The Diggers' Darling: Australian Owen Submachine Gun

In Ashes and Sakura the Australian troops in Borneo and later in the occupation of Japan were sometimes depicted carrying Owen submachine guns. Not as famous as the British Sten gun or the American Tommy gun, the Australian Owen submachine gun was superior to both and the story of how it came into being is fascinating.

When Australia entered the war in September 1939, it possessed only a handful of submachine guns in the entire country. When this was brought to the attention of the Army's higher ranks, many scoffed, dismissively claiming the Australian soldier was no gangster. They could not envisage a need for the weapon.

But when Japan entered the war and the threat of invasion loomed, views shifted. Australian troops needed a reliable, effective weapon for close-quarters fighting in the jungles of New Guinea and the islands of the Pacific. The submachine gun was no longer a novelty—it was a necessity.

Orders were placed with Britain for the Sten gun, but none were delivered. After Dunkirk, with much of its equipment abandoned on the Continent, Britain was facing a dire shortage and could barely arm its own.

For the Australians, the situation had become critical.

The solution came from an unexpected source. Evelyn Owen, as a schoolboy, had developed a prototype submachine gun in the garage of his family home in Wollongong during the 1930s. When he enlisted and was sent overseas, his neighbour, Vincent Wardell, a supervisor at the nearby Lysaght metalworks, happened upon the prototype—stored in a hessian sugar bag near the garage—and immediately recognised its potential.

With Wardell’s support, the weapon was further refined. The final design featured dual pistol grips and a top-mounted detachable box magazine. Though ungainly in appearance, it was robust, simple to produce, had a high rate of fire, and notably far more reliable than its British and American counterparts.

In trials at the Long Bay rifle range in Sydney on 29 September 1941, the Owen gun was tested alongside the Sten and the expensive Thompson under simulated battlefield conditions, including exposure to sand, mud, and water. Both the Sten and the Thompson continuously jammed. The Owen continued to function in all conditions.

The Owen machine carbine became the preferred submachine gun of Australian troops in the South-West Pacific and later during the occupation of Japan. It may have been ugly but it earned the affectionate nickname ‘the Diggers’ Darling.’

Approximately 45,000 Owen guns were manufactured at the Lysaght factories in Port Kembla and Newcastle between 1942 and 1944.

See further

Morton, Clive, The Evo Owen story (Gordonvale, Qld, 2003)

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P8479 

Service Tests of Modern Sub Machine Guns 1941 https://youtu.be/mTc2fXqWD5I