page_title: Thompson submachine gun
section_title: After World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Thompson submachine gun / History and service / After World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: Israeli policemen meet a Jordanian legionnaire near the Mandelbaum Gate on the ceasefire line that went through Jerusalem between 1949 and June 1967العربية: شرطي إسرائيلي يلتقي بجندي أردني قرب بوابة مندلباوم على خط الهدنة الذي كان يفصل مدينة القدس بين 1949 وحزيران/يونيو 1967עברית: שוטר ישראלי פוגש לגיונר ירדני ליד שער מנדלבאום על קו הפסקת האש שחצה את ירושלים בין 1949 ויוני 1967
context_page_description: The Thompson submachine gun is an American submachine gun first invented by John T. Thompson in 1918 during World War I and became infamous during the Prohibition era, being a signature weapon of various organized crime syndicates in the United States. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals. The Thompson submachine gun was also known informally as the "Tommy Gun", "Street Sweeper","Annihilator", "Chicago Typewriter", "Trench Broom", "Chicago Submachine", "Chicago Piano", "Chicago Style", "Chicago Organ Grinder", "Drum Gun", "the Chopper", "the Tommy Boy" or simply "the Thompson".
  The Thompson was favored by soldiers, criminals, police, FBI, and civilians alike for its fully automatic fire, while still being relatively lightweight, portable and easy to use. It has since gained popularity among civilian collectors for its historical significance. It has considerable significance in popular culture, especially in works about the Prohibition era and World War II, and is one of the most well known and recognised firearms in history.
context_section_description: Thompson submachine guns were used by both sides during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Following the war, Thompsons were issued to members of Israel's elite Unit 101, upon the formation of that unit in 1953.
  During the Greek Civil War, the Thompson submachine gun was used by both sides. The Hellenic Armed Forces, gendarmerie and police units were equipped with Thompson submachine guns supplied by the British and later in the war by the United States. The opposing Communist fighters of the Democratic Army of Greece were also using Thompson submachine guns, either captured from government forces or inherited from ELAS. ELAS was the strongest of the resistance forces during the period of Greek Resistance against the Germans and Italians and were supplied with arms from both the British and the United States. After the demobilization of ELAS, an unspecified number of arms were not surrendered to the government but kept hidden, and were later used by the Democratic Army of Greece.
  The Thompson also found service with the KNIL and the Netherlands Marine Corps during their attempt to retake their former colony of Indonesia. Captured examples were later used by Indonesian forces against Dutch forces and during by Indonesian infiltrators during the 1965 Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation.
  By the time of the Korean War in 1950, the Thompson had seen much use by the U.S. and South Korean military, even though the Thompson had been replaced as standard-issue by the M3/M3A1. With huge numbers of guns available in army ordnance arsenals, the Thompson remained classed as Limited Standard or Substitute Standard long after the standardization of the M3/M3A1. Many Thompsons were distributed to the US-backed Nationalist Chinese armed forces as military aid before the fall of Chiang Kai-shek's government to Mao Zedong's communist forces at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 (Thompsons had already been widely used throughout China since the 1920s, at a time when several Chinese warlords and their military factions running various parts of the fragmented country made purchases of the weapon and then subsequently produced many local copies). During the Korean War, US troops were surprised to encounter communist Chinese troops armed with Thompsons (amongst other captured US-made Nationalist Chinese and American firearms), especially during unexpected night-time assaults which became a prominent Chinese combat tactic in the conflict. The gun's ability to deliver large quantities of short-range automatic assault fire proved very useful in both defense and assault during the early part of the war when it was constantly mobile and shifting back and forth. Many Chinese Thompsons were captured and placed into service with American soldiers and marines for the remaining period of the war.
  The Yugoslav Army received 34,000 M1A1 Thompsons during the 1950s as part of a US Military Aid to Yugoslavia Agreement. These guns were used during the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s.
  During the Cuban Revolution, the Thompson submachine gun was used by both Batista's army and Fidel Castro's guerrillas. Both the latter and the Brigade 2506 also used some during the bay of Pigs Invasion.
  During the Vietnam War, some South Vietnamese army units and defense militia were armed with Thompson submachine guns, and a few of these weapons were used by reconnaissance units, advisors, and other American troops. It was partially replaced by the MAC-10, albeit during Vietnam, the fully automatic fire provided by the M16 made the Thompson less effective than it previously had been. Still, not only did some U.S. soldiers have use of them in Vietnam, they encountered them as well. The Viet Cong liked the weapon and used both captured models as well as manufacturing their own copies in small jungle workshops.
  The Australian government destroyed most of their Thompson machine carbines in the 1960s. They shipped their remaining stocks to arm the forces of Lon Nol's Khmer Republic in 1975. They were then captured and used by the Khmer Rouge.
  In the conflict in Northern Ireland, known as the 
caption: Two Israeli policemen, armed with Thompsons meet a Jordanian legionnaire near the Mandelbaum Gate c. 1950
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