BSA Welgun
The Welgun was a prototype submachine gun developed by the British irregular warfare organisation, the Special Operations Executive. Although it performed well in tests, it was never adopted, and was produced in small numbers only. Development When issuing arms to resistance fighters throughout Europe, SOE favoured short-range, rapid fire, cost effective weapons which required little training to use, or maintenance in the field. Initially, they favoured the British Army issue crude and cheap Sten sub machine gun, but this weapon perhaps went too far in the directions of cheapness and simplicity. Early marks were notoriously unreliable and prone to accidental discharges, and some were so badly manufactured that they were issued to resistance fighters with "burrs" in the barrel or working parts which might even cause the weapon to explode when fired. One of SOE's research departments, the Inter Services Research Bureau at Station IX in The Frythe, a former hotel outside Welwyn Garden City, sought a weapon more suited to the organisation's needs in early 1942. They had already produced the prototype Norm Gun (named after its inventor, Eric Norman) but this was too expensive for large-scale manufacture. A cheaper alternative was produced by F.T. Bridgman. Various other official