Editing Thompson submachine gun (section)

====Combat use====
[[File:Ww2 158.jpg|thumb|A [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine]] fires on a Japanese position using an M1 Thompson submachine gun during an [[Battle of Okinawa|advance on Okinawa]] in May 1945.]]
The Thompson was used in World War II in the hands of [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] troops as a weapon for scouts, [[non-commissioned officer]]s ([[corporal]], [[sergeant]], and higher), and [[patrol]] leaders, as well as commissioned officers, tank crewmen, and soldiers performing raids on German positions. In the European theater, the gun was widely utilized in [[British Army|British]] and [[Canadian Army|Canadian]] [[British Commandos|commando]] units, as well as in the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] [[paratrooper]] and [[United States Army Rangers|Ranger]] [[battalion]]s, where it was issued more frequently than in [[line infantry]] units because of its high rate of fire and its stopping power, which made it very effective in the kinds of close combat these [[special operations]] troops were expected to undertake. [[Military Police]] were fond of it, as were paratroopers, who "borrowed" Thompsons from members of mortar squads for use on patrols behind enemy lines.<ref>[[David Kenyon Webster|Webster, David K.]] ''Parachute Infantry'' <!--publisher, place, & date?-->{{page needed|date=August 2015}}</ref> The gun was prized by those lucky enough to get one and proved itself in the close street fighting that was encountered frequently during the invasion of France. A Swedish variant of the M1928A1, the {{lang|sv|Kulsprutepistol m/40}} (machine pistol, model 40), served in the [[Swedish Army]] between 1940 and 1951. Through [[Lend-Lease Act|Lend-Lease]], the [[Soviet Union]] also received the Thompson, but due to a shortage of appropriate ammunition, its use was not widespread.<ref>{{Cite book|last= Bishop |first= Chris |title= The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II |place= New York |publisher= Orbis |year= 1998 |isbn= 978-0-7607-1022-7 }}{{page needed|date=December 2011}}</ref>

In the [[Malayan Campaign]], the [[Burma Campaign]] and the [[Asiatic-Pacific Theater|Pacific Theater]], Lend-Lease-issue Thompsons were used by the [[British Army]], [[Indian Army during World War II|Indian Army]], [[Australian Army]] [[infantry]] and other [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces. They used the Thompson extensively in jungle patrols and ambushes, where it was prized for its firepower, though it was criticized for its hefty weight and poor reliability. In New Guinea, the Thompson was the only submachine gun available to the Australian Army for most of the vital [[Kokoda Track campaign]] in 1942. It became so prized that soldiers routinely picked up Thompson guns dropped by killed or wounded comrades. However, the weight of the ammunition and difficulties in supply eventually led to its replacement in Australian Army units in 1943 by Australian-made submachine guns, the [[Owen Gun|Owen]] and [[Austen MK I|Austen]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Moremon |first=John |year=2022 |title=The Tommy Gun in Jungle Warfare: The Use and Usefulness of the Thompson Submachine Gun for Australian Soldiers on the Kokoda Trail, New Guinea, 1942 |journal=Vulcan: The Journal of the History of Military Technology |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=84–117 |doi=10.1163/22134603-09010005}}</ref> Thompsons were also given to the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] and [[Royal Australian Navy]].

In Burma and India, British forces largely replaced the Thompson with the [[Sten gun]]. New Zealand commando forces in the South Pacific campaign initially used Thompsons but switched them for the more reliable, lighter, and more accurate Owen during the [[Solomon Islands]] and [[Guadalcanal]] campaigns.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2IP-Comm-t1-body1-d13.html|title=Chapter XII – Guadalcanal – NZETC|website=nzetc.victoria.ac.nz}}</ref> The U.S. Marines also used the Thompson as a limited-issue weapon, especially during their later island assaults. The Thompson was soon found to have limited effect in heavy jungle cover, where the low-[[Muzzle velocity|velocity]] .45 bullet would not penetrate most small-diameter trees or protective armor vests. {{anchor|Remington-Thompson}}(In 1923, the Army had rejected the [[.45 Remington–Thompson]], which had twice the energy of the .45 ACP.){{sfn|Bearse|1994|p=213}} In the U.S. Army, many Pacific War jungle patrols were originally equipped with Thompsons in the early phases of the [[New Guinea]] and [[Guadalcanal]] campaigns, but soon began employing the [[Browning Automatic Rifle]] in its place as a point defense weapon.{{sfn|George|1981|p=400}}

The Army introduced the U.S. [[M3 submachine gun|M3]] and M3A1 submachine guns in 1943 with plans to produce the latter in numbers sufficient to cancel future orders for the Thompson, while gradually withdrawing it from first-line service. However, due to unforeseen production delays and requests for modifications, the M3/M3A1 never replaced the Thompson, and purchases continued until February 1944. Though the M3 was considerably cheaper to produce, at the end of World War II, the Thompson, with a total wartime production of over 1.5 million, outnumbered the M3/M3A1 submachine guns in service by nearly three to one.<ref name="Iannamico 1999">{{cite book|last=Iannamico|first=Frank|title=The U.S. M3–M3A1 Submachine Gun|location=Harmony, Maine|publisher= Moose Lake |isbn=978-0-9701954-4-9|year=1999| pages= 14, 55}}</ref>