Thompson Model 1921

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Use this image under Non-Commercial licence.

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Use this image under Non-Commercial licence.

You can embed media or download low resolution images free of charge for private and non-commercial use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence.

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Accepted Non-commercial Use

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Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.

Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.

Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.

Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.

Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.

Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Media Sales & Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.
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Use this image under Non-Commercial licence.

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By downloading or embedding any media, you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is: © IWM FIR 6322

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:

Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.

Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.

Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.

Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.

Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.

Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Media Sales & Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.
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Use this image under Non-Commercial licence.

You can embed media or download low resolution images free of charge for private and non-commercial use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence.

By downloading or embedding any media, you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is: © IWM FIR 6322

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:

Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.

Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.

Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.

Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.

Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.

Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Media Sales & Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.
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description

Physical description

firing pin cut, barrel drilled

Label

The Thompson submachine-gun was developed as a result of efforts by a retired US General, John T Thompson, to produce a lightweight automatic rifle. Thompson wished to exploit a locking mechanism for firearms patented by John B Blish. This invention employed a sliding wedge in the bolt of the weapon to exploit the "metallic adhesion" of certain metals under high pressure, retarding the rearward motion of the bolt until pressure in the barrel had dropped to a safe level. Thompson's plans to build rifles never came to fruition, but an adaptation of the system to produce a "Submachine Gun" (the name was apparently coined by Thompson himself) which fired .45 inch pistol cartridges was more successful. The early production and marketing of the Thompson met with many difficulties. One of the first significant sales, in 1921, was to an intermediary for a group intending to illicitly export to the Thompsons to the Irish Republican Army - then fighting a guerilla war against British Forces. This weapon is one of those guns, seized many years later by security forces in Northern Ireland. The serial number on the side of the weapon has been struck-out to obfuscate the circumstances of its purchase.

History note

Part of the IRA's 1921 purchase of 495 Thompsons, which was the Auto-Ordnance Corporation's first major sale. Inferred from the serial number

1) Breech, right hand side 2) and 3) Breech, left hand side 4) Breech, top

1) AUTO-ORDNANCE CORPORATION NEW YORK, U.S.A. PATENTED MARCH 9, 1915 JULY 27 1920 MAY 4, 1920 AUGUST 10, 1920 MAY 25, 1920 SEPTEMBER 7, 1920 MAY 25, 1920 OCTOBER 26, 1920 DECEMBER 28, 1920 JHB 2) MODEL OF 1921 936 [scratched out] THOMPSON SUBMACHINE GUN, CALIBRE 45 AUTOMATIC COLT CARTRIDGE MANUFACTURED BY COLT'S PATENT FIRE ARMS MFG. CO HARTFORD, CONN, U.S.A. 3) FIRE SAFE AUTOMATIC SEMI AUTOMATIC 4) TRADEMARK AUT-ORD-CO REG.U.S.PAT.OFF

Object details

Category

Weapons and ammunition

Related period

Interwar (association)

Creator

(licenser) Auto-Ordnance Corporation, NY: USA
(manufacturer) Colts Patent Firearms Manufacturing Corporation, Hartford, CT, USA

Materials

whole: wood

whole: steel

Dimensions

whole: Height 120 mm, Length 825 mm, Width 45 mm

Catalogue number

FIR 6322

On display at

IWM London

Object associations

Associated people and organisations

Related objects

Souvenirs and ephemera

Thompson Model 1921