from the Angolan Civil War. That war ended in 1975, after the Communists (FAPLA) seized power and the remnants of an opposing force known as the FNLA sought refuge in other nearby countries, with many heading into South Africa in hopes of finding support and continuing the struggle.

That same year, FNLA requests found the sympathetic ear of Colonel Jan Breytenbach of the South African Special Forces Brigade, who asked and received permission to form a unit around the displaced fighters, called Bravo Group. Yet, despite the unit’s foreigners pledging allegiance to South Africa, changing minds up the chain of command almost destroyed the unit before it got off the ground. After much persuading and Breytenbach’s refusal to abandon them, the detachment was allowed to not only exist, but to grow until it contained two rifle companies, a machine gun platoon, a motor platoon, an antitank section and reconnaissance section. In all, this amounted to about 600 men, both black and white filling its ranks.

After meeting this roster, the unit deployed into Southwest Africa and, occasionally, Angola itself as a kind of fire brigade using conventional and unconventional techniques to engage the communist factions, who ultimately desired to bring the anvil of totalitarianism down upon South Africa. These involved FAPLA, their Cuban mentors, as well as the unit which they would decimate almost as a sport in the coming years, the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO). They fought these factions for 15 years and involved many operations, some joint with other forces and some alone, like their most famous mission that occurred in 1980.

With the arrival of the new decade, for many of ’32’s members there remained a great desire to renew efforts in Angola. Still angry that they lost, they did not intend to let the country grow in strength and export its brand of utopia toward South Africa’s border. When a unique military situation presented itself in their former country, they were all too happy to return as part of Operation Tiro A Tiro, a campaign against a major FAPLA base at Savate, 47 miles across the border on the Cubango river.

By this stage of the game, Angola’s communists had caused another significant challenge to their authority, one that resided within the country. It was called UNITA, and was created under the leadership of Doctor Jonas Savimbi. And since its inception, this guerrilla force often operated hand-in-hand with South African Defense Forces to keep the Angolan military busy. So busy in fact, they scored huge victories that put the southern region of the country at risk to come under their control. They needed help to ensure this, and 32 Battalion got the call to wipe out what was left of one of FAPLA’s strongest holdouts

A plan was finalized to go conventional and use two rifle companies (with one being held in reserve) for the main attack and securing of the base, while reconnaissance teams and a mortar platoon would provide cover and operate as a blocking force. As is typical in these types of operations, surprise was crucial, and no air support would be provided.

On May 15, at the Battalion’s forward operating base in Ovamboland, Namibia, the force, consisting of 270 men in total, boarded armored personnel carriers and heavy trucks to head into southern Angola for the drop-off point.

For the next several days, the convoy navigated toward Savate, frequently using reconnaissance units to report changes in troop strength and vehicles at the base. As they got closer, the recon teams used Kayaks to travel both downstream and upstream on the Cubango river to give the latest conditions. Once all the information was gathered, the two rifle companies disembarked from their vehicles three miles away, and attacked the main encampment at approximately 0900 hours on May 21, under the cover of a mortar barrage. The fighting was fierce and fast-paced as the two companies approached from two different directions and swept through the startled garrison, while another unit attacked something just as vital nearby – an airfield. After some four hours of combat, including moments when FAPLA fired rocket artillery in vain to stave off the battle’s outcome, the objectives were realized. FAPLA was evicted and put on the run, with over 500 killed and wounded, while ’32’ suffered 13 killed and 22 wounded in fighting a force over four times its size.

After a UNITA occupying force arrived, the battle-weary men boarded their vehicles and headed back toward Namibia, unaware they had scored one of the greatest victories in the history of South Africa. Today, May 21 is viewed with reverence as ‘Savate Day’ by former members of the Battalion, and celebrations have been held for this momentous event in their history.

After Savate, the Battalion continued hit-and-run raids into Angola, but diverted more of their time toward the other threat that kept pestering them… SWAPO.

SWAPO’s intent was to remake Namibia in the image of Angola, using that country as a base of operations High on hope. They operated in mostly small units, using terror tactics for which 32 Battalion proceeded to hunt them down mercilessly. All ’32’ had to do in many cases was deploy their secret weapon: seasoned trackers, the kind of men who knew the African bush better than any man or animal in the world.

Raised in the art from birth and superior to a bloodhound, they picked up the slightest variance of disturbance on the ground and led ambush teams to encampments where many of the guerrillas were killed as they slept. To blend in, white members of the ambush teams painted all exposed skin black so as to not give away the units type at a distance if watched during the day.

