Sterling Years: Small Arms and the Men, The

This is the story of the manufacture, development & usage of one of the most famous submachine guns ever produced by a British Firm. Designed at the end of WW2, the Sterling Guns saw limited use on a trial basis, carried by paratroopers during the battle of Arnhem. Since the British Forces had plenty of Sten guns at the time, & tests between the two types of weapon were inconclusive, it was not until 1953, that, with a few adjustments, the weapon was formally adopted by the British Army. Whilst not the most accurate of weapons, it was extremely useful in urban warfare & regarded as one of the most reliable submachine guns throughout the world until it was withdrawn from use in 1988. A total of over 400,000 were manufactured. Sterling built them for the British armed forces & for overseas sales. The Sterling Gun was used as the basis for the weapons used by Storm Troopers in the Star Wars films. 256pp.