The history of Thompson “Tommy” guns at war

The trench sweeper has been around for over a hundred years.

BY JOSHUA SKOVLUND |
PUBLISHED JAN 4, 2024 1:47 PM EST

Tom Hanks famously depicted Captain John Miller in “Saving Private Ryan” toting his trusty Thompson submachine gun — “Tommy gun” — from the beaches of Normandy far into the interior of France in 1944.

Though the history of the Thompson submachine gun predates World War II, it didn’t see significant use until then. It is a trailblazer for automatic firearms, which were sometimes avoided during World War I because of concerns that the rapid rate of fire would throw off accuracy.

But, ask any WWII veteran who carried that submachine gun, and they’d likely argue it was an instrumental weapon of war that helped the Allied forces achieve victory. Unfortunately, it also gained fame as the preferred choice of gangsters and bank robbers in America...

Complete article:

https://taskandpurpose.com/cul...n-tommy-gun-history/

Sgt.Saunders carried one too.

From the linked article:

"The Thompson submachine gun weighs over ten pounds when fully loaded. It came with straight box magazines with capacities of 20 or 30 .45 ACP ammunition. It also had 50 or 100-round drums available for the later models, though they did not work with the early M1A1 version. The first model was built and ready for battle by 1921."

Wrong.
The M1A1 was the LAST variant issued.
The 1921 was the first, soon followed by the 1928, both with the Blish system.
The M1 was a complete redesign and the M1A1 simplified even beyond that.
Therefore early, box or drum magazine; late, box only.

Why read any further?