All of these tactics paid off, for during this time 32 Battalion suffered minor losses, while SWAPO by the end of the 1980s was having to force unwilling villagers by gunpoint into their ranks. Enemy propaganda often called 32 Battalion ‘The Terrible Ones’ for their brutal efficiency, and the bullet ridden corpses of SWAPO members served as poster children for this.

A classic case of the other side actually unknowingly telling the truth, the Buffalo Battalion, as it was called in South Africa, blossomed into masters of counterinsurgency, but still was able to answer the call one final time as a conventional force, when it ventured back into Angola in numbers to participate in the 1987/88 battle of Cuito Cuanavale. This was a time when another incursion was needed to stop one of FAPLA’s last attempts to destroy UNITA and deny the barren SWAPO’s use of staging areas. The battle ended up raging six months, and was the largest battle on the continent since World War II. The outcome was UNITA surviving, SWAPO losing its staging areas and FAPLA suffering its greatest defeat. Once more, 32 Battalion added another streamer and bucket loads of medals to its history as the decade ended, with Communism beginning to retreat all over Africa.

The 1990s saw 32 Battalion larger in size but less in action due to Namibian independence in 1989 and the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. At that point in South Africa’s history, it seemed nothing could tarnish its accomplishments. That was until April 8, 1992, a day that sealed the Battalion’s fate forever, by writing its epitaph in the blood of innocents.

In a town called Phola Park, 32 Battalion was deployed and ended up using live ammunition against several civilians. Images of the dead played all over television and South Africa, going through a touchy transition to the Mandela and African National Congress era, and a commission was ordered to investigate. The findings concluded that an atrocity had been perpetrated, and the unit was ordered disbanded on March 26, 1993, its fantastic record forgotten and members shunned, to be praised and recalled only by those who served within its ranks, one of the greatest fighting forces in the history of the continent.

The MG-3: The Old Wolf That Still Growls

By the end of the First World War, rifle caliber machine gun could be defined in two categories. One was the tripod mounted water-cooled Maxim/Vickers series, of German and British origin whose effectiveness was best used in static or fixed positions along with plenty of support. The other was the relative newcomer, the air cooled light machine gun like the superb Lewis gun from America a pan fed design and the quite dreadful and unreliable magazine fed contraption called the Chaut Chaut from France. These weapons represented some of the most well-known types at the time, and suggested that the evolution of the machine gun would continue as two established kinds useful for different roles.

This evolution reached an important milestone when Germany began rebuilding and rearming its armed forces in the early 1930’s. Small arms designers were requested to create a new weapon that combined the best attributes of the two categories into a single effective system that permitted little trade-offs and would answer the needs of all fire support. Known as the Einheits MaschinenGewehr, (Universal Machine Gun), the development spawned several ideas, and prototypes were submitted for testing.

Of all the different variants though, the one that made it into production was the MaschinenGewehr (Machine Gun) 34, a design by Heinrich Vollmer of Mauser Werke. Once it began distribution to the army, its reputation quickly grew among those assigned to it. To them it was something truly unique.

Featuring a long, skinny perforated cooling jacket, a milled receiver and wooden stock, the MG 34 was every machine gunner’s dream. It was maneuverable, accurate, and important to the operator, clocked in at a relatively light weight 26.6 pounds which was easy on the shoulders when carrying it.

It was short recoil operated, and spewed 7.92 mm x 57 mm (8mm Mauser) bullets at a cyclic rate of 800 – 900 rounds per minute. It featured a double crescent trigger, which allowed semi or full auto by manipulating the finger. It could be fed by a 75 round drum or more commonly, non-disintegrating cloth or metallic belts which came in 250 round ammunition boxes. The belts could also be delinked to provide a shorter train of rounds for easier employment and were called teaser or starter belts in order to fire initial rounds to keep enemies head down as the gunner established his position and more rounds were linked.

Another novel feature was its quick change barrel. In a time when machine gun barrels most often had to be unscrewed with tools that not only proved time-consuming but dangerous under fire, the MG 34’s operator simply depressed latch and swung the receiver to the side allowing the barrel to pop out. He could have another barrel in and be firing in 10 seconds or less. These qualities convinced the Germans they had a winner on their hands to the point they equipped each 10 man squad with an MG34. Placing a belt fed automatic weapon at squad level was unheard of at the time and soon proved its validity when the Nazi’s assisted Spain during its civil war in 1937 and started World War II in 1939.

