59-1053: Knowland is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: George Arthur Knowland VC (1922–1945), English recipient of the Victoria Cross during the Second World War Joe Knowland (1930–2019), actor from Oakland, California Joseph Knowland (1833–1912), father of U.S. Representative Joseph Russell Knowland, grandfather of U.S. Senator William Fife Knowland Joseph R. Knowland (1873–1966), American politician and newspaper publisher Tony Knowland (1919–2006), professor of English literature William F. Knowland (1908–1974), United States politician, newspaperman, and Republican Party leader See also [ edit ] Joseph Knowland State Arboretum and Park , park located in Oakland, California [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with
118-919: A United States Army officer, in 1918. It was designed to break the stalemate of trench warfare of World War I , although early models did not arrive in time for actual combat. The Thompson saw early use by the United States Marine Corps during the Banana Wars , the United States Postal Inspection Service , the Irish Republican Army , the Republic of China , and the FBI following the Kansas City Massacre . The weapon
177-403: A cartridge malfunction ("jam"). Reloading an empty drum with cartridges was a difficult and involved process in which the 50 rounds would be inserted and then the magazine wound up until a minimum of 9 to 11 loud "clicks" were heard before seating the magazine into the weapon. In contrast, the "XX" twenty-round box magazine was light and compact. It tended not to rattle, and could be inserted with
236-598: A federal road in Sergipe was disrupted by armed Cangaçeiros in December 1937 who violently opposed any attempts to build roads near their territory. In 1938, the Thompson submachine gun was adopted by the U.S. military and was used during World War II . There were two military types of Thompson submachine gun: Over 1.5 million military Thompson submachine guns were produced during World War II. Military users of
295-411: A rather heavy trigger pull and a stock with an excessive drop, increases the tendency for the barrel to climb off target in automatic fire. In 1927, the U.S. Navy ordered 500 Thompsons but requested a lower rate of fire. Thompson requested that Payne develop a method of reducing the cyclic rate of fire. Payne then replaced the actuator with a heavier one, and replaced the recoil spring with a stiffer one;
354-530: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles George Arthur Knowland Lieutenant George Arthur Knowland VC (16 August 1922 – 31 January 1945) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross during the Second World War , the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Knowland
413-616: The Battle of Hill 170 where he was to earn the VC. On 31 January 1945 near Kangaw, Burma, Lieutenant Knowland was in command of a forward platoon of a troop which was being heavily attacked – some 300 of the enemy concentrating on his 24 men. During the attacks he moved among the men distributing ammunition and contributing with rifle fire and throwing grenades at the enemy. When the crew of one of his forward Bren light machine guns had been wounded, he rushed forward to man it himself. The enemy
472-664: The Cuban Revolution , the Thompson submachine gun was used by both Batista 's army and Fidel Castro 's guerrillas. Both the latter and the Brigade 2506 also used some during the Bay of Pigs Invasion . During the Vietnam War , some South Vietnamese army units and defense militia were armed with Thompson submachine guns, and a few of these weapons were used by reconnaissance units, advisors, and other American troops. It
531-657: The Democratic Army of Greece were also using Thompson submachine guns, either captured from government forces or inherited from ELAS . ELAS was the strongest of the resistance forces during the period of Greek Resistance against the Germans and Italians and were supplied with arms from both the British and the United States. After the demobilization of ELAS, an unspecified number of arms were not surrendered to
590-752: The Owen and Austen . Thompsons were also given to the Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Australian Navy . In Burma and India, British forces largely replaced the Thompson with the Sten gun . New Zealand commando forces in the South Pacific campaign initially used Thompsons but switched them for the more reliable, lighter, and more accurate Owen during the Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal campaigns. The U.S. Marines also used
649-672: The bolt-action service rifles then in use (such as the American M1903 Springfield ). Thompson came across a patent issued to the American inventor John Bell Blish in 1915, while searching for a way to allow his weapon to operate safely without the complexity of a recoil or gas-operated reloading mechanism. Blish's design (then known as the Blish lock ) was based on the supposed adhesion of inclined metal surfaces under pressure. Thompson gained financial backing from
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#1732780884764708-413: The surname Knowland . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Knowland&oldid=1099615284 " Category : Surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
