Welrod

The name Welrod comes from the custom of naming all clandestine equipment devised at Station IX in Welwyn starting with Wel, such as the Welgun, Welbike and Welman. The Welrod was used primarily by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) but was also used by the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and Resistance forces. The Welrod is a "sanitised" weapon, meaning that it has no markings indicating its manufacturer or country of origin; it is marked only with a serial number and some inscrutable symbols and letters. The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA) confirmed that it manufactured some Welrod pistols but put no markings at all on them, so it is likely that any markings were added by the British military after delivery. The original Mk.I Welrod is of a bolt-action design. but at least one prototype is known to have survived. The Welrod Mk II, chambered for .32 ACP is the primary model. Due to poor field results, the Welrod 9mm Mk I was subsequently developed using 9×19mm Parabellum rounds. ==Design==

The Welrod takes the form of a cylinder, about long. The rear section of the cylinder contains the bolt, the middle section, the vented (16–20 ports) barrel and expansion chamber for the barrel and the front section, the baffles and (rubber) wipes of the silencer. There is a knurled knob at the rear that serves as the bolt handle, which unlocks when rotated 90 degrees. The magazine doubles as the grip and can be removed for ease of hiding. The exclusion of a pistol grip was apparently done to help conceal the weapon's purpose and in some groups it was called a "bicycle pump" due to its innocuous look with the magazine/grip removed. The Welrod is provided with sights marked with luminescent paint for use in low-light conditions. The muzzle end of the gun is ground slightly concave to minimise noise during a contact shot; this may have also improved grip against the target, decreasing the chance of missing. The ported barrel of the Welrod serves two purposes; it releases the powder gases gradually into the rear of the silencer, reducing the sound of firing, and it reduces the velocity of the bullet to subsonic speeds. This is especially important in the 9 mm version because the standard 9 mm loading is supersonic. The metal baffles and rubber wipes that follow the barrel serve to further slow the gases of firing, releasing them over a longer period of time and avoiding the sharp explosion that occurs when high pressure powder gases are suddenly released to the atmosphere. ==Operation==

The pistol is manually operated using a rotary bolt, locking with two lugs. Loading is performed with a pull/push action using the round knurled knob to the rear of the weapon. The trigger is single stage with a simple safety at the back of the magazine housing. The detachable single stack magazine contains six or eight rounds (depending on calibre) and serves as a pistol grip with the bottom part enclosed by the plastic cover. ==Use==

There was a plan in 1943 to drop Welrods into German-occupied territories for the mass assassination of Schutzstaffel (SS) and Gestapo officers and soldiers within a one-month period by resistance units. This plan was possibly delayed or called off in the aftermath of Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich by Czech resistance forces. Welrod guns were also found in weapons caches from Operation Gladio. The Welrod was used by US Army Special Forces soldiers assigned to Detachment "A" Berlin during the Cold War and by Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG). ==See also==