Model gun
Category
Models
Date
1944
Materials
Copper, Enamel, Wood
Measurements
110 x 214 x 147 mm
Order this imageCollection
Chartwell, Kent
NT 1100454
Summary
Miniature model of a Bren gun, mounted on a wooden plinth with a copper plate engraved with a map of Europe to WSC from the Czechoslovak Club, Newcastle on Tyne 1944 with an enamelled crest. 1969 Schedule P.220
Full description
After the 15 March 1939 occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Germans, about 120 specialist employees of the Brno Zbrojovka (manufacturers of the Brenn machine gun) fled illegally from the Protectorate and many of them found their way to Newcastle on Tyne. Production of an improved version of the Brenn machine gun then continued throughout the war in Enfield and Newcastle. On 9 November 1944 a miniature model of the Brenn gun was presented to King George VI in Buckingham Palace by three representatives of the Czechoslovak Club in Newcastle on Tyne. They were the Club Chairman J. Mucha, Vice Chairman J. Kučra and the former Agent Lt. J. Jalůvka. The presentation was then repeated 12 days later, this time to Winston Churchill at No. 10 Downing Street in London
Provenance
From the Czechoslovak Club Newcastle on Tyne 1944
Marks and inscriptions
Front: "To the Prime Minister of Great Britain, The Rt. Hon. Winston S. Churchill P.C., C.H., M.P., from The Czechoslovak Club, Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1944"