#BrenGun

The Siege of Jadotville is a 2016 movie, which is based on the book, “Siege at Jadotville,” by Declan Power, which is based on the real events that unfolded during the Congo Crisis in the early 1960s. The film follows “A” Company of the Irish 35th Battalion, deployed as a United Nations peacekeeping mission to the Congolese state of Katanga, where multiple factors and factions reached a boiling point. As the title of the film suggests, “A” Company, stationed in Jadotville, is besieged by an overwhelming force of separatists and mercenaries. I won’t dive into the politics of the conflict here, other than to say that one of the hot commodities that added to the turmoil in Katanga was that it was known for its rich supply of uranium, some of which found it’s way to end World War 2.

Recently, some duck hunters made quite a discovery in the Chesapeake Bay. While retrieving their duck decoys, they found a World War II-era Bren gun had become entangled in the decoy lines. It’s quite rare to see Bren guns coming up for air, especially in American waters. Even though it’s not unheard of to find guns or gun related items in the wild, I find it fascinating that in all that open space, a Bren gun happened to get snagged on a duck decoy line.

As the problems in Libya spread throughout the country because of the sectarian violence, this mystery light machine gun has made headway in a recent Reuters article. Judging from the stock, pistol grip, trigger guard, gas tube, and compensator, it appears to be a Bren gun, however it also appears to be belt fed, which is unlike a Bren gun. In addition the furniture looks like unfinished wood made locally and thus either this a contraption from Bren parts using the design or something entirely different. Write in the comments section if you know what this is.