Despite its cheaper construction of stamped steel and looser tolerances between moving parts, at only 250 Reichsmarks cost, the gun was nothing short of a magnificent improvement over its predecessor. It took only 75 hours to make, utilized a new roller delayed blowback operating system, and a simpler barrel change which allowed experienced users to pop barrels out the right side and replace in under 7 seconds. It needed the feature, for it had a prodigious cyclic rate of up to 1200 rounds per minute. Such was the speed that the explosion of each cartridge in the chamber became indiscernible and melded into one gigantic roar.

The first units were shipped to Russia for field testing in early 1942, and it was clear that a new master of infantry firepower had arrived.For all the MG34’s accolades however, there were issues. Less than two years into the war concerns began to be raised about the MG 34’s future due to production costs and more importantly reliability in combat. On the production front, the gun was expensive at 327 Reichsmarks and time-consuming at 150 man hours to make. There were calls even before the war for something cheaper, easier to machine and from a field standpoint, something less sensitive to jamming in extreme conditions.

Once again , prototypes were submitted for testing and one of these made by Grossfus, AG., a company ironically, that made lanterns with no experience in firearms manufacturing, saw their design finish first and become designated the MG39/41 then with modifications, MG 42.

The MG 42 began stacking bodies by the masses on the Eastern Front and got into action just as soon in the deserts of North Africa against the British and Americans. Witnesses who heard it described it as sounding like canvas being ripped. Soon nicknames for it began to appear such as ‘Hitler’s Zipper’ or ‘Hitler’s Buzz Saw.’ Whenever one of the guns barked it sent fear into the hearts of green soldiers who sometimes had a hard time advancing when called to outflank it. And it was not a minor problem either. Such was the fear of it that the United States Army produced a training film trying to ease the nervousness of new infantrymen. It played on the fact that its high rate of fire didn’t necessarily mean effectiveness and that the American machine guns, though firing at a cyclic rate of up to one third less, were just as good. The gun’s “bark was worse than its bite,” they were told. That is until they got into combat and realized its bark drew far more blood than they imagined.

Perhaps nowhere else was this proven more than in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944 on a 4 1/2 a half mile stretch of beach codenamed ‘Omaha.’

Situated on the bluffs protecting four draws that allowed exits from the beach, there were 85 machine gun positions of which the overwhelming majority was MG 42’s. These nests were arranged so they could provide the most effective way to inflict heavy casualties. A crossfire pattern. From the moment the first ramps of landing craft dropped the air roared with the distinctiveness ripping sound cutting through ranks of brave soldiers, many of them wading waist high through the water only to be cut down before they could ever reach the sand.

And those that did make it across were treated with the sight of hundreds of bodies with multiple holes stretching the beach. It was a preview of the carnage that would echo daily amid the hedgerows and fields of the Normandy campaign for over nearly two months before the allies broke out and drove the battered German army back into its homeland. And with the exception of the German offensives like the Battle of the Bulge and operation ‘ NordWind’ at last the MG 42, was corralled and relegated to defending ever decreasing bits of territory until the last belt was fed and one of the world’s worst regimes was no more.

Still, the gun lived on.

In the postwar reconstruction of Germany. Most wartime weapons as well as their design plans were scrapped as the world transitioned from the nightmare of the past into the struggles of the Cold War. Finding exception to this was the MG 42, which found new life being re-chambered into the standardized 7.62 x 51 mm NATO round, undergoing some slight modifications and transitioning through the designations of MG1, MG2, and finally, the MG-3.

Produced by Rheinmetall, the MG-3 has gone on to serve with over 35 countries and has seen combat on virtually every continent, and for the most part, with the armies of democratic countries, right up to the War on Terror. Beyond this, it can be expected to serve for many more years with its distinctive silhouette no longer dispensing judgment on behalf of a dictator, but as a wolf growling in defense of the free world.

RPG-7: The Devil’s Lance

Apart from the AK-47, no other weapon has graced the world’s television screens more in modern times, than the RPG-7. Officially known in Russian as the Reaktivnoi Protivotankovii Granatomet (Hand antitank granade launcher), the slender hollow tube with its conical rear and oversized diamond shaped warhead continues to play just as an important role in today’s warfare as its small arms comrade. And just like the AK, the reason for this is simple – it’s an easy to operate, reliable, and brutally effective weapon capable of taking out just about all but the latest in modern armor. The RPG-7 has established itself as the most dominant shoulder-fired antitank system in the world, and can be expected to continue its reign of destruction well into the coming decades.

The RPG-7 was first introduced Soviet Army service in 1962. It used a design which, like most weapons of that era, could trace its origins to the Second World War, when the Germans began employing simple, cheap and disposable recoilless launchers with an oversized warhead called Panzerfausts.

