Ortona Museum

The Thompson was the standard issue SMG for the Canadians in Italy as an element of the british 8th Army. It was also issued as on board equipment for the Sherman tank. When I Cdn Corps moved from Italy to NW Europe in early 1945 the Thompson was replaced by the STEN (AKA "stench gun") which was standard issue in NW Europe. A lot of the old sweats weren't happy about this.
 
longbranch* said:
My Dad was with the Hasty P's in Italy and when acting as company runner he carried a Thompson.

Geoff
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It may have varied from unit to unit. I'm going off what my wife's grandfather (who is now 91) has told me. But certainly, there were a lot of Thompsons in Italy.
 
purple said:
The Thompson was the standard issue SMG for the Canadians in Italy as an element of the british 8th Army. It was also issued as on board equipment for the Sherman tank. When I Cdn Corps moved from Italy to NW Europe in early 1945 the Thompson was replaced by the STEN (AKA "stench gun") which was standard issue in NW Europe. A lot of the old sweats weren't happy about this.
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That may very well be the case. My wife's grandfather has mentioned getting a Sten and then trading it for a Thompson (due to "issues" with the Sten), and he carried a Thompson throughout Italy. He's talked a lot about NW Europe, but I'd have to ask whether he had a Sten or a Thompson.
 
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