767-416: The "L" 50-round drum and "XX" 20-round box magazines were tested 6 December 1941, at Fort Knox, Kentucky . An extended thirty-round box magazine and a forty-round magazine, which were made by welding two 20-round magazines face to face, jungle style, were tested. The testers considered both superior to either the "XX" box or "L" drum. The 30-round box was approved as the new standard in December 1941 to replace
826-753: The "XX" and "L" magazines. (The concept of welding two box magazines face-to-face was also carried over to the M42 submachine gun.) The staff of Savage Arms looked for ways to simplify the M1928A1, and produced a prototype in February 1942, which was tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground in March 1942. Army Ordnance approved adoption (as the M1) in April 1942. M1s were made by Savage Arms and by Auto-Ordnance . M1s were issued with
885-500: The .45 ACP cartridge. The Thompson was first used in combat in 13 June 1921, when West Virginia state troopers fired on the mountainside near Lick Creek, where striking miners were firing at passing cars. By the time of the Battle of Blair Mountain , 37 had been acquired by the West Virginia state police and 56 were in the hands of coal companies and local law enforcement. The guns were also shipped to various hardware stores in
944-653: The 1960s. They shipped their remaining stocks to arm the forces of Lon Nol 's Khmer Republic in 1975. They were then captured and used by the Khmer Rouge . During the Troubles (1969–1998), the Thompson was again used by the Irish Republican paramilitaries. According to historian Peter Hart , "The Thompson remained a key part of both the Official IRA and Provisional IRA arsenals until well into
1003-713: The 1970s when it was superseded by the Armalite and the AK-47 ." The Thompson was also used by U.S. and overseas law enforcement and police forces, most prominently by the FBI . The FBI used Thompsons until they were declared obsolete and ordered destroyed in the early 1970s. Because of their quality and craftsmanship, as well as their gangster-era and WWII connections, Thompsons are sought as collector's items. There were fewer than 40 pre-production prototypes. The Colt Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company in Hartford, Connecticut
1062-534: The 30-round box magazine and would accept the earlier 20-round box, but would not accept the drum magazine. The Thompson was used in World War II in the hands of Allied troops as a weapon for scouts, non-commissioned officers ( corporal , sergeant , and higher), and patrol leaders, as well as commissioned officers, tank crewmen, and soldiers performing raids on German positions. In the European theater,
1121-461: The Cutts compensator (a muzzle brake ) was offered as an attachment option for the Thompson. Models with the compensator were cataloged as No. 21AC , at the original price of $ 200. The plain Thompson (without the attachment) was designated No. 21A at a reduced price of $ 175. In 1928, Federal Laboratories took over distribution of the weapon from Thompson's Auto-Ordnance Corporation. The new cost
1180-487: The Korean War, US troops were surprised to encounter communist Chinese troops armed with Thompsons (amongst other captured US-made Nationalist Chinese and American firearms), especially during unexpected night-time assaults which became a prominent Chinese combat tactic in the conflict. The gun's ability to deliver large quantities of short-range automatic assault fire proved very useful in both defense and assault during
1239-506: The M1928A1 units had complaints of the "L" 50-round drum magazine. The British Army criticized "the [magazine's] excessive weight, [and] the rattling sound they made" and shipped thousands back to the U.S. in exchange for 20-round box magazines. The Thompson had to be cocked, bolt retracted, ready to fire, in order to attach the drum magazine. The drum magazine also attached and detached by sliding sideways, which made magazine changes slow and cumbersome. They also created difficulty when clearing
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#17327808847641298-508: The M3/M3A1 never replaced the Thompson, and purchases continued until February 1944. Though the M3 was considerably cheaper to produce, at the end of World War II, the Thompson, with a total wartime production of over 1.5 million, outnumbered the M3/M3A1 submachine guns in service by nearly three to one. Thompson submachine guns were used by both sides during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war . Following
1357-476: The Model of 1921. It was available to civilians, but, because of the weapon's high price, initially saw poor sales. The Thompson (with one Type XX 20 round "stick" magazine) had been priced at $ 200 in 1921 (roughly equivalent to $ 3,416 in 2023) The major initial complaints concerning the Thompson were its cumbersome weight, its inaccuracy at ranges over 50 yards (46 m), and its lack of penetrating power using
1416-549: The Model of 1928. The Thompson saw popularity as a point-defense weapon for countering ambushes by Nicaraguan guerrillas (in the Banana Wars ) and led to the creation of four-man fire teams which had as much firepower as a nine-man rifle squad. Federal sales were then followed by sales to police departments in the US, as well as to various international armies and constabulary forces; chiefly in Central and South America. In 1926,
