Bren Gun From Sword Beach Normandy

Bren Gun From Sword Beach Normandy (RARE).

Relic Bren gun Mk11 . Found on sword Beach during Excavations along the sand for a new pipeline in the mid 1980s. Item was found in the same area as the no4 Lee Enfield, click here  This piece has been treated for preservation and so has been coated by a museum.  The Bren Gun is nearly complete, with part remains of the clip(303) and bi-pod legs and trigger, woodwork grip handle and butt  in relic condition. Some inert rounds have been placed in the magazine to finish display off.

The taking of Sword Beach was the responsibility of the British Army and among one of the five beaches of  Operation Overlord. I(n this operation Sword Beach was the one nearest to Caen (9.3 miles). The 1st units to reach the beach set out at about 07.25 these were the amphibious DD Tanks of the 13th/18th Hussars followed by the 8th infantry Brigade , then the Engineers.

Lord Lovat’s Brigade also landed at Sword Beach during the invasion of Normandy on the 6th of June 1944

Bren Gun From Sword Beach Normandy (RARE).

The Bren gun was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces’ primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also used in the Korean War and saw service throughout the latter half of the 20th century, including the 1982 Falklands War. Although fitted with a bipod, it could also be mounted on a tripod or be vehicle-mounted.

Second World War

In the British and Commonwealth armies, the Bren was generally issued on a scale of one per rifle section.^[8] An infantry battalion also had a “carrier” platoon, equipped with Universal Carriers, each of which carried a Bren gun.^[9] Parachute battalions from 1944 had an extra Bren in the AT platoon.^[10] The 66-man “Assault Troop” of British Commandos had a nominal establishment of four Bren guns. Realising the need for additional section-level firepower, the British Army endeavoured to issue the Bren in great numbers, with a stated goal of one Bren to every four private soldiers.^[11] The Bren was operated by a two-man crew, sometimes commanded by a Lance Corporal as an infantry section’s “gun group”, the remainder of the section forming the “rifle group”. The gunner or “Number 1” carried and fired the Bren, and a loader or “Number 2” carried extra magazines, a spare barrel and a tool kit.^[12] Number 2 helped reload the gun and replace the barrel when it overheated, and spotted targets for Number 1.

Generally, the Bren was fired from the prone position using the attached bipod.^[13] On occasion, a Bren gunner would use his weapon on the move supported by a sling, much like an automatic rifle, and from standing or kneeling positions. Using the sling, Australian soldiers regularly fired the Bren from the hip, for instance in the marching fire tactic, a form of suppressive fire moving forward in assault.