Błyskawica submachine gun

Lore & Background

In September 1942, engineer Wacław Zawrotny proposed to the Armia Krajowa command that he and his colleagues prepare a project of a cheap, home-made machine pistol for use by the Polish resistance. Its main feature was its simplicity, so that the weapon could be made even in small workshops, by inexperienced engineers. The idea was accepted, and Zawrotny, together with his colleague Seweryn Wielanier, prepared a project of a sub-machine gun, soon afterward named Błyskawica. To allow for easier production, all parts of the weapon were joined together with screws and threads rather than bolts and welding. Neither of the designers were gun constructors.

The design was based on two of the most popular submachine guns of the era. The external construction with a retractable butt and magazine mounted below the gun was borrowed from the German MP 40. The internal design of the mechanism was modeled after the British Sten. The blowback action with an open bolt offered good performance and high reliability. Unlike the Sten, and its Polish clone called the Polski Sten, it employed a free-floating firing pin and two springs behind the bolt – one served as the return spring and the other as the buffer spring. The weapon was designed in this fashion so that resistance army members could use any captured stocks of German MP40 ammunition cartridges.

The documentation was ready by April 1943, and by September a prototype was ready. After extensive tests in the forests outside of Zielonka near Warsaw, the weapon was presented to the commanding officer of the KeDyw, August Emil Fieldorf, who found the design acceptable. In November the plans were sent to a number of workshops spread throughout occupied Poland and a serial production run was initiated. The name was coined after the three lightning bolts carved on the prototype by its designers, pre-war workers of the Elektrit company that used a similar logo. The final assembly took place in a workshop officially producing metal fence nets in Warsaw at Grzybów Square, and the guns were tested in a cellar. After the tests of a prototype series of five pistols, the KeDyw ordered 1000, and later an additional 300. Until July 1944 and the start of Operation Tempest roughly 600 pieces were built in Warsaw. During the Warsaw Uprising an additional 40 were built. Around 740 were manufactured in total. It is also possible that the Błyskawica was also produced in small quantities outside of Warsaw.

Reader's Guide

The Błyskawica holds significance as one of only two weapons mass-produced covertly in occupied Europe during World War II, the other being a Polish version of the Sten. Its design deliberately combined elements of the German MP40 and the British Sten to simplify production and allow use of captured German ammunition. The weapon's construction using screws and threads instead of bolts and welding enabled manufacture in small workshops by inexperienced engineers. The total production of approximately 740 units, with most built in Warsaw before and during the Warsaw Uprising, reflects the resourcefulness of the Polish resistance under occupation. The fact that neither designer was a professional gun constructor underscores the improvisational nature of the project. The Błyskawica's legacy lies in its demonstration of how resistance forces could produce effective small arms under extreme constraints, using available materials and captured enemy ammunition.

Did You Know?

• The weapon was designed to use captured German MP40 ammunition cartridges.
• Neither of the designers, Wacław Zawrotny and Seweryn Wielanier, were gun constructors.