Consisting of nothing more than a hollow tube with a propellant stick attached to a semi-hemispherical High Explosive AntiTank shaped charge (HEAT), Panzerfausts were employed with great success against Allied armor as they closed in on the Third Reich. Its design allowed thousands of ill-trained boys and old men of the last ditch VolkSturm units an instant ability to take out tanks and caused great concern whenever armor operated in confined areas, such as forests or cities. In fact, so disgusted were the Americans at a German technique of destroying a tank, then throwing away the launcher to surrender, that they ordered anyone doing so shot regardless of whether they had their hands up or waved a white flag.

Panzerfaust (Courtesy: WW2DB.com) — Panzerfaust (Courtesy WW2DB.com)

Initially, the Panzerfausts were extremely short range (30 meters), but were worked-up over time by using stronger propellants to 60, 100, 150 and even a 250 meter variant. After the Soviets encountered the first versions, they immediately went to work during the conflict trying to come up with their own design, with a primary feature being that it would be reloadable.

The first prototypes were created in 1944 and called the LPG–44. The LPG-44 had a 30mm diameter launcher and weighed 4.4 pounds unloaded, and could fire a PG-70 70mm diameter HEAT round. This weapon later received the designation RPG-1, and had a maximum range of 75 meters. Its penetration of 150mm of steel was less than that of the Panzerfaust though, and eventually it was cancelled in 1948.

The next evolution was the RPG-2. Externally, it was similar in size to the RPG-1, but featured some refinements. Most important was a larger 40mm tube (6.4 lbs unloaded), and an 80mm warhead designated the PG-2. It had double the range, at 150 meters, and fired at a flatter trajectory, giving greater accuracy. It also could penetrate more armor at 200mm. Its widespread deployment began in 1954, and this launcher, coincidentally, would be the primary weapon used by the North Vietnamese Army and the Vietcong in the early stages of the Vietnam War against the U.S. Also, many more were Chinese manufactured versions and designated the B40. In theatre, this moniker ended up being used just as often as the word RPG when describing antitank weapons used by the insurgents.

Still another deadlier version showed up that asserted itself as THE standard by which all others were measured. Not resting on the RPG-2, the U.S.S.R had begun looking for its replacement as early as 1958. The result was the little-known RPG-4, which had a 45mm launcher tube and 83mm warhead. The launcher weighed 10.3 pounds and doubled the range again to 300mm. It could penetrate a little more armor at 220mm and, for the first time in the series, possessed an optical sight. It showed promise, but the RPG-4 quickly disappeared the moment the definitive RPG arrived: the -7 model. This new design, even as it was being developed at the same time, proved far and away better than the -4 model with double the range at 300 meters for point targets, and out to 500 meters for an area target. It too mounted an optical sight which rode on a smaller tube of 40 mm and fired a slightly bigger 85 mm PG -7 HEAT warhead which was capable of penetrating 260 mm of armor.

The standard RPG-7 round, the most widely used variant, and its subsequent improvements share the same basic functions going back to the Panzerfaust. When the round fires, stabilizing fins deploy and impart a slow spin as it streaks through the sky at approximately 965 ft./s. When it impacts a hard surface, a piezoelectric element in the nose crushes and sends an electrical signal through the round to a fuse at the base of explosives positioned behind a hollow copper cone. Once the explosives ignite, it forces the cone to turn itself inside out, shooting forward as a molten, thumb-sized slug of several thousand degrees, where in the case of an armored turret it will bore a similar sized hole through the metal until it reaches the interior. Inside, it ricochets about along with flaming particles at several thousand miles per hour until it loses energy. Anything from metal to flesh is torn asunder, leaving nothing but a charred compartment and human remains so scorched and destroyed that most can be washed out with a hose.

This is how a shaped charge works and it all happens in a fraction of a second. It is a formula that, until advanced ceramics were incorporated into tank armor in the 1970s, forced designers to deal with a vulnerability gap that could be defeated only by designing a tank with such thick armor that its weight left it virtually unable to move. So it was a welcome respite when the much lighter ceramic became available.

There were other targets the RPG proved just as adept at destroying, the kind that remains vulnerable. Helicopters. In this role, Western forces and America in particular have become all-too-familiar with the RPG-7’s ability. Mainly due to the most famous incident of when a couple of RPGs were employed to take down U.S. Army UH 60 Black Hawks hovering over Mogadishu, Somalia in 1993. This episode caused survivors of what was a planned operation to become trapped and forced to engage in some of the toughest close quarters combat seen since the Vietnam War. Later immortalized into a book, then a movie, it became known forever as ‘Blackhawk Down.’