1475-521: The Thompson as a limited-issue weapon, especially during their later island assaults. The Thompson was soon found to have limited effect in heavy jungle cover, where the low- velocity .45 bullet would not penetrate most small-diameter trees or protective armor vests. (In 1923, the Army had rejected the .45 Remington–Thompson , which had twice the energy of the .45 ACP.) In the U.S. Army, many Pacific War jungle patrols were originally equipped with Thompsons in
1534-462: The Thompson in small quantities for use by their armies and militias. In the 1930s, Taiyuan Arsenal (a Chinese weapons manufacturer) produced copies of the Thompson for Yan Xishan , the then warlord of Shanxi province. The FBI had also acquired Thompsons in 1933 following the Kansas City Massacre . A number of these guns were acquired by a construction company in Brazil, after construction of
1593-582: The Thompson was the first weapon to be labeled and marketed as a "submachine gun". Thompson intended for the weapon to provide a high volume of automatic, man-portable fire for use in trench warfare—a role for which the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) had been determined ill-suited. The concept had already been developed by German troops using their own Bergmann MP 18 (the world's first submachine gun) in concert with their Sturmtruppen tactics. The first Thompson entered production as
1652-468: The Thompson was the only submachine gun available to the Australian Army for most of the vital Kokoda Track campaign in 1942. It became so prized that soldiers routinely picked up Thompson guns dropped by killed or wounded comrades. However, the weight of the ammunition and difficulties in supply eventually led to its replacement in Australian Army units in 1943 by Australian-made submachine guns,
1711-484: The U.S. and South Korean military, even though the Thompson had been replaced as standard-issue by the M3/M3A1. With huge numbers of guns available in army ordnance arsenals, the Thompson remained classed as Limited Standard or Substitute Standard long after the standardization of the M3/M3A1. Many Thompsons were distributed to the US-backed Nationalist Chinese armed forces as military aid before
1770-527: The action in which it was used. During the failed 1924 Estonian coup , communists used Thompsons in an attempt to storm the Tallinn barracks; meanwhile the MP 18 was used by the defenders. This was possibly the first engagement where submachine guns were used on both sides. The Thompson achieved early notoriety in the hands of Prohibition and Great Depression -era gangsters and the lawmen who pursued them. It
1829-491: The bolt safely closed. The box magazine was quickly attached and detached, and was removed downward, making clearing jams easier. The box magazine tripped the bolt open lock when empty, facilitating magazine changes. An empty box was easy to reload with loose rounds. However, users complained that it was limited in capacity. In the field, some soldiers would tape two "XX" magazines together, in what would be known as "jungle style" , to quicken magazine changes. Two alternatives to
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1888-646: The businessman Thomas F. Ryan and proceeded to found a company, which he named the Auto-Ordnance Company , in 1916, for the purpose of developing his new "auto rifle". The Thompson was primarily developed in Cleveland, Ohio . Its principal designers were Theodore H. Eickhoff, Oscar V. Payne, and George E. Goll. By late 1917, the limits of the Blish lock were discovered (which is essentially an extreme manifestation of static friction ), and, rather than
1947-423: The changes reduced the rate of fire from 800 to the 600 rpm of the U.S. Navy Model 1928. Later M1 and M1A1 Thompsons averaged also 600 rpm. Compared to more modern submachine guns, the Thompson is quite heavy, weighing roughly the same as the contemporary M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle, and requires a lot of cleaning. This was one of the major complaints about the weapon by U.S. Army personnel to whom it
2006-475: The early part of the war when it was constantly mobile and shifting back and forth. Many Chinese Thompsons were captured and placed into service with American soldiers and marines for the remaining period of the war. The Yugoslav Army received 34,000 M1A1 Thompsons during the 1950s as part of a US Military Aid to Yugoslavia Agreement. These guns were used during the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s. During
2065-519: The early phases of the New Guinea and Guadalcanal campaigns, but soon began employing the Browning Automatic Rifle in its place as a point defense weapon. The Army introduced the U.S. M3 and M3A1 submachine guns in 1943 with plans to produce the latter in numbers sufficient to cancel future orders for the Thompson, while gradually withdrawing it from first-line service. However, due to unforeseen production delays and requests for modifications,
2124-419: The enemy. He returned to the trench for more ammunition and fired the mortar from out in the open. When this was used up he fired his rifle. The enemy were then very close and without time to reload his rifle, he picked up a "Tommy gun" (sub machine gun) and used it. He killed more of the enemy but received mortal wounds. Despite over 50% losses in the platoon the remainder held on. By the time they were relieved
