Weapons

Forgotten Weapons: The Spy Pistol Used to Resist Nazi Occupation

The Welrod is one of the best-remembered pieces of real-life James Bond gear manufactured by Special Operations Executive. SOE was a clandestine department set up in 1940 in the UK to assist resistance movements in occupied Europe, and they came up with some very interesting gadgets. SOE's Station IX specialized in weapons R&D, and was located in the small town of Welwyn, just north of London.

The devices created in Welwyn were all code-named using the name of the town for the first three letters. There was the Welrod, of course, and also the Welbike (a tiny folding motorcycle), the Welpen (a pen gun), the Welgun (a 9mm submachine gun), and more.

Welrod was built from the ground up as a silent weapon for shooting sentries, and this dramatically influenced its design. First, it was made as a manually-operated weapon, and not semiautomatic. The problem with semiautomatic guns in this application is that no matter how effective the silencer is as muffling the sound of the shot, you will still have noise from the action cycling—the bolt or slide slamming into the rear of the barrel as it chambers a new round.