Rifles and Machine Guns in the New Brunswick Military History Museum (NBMHM)

Rifles and Machine Guns in the Collection of the New Brunswick Military History Museum, 5 Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown

(Author Photos except where otherwise credited)

.45 cal Thompson SMG, 9-mm Sterling SMG, .303-in Lewis Gun MG.

The majority of the military small arms found on this web page can be viewed in the New Brunswick Military History Museum (NBMHM) located with the 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown, New Brunswick.  A few of the Automatic Weapons in the collection are shown above, being prepared for display in the NBMHM.  For details on the museum's activities and collection please view their website: http://nbmilitaryhistorymuseum.ca/en/new-brunswick-military-history-museum-home.html.

This page of selected small arms on display in the New Brunswick Military History Museum has been compiled by the author, a volunteer and one of  the Friends of the NBMHM.  Corrections, amendments and updates to the data on this page would be most welcome.  Additional photos of the tanks, artillery and major weapon systems and displays in New Brunswick may be viewed in the Armoured Fighting Vehicles preserved in Canada section and in the Artillery preserved in Canada sections on this website.  Other military weapons and historical artifacts on display in New Brunswick may be viewed on these webpages under the heading of New Brunswick Military Museums and Monuments.

Photos are by the Author unless otherwise credited.

‍New Brunswick Military History Museum, 5 Canadian Division Support Base ( 5 CDSB) Gagetown, Building A-5, Oromocto, New Brunswick, E2V 4J5.  506-422-1304.  [email protected].  Captain David Hughes, Executive Director, and Troy Middleton, Technical Advisor.   

NBMHM Website: http://nbmilitaryhistorymuseum.ca/en/new-brunswick-military-history-museum-home.html.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3241489)

Canadian .303-inch Vickers Machine Gunners, Vimy Ridge, 1917.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3238876)

A Vickers .303 machine-gun manned by PPCLI soldiers training in England, 3 Dec 1942.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3199887)

Officers of The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (M.G.) with a Vickers Heavy Machine Gun, Lingfield, England, 8 April 1942.

Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun, a water-cooled .303-inch British machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army.  The machine gun typically required a six to eight-man team to operate: one fired, one fed the ammunition, the rest helped to carry the weapon, its ammunition and spare parts.  It was in service from before the First World War until the 1960s, with air-cooled versions of it on many Allied First World War fighter aircraft.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4292626)

RCAF Bristol Bolingbroke rear Gunner with his .303-inch machine-gun.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3583131)

Bristol Bolingbroke, RCAF, with Mk. III turret, 28 Jan 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3521946)

Canadian Lewis gunners shooting at German aircraft, July 1917.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3566425)

Soldiers of the 1st Battalion The Black Watch (RHR) of Canada, with a Lewis gun on board HMCS Ottawa, near Botwood, Newfoundland, 22 June 1940.  

Lewis guns .303-inch (or Lewis automatic machine gun or Lewis automatic rifle).  The Lewis Gun is a First World War-era light machine gun of American design that was perfected and widely used by the British Empire.  It was first used in combat in the First World War, and continued in service with a number of armed forces through to the end of the Korean War.  It has a wide tubular cooling shroud around the barrel, often omitted in when used on aircraft, and a top-mounted drum-pan magazine.  It was commonly used as an aircraft machine gun, almost always with the cooling shroud removed, during both world wars.  The Lewis gun with the carrying handle is on loan to the NBMHM from the NBM in Saint John.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3227107)

Private Danny Dafoe with a Thompson SMG by his side and Lance-Corporal L.H. MacWilliam, both of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, in a slit trench, Spinete, Italy, ca. 22-23 October 1943.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3592340)

Canadian soldier with Thompson SMG and German PW captured during the Dieppe raid, 19 Aug 1942.  

Thompson submachine-gun, two versions in the museum.  The Thompson is an American .45 calibre submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1918.  The Thompson had excellent ergonomics, compactness, fired a large .45 ACP cartridge, had reliability and high volume of automatic fire. While it weighed just under 5 kilograms it could handle 50 or 100 round drum magazines. Over one million were produced during the Second World War.

Paul M. Ripley, a private collector has shown members of the museum his collection of four Thompson SMGs. One of these Thompson SMGs is stamped with the Royal Arrowhead. These Thompsons were destined for the UK, but apparently a few were sent to Canada for use by the Veteran's Guard, guarding Prisoners of War (PW) in Canada.  The same collector also had a Thompson chambered to fire 9-mm rounds so captured German ammunition could be used.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No.