2183-467: The fall of Chiang Kai-shek 's government to Mao Zedong 's communist forces at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 (Thompsons had already been widely used throughout China since the 1920s, at a time when several Chinese warlords and their military factions running various parts of the fragmented country made purchases of the weapon and then subsequently produced many local copies). During
2242-422: The firearm working as a locked breech, the weapon was instead designed to function as a friction-delayed blowback action. It was found that the only cartridge then in service suitable for use with the new lock was the .45 ACP . General Thompson envisioned a "one-man, hand-held machine gun" chambered in .45 ACP to be used as a "trench broom" for the ongoing trench warfare of World War I . Oscar V. Payne designed
2301-661: The government but kept hidden and were later used by the Democratic Army of Greece. The Thompson also found service with the KNIL and the Netherlands Marine Corps during their attempt to retake their former colony of Indonesia. The gun was used by Indonesian infiltrators during the 1965 Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation . By the time of the Korean War in 1950, the Thompson had seen much use by
2360-601: The gun was widely utilized in British and Canadian commando units, as well as in the U.S. Army paratrooper and Ranger battalions , where it was issued more frequently than in line infantry units because of its high rate of fire and its stopping power, which made it very effective in the kinds of close combat these special operations troops were expected to undertake. Military Police were fond of it, as were paratroopers, who "borrowed" Thompsons from members of mortar squads for use on patrols behind enemy lines. The gun
2419-696: The mail from a spate of robberies. These weapons were loaned to the United States Marine Corps which was, at that time, tasked with guarding mail shipments; this prompted the US Navy to formally test the Thompson. The Navy requested a reduction in the rate of fire. Auto-Ordnance complied, modifying the weapons by adding a substantial amount of mass to the actuator. In 1927 a number of Thompsons would be shipped to Marines in China and Nicaragua . The Navy subsequently ordered 500 guns, designated
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2478-434: The manufacturer Auto-Ordnance . These models retain a similar appearance to the original models, but have various modifications in order to comply with US firearm laws . Brigadier General John T. Thompson , who spent most of his career in the ordnance department of the U.S. Army , was the original inventor and developer of the Thompson submachine gun. He envisioned it as being a fully automatic rifle in order to replace
2537-502: The men had held the ground for 12 hours; they prevented the enemy from advancing further on that hill. His grave is in the Taukkyan War Cemetery , Burma. Thompson submachine gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the " Tommy gun ", " Chicago typewriter ", or " trench broom ") is a blowback-operated , selective-fire submachine gun , invented and developed by Brigadier General John T. Thompson ,
2596-502: The new firearm along with its stick and drum magazines. The project was titled "Annihilator I". Most of the design issues had been resolved by 1918; however, the war ended two days before prototypes could be shipped to Europe. At an Auto-Ordnance board meeting in 1919, in order to discuss the marketing of the "Annihilator", with the war now over the weapon was officially renamed the "Thompson Submachine Gun". While other weapons had been developed shortly prior with similar objectives in mind,
2655-789: The region. Some of the first batches of Thompsons were bought (in America) by agents of the Irish Republic (notably the Irish politician Harry Boland ). The first test of the Thompson in Ireland was performed by Irish Republican Army unit commander Tom Barry , of the West Cork Brigade , in the presence of IRA leader Michael Collins . They purchased a total of 653 units, though US customs authorities in New York seized 495 of
2714-564: The simplified World War II M1 and M1A1 variants (without the Blish lock and oiling system ). A Model 1921A believed to have been owned by Bonnie and Clyde , but without historical documentation to substantiate this provenance, sold at auction on 21 January 2012, in Kansas City for $ 130,000. Early versions of the Thompson, the Model 1919, had a fairly high cyclic rate of fire, as high as 1,200 rounds per minute (rpm), with most Model 1921s at 800 rpm. This rate of fire, combined with
2773-696: The units in June 1921. The remainder found their way to the Irish Republican Army by way of Liverpool, England, and were used in the last month of the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921). After a truce with the British in July 1921, the Irish Republican Army imported more units, which were used in the subsequent Irish Civil War (1922–1923). The Thompson was not found to be very effective in Ireland; having only caused serious casualties in 32 percent of
