Churchill’s guns: the personal armoury of Sir Winston Churchill

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965), one of the 20th century’s most important figures and one of Britain’s most influential national leaders, was also an enthusiastic shot and sportsman. He purchased, was given and used a range of firearms during his military, political and sporting career. His extensive personal armoury included pistols, rifles, shotguns and a number of sub-machine guns.

Click to expand...

Churchill saw military service in India, the Sudan, South Africa and on the Western Front in World War I. While serving in these theatres he carried and used a variety of pistols and revolvers. The earliest pistol we know of was a .455in Webley-Wilkinson Model 1892 revolver, probably acquired in early 1894 during his cadetship at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He used it during his service on the North-West Frontier of India, an area of perpetual conflict known to the Army as the ‘Zone’, when serving with the 4th Hussars in 1896 and the revolver remained with him until his death in 1965. The Imperial War Museum acquired it in 1997.

Click to expand...

Following his resignation from the government in November 1915, Churchill served on the Western Front during 1916 as the commanding officer of the 6th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers (in command from January to May 1916) during which time he carried a Colt .45in 1911 Government model pistol. He had purchased it in London in 1915 and it is reputed to have been one of his favourite guns and bears obvious signs of frequent use. The right side of the slide is engraved: ‘WINSTON SPENCER CHURCHILL’. This is probably the pistol he is recorded as using for target practice during World War II. It is now in the collection of the Imperial War Museum.

Click to expand...

It would appear that he thoroughly enjoyed game shooting in Britain, too, being especially keen on driven grouse and pheasants. His pair of Woodward ‘Automatic’ shotguns, ordered for him by his cousin, the Duke of Marlborough, in 1899 and delivered in 1902 were clearly well used as they are recorded as being regularly serviced and regulated by
Woodward on an annual basis, generally in July or early August, just prior to the Twelfth.

Click to expand...

In terms of the firearms owned or presented to Churchill, the sub-machine guns are of particular interest as they represent some of the main models used by British forces from the early 1940s until the 1990s. There are a number of famous images of Churchill using or holding them during the war. They include one of him with a Thompson Model 1928 with the Home Guard near Hartlepool in 1940; one using a Thompson Model 1928A1 and an M1 carbine on Salisbury Plain alongside Eisenhower in 1944; and another of him shooting a Mk II Sten gun at Shoeburyness, Essex, in June 1941.

Click to expand...