RCAC soldiers armed with Thompson SMGs, training in the UK, ca 1943.  (Although both have their fingers on the trigger - not good, neither of them has a magzine on their Thompson)

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3191599)

Agnes Wong of Whitecourt, Alberta, assembles a Sten gun produced for China at the Long Branch, Ontario, Small Arms Ltd. plant, April 1944. Sten guns were a family of British-made machine guns that saw widespread use in the Second World War. The Sten is a blowback-operated submachine gun that became incredibly popular thanks to its simple, cheaply-made design. At first, it was used by insurgency groups throughout Europe. By the end of the war, however, it became the second-most produced submachine gun used by Allied troops around the world.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3196070)

Sten gun being examined at the Long Branch manufacturing plant, Ontario, c1942.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3226042)

Sten gun magazines being reloaded, Munderloh, Germany, 29 Apr 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3226174)

A Canadian soldier armed with a Sten gun, riding on a captured German half-track, Caen, France, 10 Jul 1944.

STEN (or Sten) guns.  The STEN is a family of British 9 mm submachine-guns used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout the Second World War and the Korean War.  They were notable for having a simple design and very low production cost making them effective insurgency weapons for resistance groups.  STEN is an acronym, from the names of the weapon's chief designers, Major Reginald V. Shepherd and Harold Turpin, and EN for Enfield.  Over 4 million Stens in various versions were made in the 1940s.  Mk. III variants were produced in Canada.  The STEN gun in Canadian service was replaced by the C1 SMG.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3607604)

Soldier firing a Sten gun.

C1 9-mm Sterling Submachine-gun.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4235912)

LdSH patrol, UN, Cyprus, 9-mm Sterling SMG, ca 1960s.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3195829)

Finished Bren gun sitting on a table top at the John Inglis Co. Bren gun plant, 10 May 1941. The Bren featured a 30-round magazine. It saw a variety of uses during the Second World War, including use as an anti-aircraft gun, and remains a potent symbol thanks to its unique top-side magazine. While the British produced the Sten, it was designed by Václav Holek and named after Brno, a Czech facility, and the location of the British Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield, United Kingdom.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3193596)

Female workers Kay Grove and Pat Kling of Toronto, Ontario, check tags of Bren guns bound for China at the John Inglis Co. plant, April 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3194848)

Veronica (Ronnie) Foster, employee of the John Inglis Co. and known as "The Bren Gun Girl", poses with a finished Bren gun in front of a poster of Winston Churchill at the John Inglis Co. Bren gun plant, 10 May 1941.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3197327)

Workman John Hawkins of Toronto checks the tags of Bren guns destined for China at the John Inglis Co. plant, April 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4232983)

Soldier cradling a Bren Gun, c1943.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3000602)

Canadian soldier firing a Bren Gun.

 (Vancouver City Archives Photo, AM1184-S3-: CVA 1184-127)

Bren Gun training, British Columbia, 30 Mar 1942.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3230704)

Canadian soldiers serving a Bren Gun, 3rd LAA Regt, RCA, Antwerp, Belgium, 30 Sep 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4485890)

Twin .303-inch Bren guns serving in the anti-aircraft role at sea in the Mediterranean, 1943.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3529250)

Private J.E. LeBlanc, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada, cleaning his Bren gun in a foxhole in the Hochwald, Germany, 5 March 1945,

Bren Gun .303-inch light machine-gun.  Usually called simply the Bren, it is one of a series of light machine guns adopted by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1991.  The Bren was a modified version of Czechoslovak-designed light machine guns, the ZB vz. 26 and its descendants, which British Army officials had tested during a firearms service competition in the 1930s.  The later Bren featured a distinctive top-mounted curved box magazine, conical flash hider and quick change barrel.  The name Bren was derived from Brno, Moravia, the Czechoslovak city where the Zb vz. 26 was originally designed (in Zbrojovka Brno Factory), and Enfield, site of the British Royal Small Arms Factory.  The Mk. II was produced in Canada by John Inglis and Company.  A contract was signed with the British and Canadian governments in March 1938 to supply 5,000 Bren machine guns to Great Britain and 7,000 Bren machine guns to Canada.  Both countries shared the capital costs of bringing in this new production facility.  Production started in 1940, and by 1943 Inglis was producing 60% of the world output of Bren machine guns.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3378957)

First Special Service Force (FSSF) soldiers with Browning 30. cal GPMG, Anzio beachhead, Italy, 27 Apr 1944.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3358102)

Browning .30 cal GPMG, Calgary Highlanders, Universal Carrier armed with a Browning .30 cal GPMG, Calgary Highlanders, Doetinchem, Netherlands, 1 Apr 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4235754)

C5 GPMG being fired from an M113 C & R Lynx, Germany, 1964.

C5 GPMG, based on the M1919 Browning .30 calibre air-cooled medium machine gun.  Many M1919s were rechambered for the new 7.62×51mm NATO round and served into the 1990s.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4235713)

Browning .50 cal MG Section, c1950s.

Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun, (aka M2 Machine Gun), a heavy machine gun designed towards the end of the First World War by John Browning.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3257117)

Lifebuoy Flamethrower, Balgerhoek, Belgium, 4 Oct 1944.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3524539)

A Lifebuoy flamethrower, Xanten, Germany, 10 Mar 1945.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4235958)

Royal Canadian Dragoons Reconnaissance Squadron Trooper on UN Duty with 7.62-mm FN C1 Rifle, observing the Turkish North side from Mount St Hilarion, Cyprus.

Canadian 7.62-mm FN C1 Rifles.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4314352)

Cleaning an FN C1 rifle.

Canadian 7.62-mm FN C2 Rifles.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4235844)

FN C2 with advanced scope.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3559780)

Russian 9-mm PPsH submachine-gun presented to HMCS Athabaskan, 11 May 1953.

Russian 9mm PPsH submachine-gun.

Russian Dragunov Sniper Rifle, two 7.62-mm Degtyaryov light machine-guns (LMG), (minus their ammunition drums), and two 7.92-mm RPK LMGs.

Small arms from other nations

China, 7.62-mm Norinco 87S (RPK) LMG.

China, 7.62-mm Norinco Type 56, SKSD Rifle with folding bayonet.

China, 7.62-mm Type 54, copy of Soviet PPS 43 SMG.

East Germany, 7.62-mm MPi-AK-47 Assault Rifle.

East Germany, 7.62-mm MPi-AK-74N.

East Germany, 7.62-mm MPi-KMS side folding stock Assault Rifle.

France, 8-mm Berthier Lebel M16 Carbine.

France, 7.5-mm MAS-36G1 Rifle (top) and MAS-36 Rifle.

France, 7.5-mm MAS-49 semi-automatic Rifle.

German First World War Small Arms

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3404923)

Canadian soldiers examining a captured German 9-mm MP 18 Bergmann SMG, Amiens, France, Aug 1918.

German 9-mm MP 18 Bergmann SMG preserved in the New Maryland branch of the NBMHM.

The MP 18 manufactured by Theodor Bergmann, Abteilung Waffenbau was the first submachine gun used in combat.  It was introduced into service in 1918 by the Germany Army during the First World War as the primary weapon of the Sturmtruppen, assault groups which specialized in trench combat.  Although MP 18 production ended in the 1920s, its design formed the basis of most submachine guns manufactured between 1920 and 1960.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No.  3250984)

Canadian with a German Mauser rifle examining a captured German Spandau Maxim schweres Maschinen Gewehr 08 (MG 08) heavy machine gun, Nieuport, Belgium.  

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3522120)

Canadians examining a captured German 7.92-mm MG 08-15, France, Mar 1918.

Germany, 7.92-mm Spandau Maxim leichtes Maschinen Gewehr 08/15 (MG 08/15) light machine gun.  Two are held in the NBMHM.

German Second World War Small Arms

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3211669)

German rifles surrendered to Canadians being stacked for storage, Ijmuiden, Netherlands, 11 May 1945.

Germany, 7.92-mm Gewehr 98 Mauser Rifles.

Germany, 7.92-mm Gewehr 43 or Karabiner 43 (G43, K43, Gew 43, Kar 43), semi-automatic rifle.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3396194)

Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlander soldier armed with a German 9-mm MP 40 submachine-gun storming a building in Caen, France, 10 Jul 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3396063)

Canadian and First Special Service Force, with captured German and Italian automatic weapons in the Anzio beachhead, Italy, 20 April 1944.

Germany, 9-mm MP 40 submachine-gun.  The German MP40, or “Maschinenpistole .40” evolved out of the prone-to-misfire MP38. Once a small but notable innovation was made to the submachine gun's hammer, the MP40 came of age. Karabiner 98K rifles were issued to German soldiers until the Battle of Stalingrad, where they quickly became outgunned by Soviet troops in close-quarter urban combat. In response, the German army issued MP 40s to entire platoons. Much like the Luger, it became a prized weapon to be captured by A troops.

Germany, 7.92-mm Sturmgewehr 43/44 (StG44, MP 43, MP 44) Assault Rifle.  This weapon was on loan to the NBMHM from the NBM, in Saint John.  It was returned in June 2014.  

Germany, 7.92-mm Maschinengewehr 34 (MG 34) machine gun.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4232837)

Canadian soldiers inspect a captured German MG34 machine gun.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No.)

Canadian soldiers inspect a captured German MG34 machine gun.

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Germany, 7.92-mm Maschinengewehr 42 (MG 42), and 7.92-mm Maschinengewehr 34 (MG 34) machine gun comparison.