2832-465: The war, Thompsons were issued to members of Israel's elite Unit 101 , upon the formation of that unit in 1953. During the Greek Civil War , the Thompson submachine gun was used by both sides. The Hellenic Armed Forces , gendarmerie and police units were equipped with Thompson submachine guns supplied by the British and later in the war by the United States. The opposing Communist fighters of
2891-587: Was also depicted in gangster films during this era, most notably regarding the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre . The Thompson guns used in the massacre are still being held by the Berrien County Sheriff's Department. The Thompson has been referred to by one researcher as the "gun that made the twenties roar ". Around 200 Model of 1921 Thompsons were sold in 1926 to the United States Postal Inspection Service so they could protect
2950-495: Was also sold to the general public. Because it was so widely used by criminals, the Thompson became notorious during the Prohibition era as the signature weapon of various organized crime syndicates in the United States in the 1920s. It was a common sight in the media at the time, and was used by both law enforcement officers and criminals. The Thompson was widely adopted by the U.S. armed forces during World War II , and
3009-456: Was also used extensively by other Allied troops during the war. Its main models were designated as the M1928A1, M1 and M1A1 during this time. More than 1.5 million Thompson submachine guns were produced during World War II. It is the first weapon to be labelled and marketed as a "submachine gun". The original selective-fire Thompson variants are no longer produced, although numerous semi-automatic civilian versions are still being produced by
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#17327808847643068-823: Was born on 16 August 1922 in Catford , Kent and attended Elmwood Primary School in Croydon . He joined the Royal Norfolk Regiment of the British Army , in 1940, as a private. He later joined No.3 Commando serving with them in Sicily and Italy, before being commissioned in 1944. At 22 years old, and a lieutenant in the Royal Norfolks but now attached to No. 1 Commando in Burma , he took part in
3127-497: Was contracted by the Auto-Ordnance Corporation to manufacture the initial mass production of 15,000 Thompson Submachine Guns in 1920. An original Colt Model 1921 A or AC, Model 1927 A or AC, Model 1928 Navy A or AC, properly registered in working condition with original components can easily fetch from US$ 25,000 to $ 45,000+ depending on condition and accessories. For WWII, approximately 1,700,000 Thompson Submachine Guns were produced by Auto-Ordnance and Savage Arms , with 1,387,134 being
3186-429: Was issued. Although the drum magazine provided significant firepower, in military service it was found to be overly heavy and bulky, especially when slung on the shoulder while marching. The M1928A1 Thompson drum magazine was rather fragile, and cartridges tended to rattle inside it, producing unwanted noise. For these reasons, the 20-round and later 30-round box magazines soon proved most popular with military users of
3245-500: Was listed as $ 225 per weapon (equivalent to $ 3,992 in 2023), with $ 5 per 50-round drum and $ 3 per 20-round magazine. Thompsons had also been widely used throughout China, where several Chinese warlords and their military factions running various parts of the fragmented country made purchases of the weapon, and subsequently produced many local copies. Nationalist China acquired a substantial number of Thompson guns for use against Japanese land forces. They began producing copies of
3304-423: Was not widespread. In the Malayan Campaign , the Burma Campaign and the Pacific Theater , Lend-Lease-issue Thompsons were used by the British Army , Indian Army , Australian Army infantry and other Commonwealth forces. They used the Thompson extensively in jungle patrols and ambushes, where it was prized for its firepower, though it was criticized for its hefty weight and poor reliability. In New Guinea,
3363-401: Was only 10 yards (9.1 m) away but below the level of the trench so to fire into them he stood up. He continued to fire until the casualties had been evacuated. A replacement gun team that had been sent for were injured while moving up and he stayed with the gun until a third team arrived. In a subsequent attack he took over a 2 inch (51 mm) mortar which he fired from the hip directly into
3422-484: Was partially replaced by the MAC-10 , albeit during Vietnam, the fully automatic fire provided by the M16 made the Thompson less effective than it previously had been. Still, not only did some U.S. soldiers have use of them in Vietnam, they encountered them as well. The Viet Cong liked the weapon and used both captured models as well as manufacturing their own copies in small jungle workshops. The Australian government destroyed most of their Thompson machine carbines in
3481-423: Was prized by those lucky enough to get one and proved itself in the close street fighting that was encountered frequently during the invasion of France. A Swedish variant of the M1928A1, the Kulsprutepistol m/40 (machine pistol, model 40), served in the Swedish Army between 1940 and 1951. Through Lend-Lease , the Soviet Union also received the Thompson, but due to a shortage of appropriate ammunition, its use
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