The Owen gun, officially the Owen machine carbine, is an Australian submachine gun designed by Private Evelyn Owen in 1938 and manufactured at John Lysaght's works at Port Kembla and Newcastle. It entered service in 1942, was produced until 1944 in a run of about 45,000 units, and was the only entirely Australian designed and built service submachine gun of the Second World War. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Classification
Service Status Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category) Weapon Class (category) Weapon Class Introduced Year FAQs
How did the Owen gun get from an army rejection to production?
An initial rejection was reversed after a Lysaght manager and the Minister for the Army took it up and trials showed it to be simple and tough.
Evelyn Owen was first rebuffed and told that neither the Australian nor the British army had any need for such a weapon. While serving in the Australian Imperial Force he interested Vincent A. Wardell, manager of the Port Kembla plant of Lysaght's Newcastle Works, in the gun. Wardell spoke to Sir Percy Spender, the Minister for the Army, who had Owen transferred to the Central Inventions Board. At the trials those present agreed that the Owen was the simplest, cheapest and toughest of submachine guns. In June 1941 Owen was discharged from the army and began work at Lysaght, which manufactured his gun.
Connections
Operated By
Source Wikipedia: Owen gun
Used In
Source Wikipedia: Owen gun
Source Wikipedia: Owen gun
Source Wikipedia: Owen gun
Source Wikipedia: Owen gun
In the Other Atlases
Manufactured By
Also in Business Atlas: the manufacturer of this subject.
Source Wikidata: Owen Gun
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Owen gun
Lead section
The Owen was the only entirely Australian-designed and constructed service submachine gun of World War II. It was used by the Australian Army from 1942 until 1971.
Infobox: cartridge
9×19mm Parabellum
Infobox: service
1942-1971
- Used In: World War II, infobox wars field: 'World War II'
- Used In: Korean War, infobox wars field: 'Korean War'
- Used In: Vietnam War, infobox wars field: 'Vietnam War'
- Used In: Laotian Civil War, infobox wars field: 'Laotian Civil War'
Operated By: Australian Army, Wikipedia article text
It was used by the Australian Army from 1942 until 1971.
View the Source2. Wikidata: Owen Gun
Wikidata Q482503, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source 3. Wikipedia: Owen Gun
Lead paragraph, sentence 1
The Owen gun, known officially as the Owen machine carbine, was an Australian submachine gun
Lead paragraph, sentence 2
It was used by the Australian Army from 1942 until 1971.
View the SourceReader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.