Bechowiec-1
A Polish resistance submachine gun designed by a self-taught blacksmith.
The Bechowiec-1 was a submachine gun built in secret by Poland’s Bataliony Chłopskie (Peasants’ Battalions) during World War II. Its name came from the informal term for members of that resistance group, *bechowiec*. The weapon was designed in 1943 by Henryk Strąpoć and manufactured in hidden workshops near Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski.
Strąpoć, born in 1922, was a blacksmith and self-taught gunsmith from the village of Czerwona Góra. Before the war, between 1936 and 1939, he had already built four semi-automatic pistols of his own design. During the German occupation, he worked as a gunsmith for the local Bataliony Chłopskie. In spring 1943, he completed a working prototype of his submachine gun. He later refined the design with help from Jan Swat, a former mechanic at a metalworks in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski.
The Opatów district headquarters of the BCh, short on machine guns, decided to put the Bechowiec into serial production. Parts were made clandestinely at the Ostrowiec metalworks, smuggled out by workers starting in October 1943, and finished in Strąpoć’s blacksmith shop using only muscle-powered tools. Barrels came from scrapped World War I rifles, hand-cut and rebored to 9 mm caliber.
The first two completed guns emerged in January 1944. By July 1944, eleven had been finished in Czerwona Góra, and at least two more in Jan Swat’s workshop in Broniszowice. Around twenty were in production when the approaching front line and intensified German presence forced a halt. Unfinished weapons and parts were hidden.
The guns were issued to Bataliony Chłopskie and affiliated Ludowa Straż Bezpieczeństwa partisan units, mostly around Opatów. Only one Bechowiec-1 is known to survive; it is displayed at the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw. A later model, the Bechowiec-2, was designed and produced from April 1944 by Jan Swat, patterned after the Sten gun.
Strąpoć’s lack of experience with machine guns and the absence of direct models led to unusual design features reminiscent of semi-automatic pistols. For this reason, the weapon is sometimes called a machine pistol, though its size and layout are closer to a submachine gun. It had no stock and was quite compact. It used standard German 9mm Parabellum ammunition, easily obtained from soldiers or through raids. The last three or four examples used Soviet 7.62×25mm ammunition, which was becoming popular among partisans.
Quick Facts
- Is Ranged
- yes
- Origin
- Poland
- Designer
- Henryk Strąpoć
- Design Date
- 1943
- Service
- 1943–1945
- Cartridge
- 9×19mm Parabellum / 7.62×25mm Tokarev
- Action
- blowback, closed bolt
- Velocity
- c. 365 m/s
- Weight
- 2.43 kg , 2.82 kg (without / with magazine)
- Length
- 445 mm
- Part Length
- 240 mm
- Feed
- 32-round box magazine
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The gun's designer, Henryk Strąpoć (born 1922), was a blacksmith and self-taught amateur gunsmith in the village of Czerwona Góra, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Between 1936 and 1939 he illegally built four semi-automatic pistols of his own design. During the German occupation of Poland, he became a gunsmith for the local Bataliony Chłopskie underground organization. In the spring of 1943 he completed a working prototype of his own submachine gun, later named Bechowiec. He later improved the design with the help of Jan Swat, who formerly worked as a mechanic in the metalworks in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski.
The headquarters of Opatów BCh district, lacking machine guns, decided to organize serial production of the Bechowiec. This was possible thanks to the clandestine production of parts for the guns in a metalworks in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, without the knowledge of the German administration. These parts were produced there and, from October 1943, were smuggled out by workers. Final construction of the guns was done in Strąpoć's village blacksmith shop, with primitive muscle-powered tooling. Barrels were made from scrapped World War I vintage rifles, but had to be hand-cut and rebored to 9 mm caliber.
The first two new Bechowiec submachine guns were completed in January 1944. By July 1944, 11 were completed in Czerwona Góra, and at least two more in Jan Swat's workshop in Broniszowice. Some 20 were in production, but as the tide of the war turned, the front lines approached the village. The German presence intensified and forced a halt to the secret firearm production. The unfinished weapons and parts were hidden. The weapons were distributed among Bataliony Chłopskie and affiliated Ludowa Straż Bezpieczeństwa (People's Security Guard) partisan units, mostly in the area around Opatów.
Reader's Guide
The Bechowiec-1 is notable as a product of Polish underground resistance engineering during World War II, designed and produced under German occupation with limited resources. Its design reflects the constraints and ingenuity of partisan manufacturing: barrels were salvaged from World War I rifles and hand-rebored, parts were smuggled from a metalworks, and final assembly relied on muscle-powered tools. The weapon's lack of a stock and compact dimensions, combined with its slide action and closed-breech firing, gave it characteristics more akin to a machine pistol than a typical submachine gun. Only one Bechowiec-1 is thought to exist, exhibited in the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw. The design was succeeded by the Bechowiec-2, patterned after the Sten gun and produced from April 1944 by Jan Swat.
Did You Know?
- The Bechowiec-1 was designed by Henryk Strąpoć, a blacksmith and self-taught amateur gunsmith born in 1922.
- Barrels for the Bechowiec-1 were made from scrapped World War I vintage rifles, hand-cut and rebored to 9 mm caliber.
- Only one Bechowiec-1 is thought to exist; it is exhibited in the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw.
- The weapon's name comes from the informal term for members of the Bataliony Chłopskie resistance organization.
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