More recently, the RPG-7 was used against U.S. and coalition forces on the streets of Iraq and Afghanistan, with varying results. Most modern western tanks have shown they are capable of enduring multiple RPG hits and continue fighting, while lighter armored vehicles often use wire mesh cages extending around the bodies to prematurely detonate the round, making it far less effective at penetrating.

Where it continues to cause problems, though, is against the helicopter. Specifically in 2011, when ‘Extortion 17’, a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter carrying 38 personnel and a K-9 dog was downed over Afghanistan with what likely was an RPG-7. This encounter remains the largest loss of life suffered by the U.S in a single incident during the War on Terror.

There have been attempts over the years to improve upon the RPG-7 by introducing new designs and much larger warheads. These have been produced in small numbers and have never even begun to replace the standard RPG, which continues to see developments in the warhead area such as fragmentation, thermobaric and even tandem designs to defeat modern sophisticated armor. Nevertheless, the launcher tube itself has remained virtually unchanged since 1962, proving it is a design worthy of merit, like the Kalashnikov. And, at just $300 a copy, the RPG-7 remains the gold standard go-to weapon for a soldier or guerrilla looking to unleash a heavy dose of retail destruction at a wholesale price.

Knife of the Elite: Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knives

Municipal Policemen William Fairbairn and Eric Sykes had no idea that the knife they designed in pre-war China would go on to be adopted by elite fighting forces, and become world famous. Called the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife, their design featured a dagger shape with a grip style commonly found in fencing foils, and was purpose built for surprise and attack. In other words: killing people.

However, when initially produced, the knife simply joined a long line of fighting knives then available to the public with little fanfare. That wa,s until World War II started.

The F-S knife quickly found itself being evaluated by the fledgling British commandos and proved exceptional for their purposes, especially when a few modifications were made. The blade length was increased from 5.5 to 6, and then 7 inches, and the grip was resized. These improvements became known as the first, second and third patterns, respectively.

Under contract, Wilkinson Sword Ltd. began production of the Fairbairn-Sykes in early 1941, and the Commandos carried the knife for the next three years, using it in their many raids on the European mainland and forays in the desert. The knife was ideal for silent sentry removal when stabbing the neck or clavicle and, if necessary, the blade could easily penetrate a woolen greatcoat into a man’s ribcage.

Fairbairn commented on the virtues of the knife in a book called Get Tough!, which was published in 1942:

“In close-quarters fighting there is no more deadly weapon than the knife. In choosing a knife there are two important factors to bear in mind: balance and keenness. The hilt should fit easily in your hand, and the blade should not be so heavy that it tends to drag the hilt from your fingers in a loose grip. It is essential that the blade have a sharp stabbing point and good cutting edges, because an artery torn through (as against a clean cut) tends to contract and stop the bleeding. If a main artery is cleanly severed, the wounded man will quickly lose consciousness and die.”

After the U.S. entered the war and established the Office of Strategic Services for covert and guerilla operations, a variant of the knife was requested, but the bid was too low to be fulfilled by the British. Therefore, it was built in Connecticut by Landers, Frary and Clark Company, only to find out that after 20,000 had been made and distributed that the heat treatment was inferior and caused breakages. This led to its replacement in 1944 by the U.S. M3 fighting knife and a sullied reputation among OSS users, many of whom were unaware that it was heat treating and not the design at fault. The American Rangers were luckier, adopting and carrying the British-manufactured piece into battle.

By that time though, apart from the OSS fiasco, the Fairbairn-Sykes knife had become widely distributed among the British, who used it with relish. And not just Commandos but Airborne, Royal Marine, Chindit and Gurkha units, as well. It was a common tool to be found everywhere among forces of the empire throughout both the Pacific and European theaters of operation, right up to the end of the war. For the Fairbairn-Sykes though, it was just the beginning.

The Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife carried on as a weapon of the Cold War over the mountains of Korea, across the deserts of Oman and into the jungles of Malaysia and Vietnam, almost exclusively with the British S.A.S. Along the way it influenced many other designs, namely the popular American Gerber Mark 2. It is still being built today, though it is no longer in issue to Britain.

For collectors, finding a genuine issue from WW2 and the early postwar years is still possible. Just be prepared to shell out for the authenticity. If one can be obtained, the owner will not only own a piece of history, in many eyes they will possess the very symbol of Special Forces.