De Lisle Silenced Commando Carbine

The De Lisle Carbine generates much interest among those who research specialised weapons of either World War and the period between. It is certainly a clever piece of design, as effective at the time as any other moderated arm until the introduction of the Welrod pistol.

Much has been put forward about the uses for which the De Lisle carbine was intended, and particularly of the uses to which it was actually put. The former aspect is comparatively obvious, but the latter subject is often more a matter of hearsay and conjecture.

Evidence of the employment of this silenced carbine "in the field" is in remarkably short supply. It is alleged to have been used by special forces units bothe from the Commandos and S.O.E., but confirmed instances are as few as two.

Perusal of these papers will afford a worthwhile indication of the views of many of those people responsible for the initiation of the design project, prototyping, testing and production - not all of whom fully approved of the proposals. There were a number of doubts expressed by those involved.

Trials of the protoypes were not without problems, even occasionally caused by incorrect maintenance or disassembly/reassembly on the part of the users. On one occasion a carbine's moderator was taken apart, but put back together slightly out-of-line, destroying the forward part of the weapon when it was subsequently fired. Nonetheless, largely speaking, the carbine performed remarkably well, and there was certainly an area of clandestine operations in which it promised considerable effectiveness; although this was perhaps rather limited.

It has been mooted, in current professional research circles, that the troop commanders of commando units preferred the versions of the silenced automatic Sten machine carbines, and that, for assasination purposes, the Welrod pistol and more obscure weapons such as the 'sleeve gun' were more suitable.

With a greater range, nearer 50 to 100 yards, the De Lisle would perhaps have been theoretically better suited to the quiet elimination of a sentry; but, without doubt, the various 'manual' means of achieving this were a more certain method of ensuring the ongoing silence of the target. The garotte or the Fairburn Sykes commando knife provided the better guarantee, even if requiring a far more close and stealthy approach.

This may well be one reason for the dearth of genuine reports of the employment of the De Lisle.

 

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