Patchett 9 mm Mk I experimental sub machine gun, 1944 (c)

Folding metal skeleton stock. Plastic hand grip.

Although developed and made by the Sterling Engineering Co Ltd as early as 1944, the Patchett was not accepted into the British Army until after World War Two (1939-1945) once it had undergone extensive competitive trials against other sub machine guns. It was also trialled in Malaya, Kenya, Libya and Korea to cover as wide a range of climatic conditions as possible. Finally accepted in September 1953, it was a massive improvement on the Sten. It then evolved into the Sterling sub-machine gun introduced into the Army in 1955 as the L2A3. Some were used at Suez in 1956, but in that action the Egyptian Army probably had more.