(Author Photo)

Germany, 7.92-mm Maschinengewehr 42 (MG 42), machine gun. An MG-38 is shown in the centre for comparison.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3409521)

Soldiers with the Regina Rifles examining German weapons, Zyfflich, Germany, 9 Feb 1945.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3525813)

Canadian soldier examining a captured German 7.92-mm MG 42, Brettevukke-Orgueilleuse, France, 20 June 1944.

Germany, 7.62-mm MG 81 quadruple AA machine-gun mount.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3394409)

Royal Canadian Navy, naval rating loading an ammunition drum onto a Hispano 20-mm anti-aircraft gun aboard a warship, Halifax, Nova Scotia, May 1941.

Spain, 20-mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Autocannon.

Denmark, 20-mm Madsen Cannon M/38 Heavy machine gun, stamped with the Nazi occupation marks.

Israel, 5.56-mm IMI Galil Assault Rifle.

Israel, .62-mm 7FN FAL Rifle.

Italian Second World War small arms

Italy, Carcano bolt action Rifle.

Italy, Mannlicher M1895 bolt action Rifle.

Italy, 9-mm Beretta MAB 38 submachine-gun.

Japanese Second World War display inside the NBMHM.

Japanese Officer Gunto Swords.

Japanese Second World War Small Arms

Japan, 7.7-mm Arisaka Type 38 Rifles.

Japan, 7.7-mm Arisaka Type 99 short Rifle.

Japan, 7.7-mm Nambu Type 99 light machine gun.  This LMG is currently preserved in the New Brunswick Museum, Saint John, New Brunswick.

Foreign weapons in the NBMHM collection

Poland, 7.62-mm AK-47.

Sweden & Egypt, 6.5-mm Hakim AG-42 Ljungman Rifles.

USA .30 cal M1 Carbines, (Universal M1).

USA, .22 cal Quackenbush MM Junior Safety Rifle.

USA, .30-06 cal M1 Garand Rifle. The M1 Garand Rifle was the standard service rifle for American troops during the Second World War. Designed by John Garand, the M1 rifle used expanding gasses to propel bullets like a steam engine. Once the United States entered the war, demand for the M1 grew exponentially. During peak production, the Springfield Armory was making 164 rifles an hour.

USA, .30-06 M1918 Browing Automatic Rifles.

USA, .45 cal M3A1 SMG.

USA, 5.56-mm Colt Commando M16A1 Assault Rifle.

USA, 5.56-mm M16A2 with M203 grenade launcher.

USA, 7.62-mm M14 Rifle.

Yugoslavia, 7.62-mm Simonov M59.66 (SKS) Rifle.

The NBMHM is missing a number significant items from its collection of Canadian small arms, including the Boys Anti-Tank Rifle, a Portable Infantry Anti-Tank (PIAT) projector and an M41 Johnson light machine-gun among others.

(IWM Photo)

Blacksmith armorers use their forge to work on a Boys anti-tank rifle and other various weapons including a Bren light machine guns (LMG) and Lee Enfield SMLE Mk. III rifle, December 1939.

The Boys anti-tank rifle (officially Rifle, Anti-Tank, .55in, is a British anti-tank rifle used during the Second World War. It was often nicknamed the "elephant gun" by its users due to its size and large 0.55 in (14 mm) bore. There were three main versions of the Boys: an early model (Mk. I) which had a circular muzzle brake and T-shaped monopod, built primarily at BSA in England; a later model (Mk I*) built primarily at the John Inglis and Company in Toronto, Ontario, that had a rectangular muzzle brake and a V-shaped bipod; and a third model made for airborne forces with a 30-inch (762 mm) barrel and no muzzle brake. There were also different cartridges, with a later version offering better penetration.[citation needed]Although adequate against light tanks and tankettes in the early part of the war, the Boys was ineffective against heavier armour and was phased out in favour of the PIAT hollow charge weapon mid-war. (Wikipedia)

(Nousiainen - finna.fi Photo)

Boys anti-tank rifle SA-kuva.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3599769)

Soldier carrying a Boys Anti-Tank Rifle disembarking from HMCS Bayfield during an exercise, 21 September 1942.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3593048)

Soldier of the Highland Light Infantry of Canada, who is armed with a Boys anti-tank rifle, taking part in a training exercise, Bognor Regis, England, 7 April 1942.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3378973)

First Special Service Force (FSSF) soldiers with M41 Johnson LMG, Anzio beachhead, Italy, 27 Apr 1944.

NBMHM Small arms collection, German Panzerschreck AT Rocket Launcher with blast shield, MG 34 machine gun, G98 Mauser bolt action rifle.

NBMHM Small arms collection, 2-inch Mortar, .303 Bren Gun, 9-mm Sten Gun, .45 cal Thompson SMG, .45 cal M3 SMG, .303 Lee  Enfield rifle.

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