The Sneaky Sniper Shooter

The Second World War saw a number of innovative weapons rushed into service. One of the most interesting of these was a well-designed internally suppressed rifle used by Allied commandos. It is best known as the De Lisle Carbine.

The first year of World War II went pretty bad for the allies. By July 1940, Hitler had overrun seven countries and kicked the British Army off the continent of Europe. To keep the Nazis off balance, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill ordered the creation of a number of Commando units to raid behind the German and Italian lines in occupied Europe. These small bands of carefully selected volunteers were given intense instruction in close quarters combat, demolition and sabotage.

Their instructors, such as the legendary William Fairbairn, Eric Syke and Rex Applegate, taught some of the most brutally effective hand-to-hand combat of their time. To increase these irregular warfare experts’ chances of success, the Commandos were armed and equipped with submachine guns, the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, the Smatchet, and other exotic weapons from their initial organization onward. With the type of fighting the commandos and other Allied special forces such as the SAS, Rangers, and OSS, practiced, the need for a quiet intermediate ranged weapon was apparent. The weapon needed to be able to take out sentries, guard dogs, et al outside of knife range without alerting the rest of the garrison to the raider’s presence.

Enter the DeLisle……Read the rest in my column at GUNS.com