De Lisle Carbine - History

History

The weapon was designed as a private venture by William Godfrey De Lisle, an engineer who worked for the Air Ministry He made the first prototype with a .22 calibre; this he tested by shooting rabbits and other small game for the table, near his home on the Berkshire Downs. In 1943, he approached Major Sir Malcolm Campbell of Combined Operations with his .22 carbine; this was informally tested by firing into the River Thames from the roof of the New Adelphi building in London. Combined Operations officials were impressed with the weapon and requested De Lisle produce a 9mm version. However, this was a failure. A third prototype, using the .45 ACP cartridge that was favoured by De Lisle, was much more successful. Tests of this showed the weapon had adequate accuracy, produced no visible muzzle flash and was inaudible at a distance of 50 yards (46 m).

Later, official firing tests recorded the De Lisle produced 85.5 dB of noise when fired. As a comparison, modern testing on a range of handguns has shown they produce 156 to 168 dB when firing without a suppressor, and 117 to 140 dB when firing with one fitted. The de Lislie's quietness was found to be comparable to the British Welrod pistol. However the Welrod was useful only at very short range and used fabric and rubber components in the suppressor that required replacement after a few shots. The de Lisle was able to fire hundreds of rounds before the suppressor required disassembly for cleaning.

Combined Operations requested a small production run of De Lisle carbines and an initial batch of 17 were hand–made by Ford Dagenham, with William De Lisle himself released from his Air Ministry duties so he could work full-time on the project; this initial batch was immediately put into combat use by the British Commandos. In 1944, the Sterling Armaments Company was given an order for 500 De Lisle carbines, but eventually only produced around 130. The Sterling version differed in a number of details from the earlier, Ford Dagenham version. Two prototypes of a further version, for Airborne forces, were made. These had folding stocks, similar to those fitted to the Sterling submachine gun.

During the remainder of World War 2, the De Lisle carbine was mainly used by the Commandos, although they also saw some use by the Special Operations Executive. E. Michael Burke, the American former commander of a Jedburgh Team, stated that a De Lisle was used by them to assassinate two senior German officers in 1944.

A number of De Lisles were shipped to the Far East and used during the Burma Campaign. The De Lisle would also used during the Korean War and the Malayan Emergency. It has been claimed the weapon was also used by the Special Air Service during the Northern Irish Troubles.