Evelyn Owen
Evelyn Owen (1915–1949) invented the Owen submachine gun, Australia's most successful wartime firearm. Renowned for its exceptional reliability in the jungles of the Pacific, it became one of the defining Australian weapons of the Second World War.
From Garage Experiment to Jungle Legend: How a young Australian created the Owen machine 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.