The Bren Is One Awesome Machine Gun

Soldiers loved the light machine gun and ‘Ronnie the Bren Girl’

by PAUL HUARD

In April 1945, an entire brigade of British special forces joined the massive effort to attack the German army until its back was against the Po River.

If successful, the Wehrmacht would have no choice but escape across the river and evacuate Italy — or stay and fight, facing the prospect of heavy losses.

Cpl. Thomas Peck Hunter, a 21-year-old member of 43 Royal Marine Commando, was Bren gunner in charge of his section during Operation Roast. Deployed for combat on April 2 near Lake Comacchio, Hunter and his fellow Royal Marines faced German soldiers behind three fearsome MG-42 machine guns lodged in nearby houses.

The Germans were well-protected and had a clear field of fire for hundreds of yards. Hunter realized that the German machine gun fire would mow down the British troops, who had no cover.

Hunter grabbed his Bren gun and ran 200 yards, dodging both machine-gun fire and mortar rounds. He fired from the hip and reloaded on the run, purposely drawing fire toward him and away from his fellow Royal Marines.

Hunter was shot and killed. But his actions — and his Bren gun — likely saved the lives of his fellow Commandos.

“There can be no doubt that Corporal Hunter offered himself as a target in order to save his Troop, and only the speed of his movement prevented him being hit earlier,” stated his citation for the Victoria Cross, the highest award for valor awarded to members of British and Commonwealth armed forces.

“The skill and accuracy with which he used his Bren gun is proved by the way he demoralized the enemy … so much so that under his covering fire elements of the Troop made their final objective before he was killed.”

Hunter is the youngest winner of the Victoria Cross, and to date he is the last Royal Marine to receive the award. But the weapon he used saw action not only during World War II but in wars fought by British and Commonwealth troops ranging from Korea to the Falkland Islands, the Malaysian emergency and the Mau Mau uprising.

Troops who used the Bren often expressed remarkable loyalty toward the gun, according to Neil Grant, author of The Bren Gun.

“Almost all regarded it as a reliable and effective weapon, and it was striking that when discussing the Bren with veterans who had used it, their first response was almost always the same — a nostalgic smile, and the words ‘It was a great gun, the old Bren …’ or something similar,” Grant wrote.