Great figure of the week barclay ww1 thompson

this figure by the old American firm of Barclay reminds me of a film about gangsters with James Gagney and the great Bogart. At the start of the film they are in the trenches with Thompsons (was that an inaccuracy) and they start to think about what a gun like that could do in civvie street. But Im told that Thompsons never reached the Americans in France.Is that so true?

The Thompson Submachine Gun was designed by General John T. Thompson, who was inspired by the trench warfare of World War I to develop a "one-man, hand-held machine gun", firing a rifle caliber round. While searching for a way to allow such a weapon to operate safely, Thompson came across a patent issued to John Bell Blish. Thompson found a financial backer, Thomas Fortune Ryan, and started the Auto-Ordnance Corporation in 1916 for the purpose of developing his weapon. The principal designers were Theodore H. Eickhoff, Oscar V. Payne, and George E. Goll. By late 1917, the limits of the Blish lock were discovered, and it had been found that the only cartridge currently in U.S. service suitable for use with the lock was the .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol). The project was then titled "Annihilator I", and by 1918, most of the design issues had been resolved. However, the war ended before prototypes could be shipped to Europe.But im sure Americans used it in the trenches.

The Thompson first entered production as the M1921. It was available to civilians, though its high price resulted in few sales. (A Thompson with one Type XX 20 shot "stick" magazine was priced at $200.00, at a time when a Ford automobile sold for $400.00.) M1921 Thompsons were sold in small quantities to the United States Postal Inspection Service[ (to protect the mail from a spate of robberies) and the United States Marine Corps. the bergmann , this was used in the trenches by germans

Federal sales were followed by sales to several police departments in the United States and minor international sales to various armies and constabulary forces, chiefly in Central and South America.

The Marines put their Thompson Submachine Guns to use in the Banana Wars and in China. It was popular with the Marines as a point-defense weapon for countering ambush by Nicaraguan guerrillas and led to the organization of 4 man fire teams with as much firepower as a 9 man rifle squad. The major complaints against the Thompson were its weight, inaccuracy at ranges over 50 yards, and the lack of penetrating power of the .45 ACP pistol cartridge.

Some of the first batches of Thompsons were bought in America by agents of the Irish Republic, notably Harry Boland. The first test of a Thompson in Ireland was performed by West Cork Brigade commander Tom Barry in presence of IRA leader Michael Collins.This was a clandestine way that has continued up to very recent times with Americans supplying terrorists and at the same time decrying the terrorists against them.
Collections of money also made with officials of the law and likewise interested parties all went to the terrorists who put bombs on buses in Ireland and other bombs in public places.Many of these arms found their way gto Ireland as late as 2000 and were sent by the fundraising in NYC and Boston to name just two cities.

 A total of 653 were purchased, but 495 were seized by US customs authorities in New York in June 1921. The remainder made their way to the Irish Republican Army by way of Liverpool and were used in the last month of the Irish War of Independence (1919–21).

 After a truce with the British in July 1921, the IRA imported more Thompsons and they were used in the subsequent Irish Civil War (1922–23). They were not found to be very effective in Ireland however. In only 32% of actions where it was used did the Thompson cause serious casualties (death or serious injury) to those attacked.

The Thompson achieved most of its early notoriety in the hands of Prohibition and Depression-era gangsters, motorized bandits and the lawmen who pursued them and in Hollywood films about their exploits, most notably in the St Valentine's Day Massacre. It was often referred to as the "gun that made the twenties roar."

In 1926 the Cutts Compensator (a recoil brake) was offered as an option for the M1921; Thompsons with the compensator were cataloged as No. 21AC at the original price of $200.00, with the plain M1921 designated No. 21A at a reduced price of $175.00.

In 1928 Federal Laboratories took over distribution of the weapon from Thompson's Auto Ordnance Corporation.

 The cost at this time was US$225 per weapon, with $5 per 50-round drum and $3 for 20-round magazine.

Nationalist China also acquired a quantity for use against Japanese land forces, and eventually began producing copies of the Thompson in small quantities for use by its various armies and militias.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation first acquired Thompsons in 1933 following the Kansas City Massacre. World War IIbergmann machinde gun came too late to change the war butg i'd like some troops to come out with this

  the Thompson submachine gun was adopted by the U.S. military, serving during World War II and beyond.

There were two military types of Thompson SMG. The M1928A1 had provisions for box magazines and drums (the drums were disliked because of their tendency to rattle and jam).

 It had a Cutts compensator, cooling fins on the barrel, and its charging handle was on the top of the receiver. The M1 and M1A1 had a barrel without cooling fins, a simplified rear sight, provisions only for box magazines, and the charging handle was on the side of the receiver. Over 1.5 million military Thompson submachine guns were produced during World War II.

There were complaints from military users of the M1928A1 that the "L" fifty round drum magazine was heavy, noisy and slow to reload, and the "XX" twenty round box magazine was limited in capacity.
Two alternatives were tested 6 December 1941 at Fort Knox: an extended thirty round box magazine and a forty round magazine made by welding two twenty round magazines face to face. Testers considered both superior to either the "XX" box or "L" drum. The thirty round box was approved as standard in December 1941 to replace the "XX" and "L" magazines.

 (The concept of welding two box magazines face-to-face was carried over with the UD 42 submachine gun.)

The staff of Savage Arms looked for ways to simplify the M1928A1, producing a prototype in Feb 1942 which was tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground Mar 1942; Army Ordnance approved adoption as the M1 in Apr 1942. M1s were made by Savage Arms and by Auto-Ordnance. M1s were issued with the thirty round box magazine and would accept the earlier twenty round box, but would not accept the drum magazine.