Breech block for Mk2 Bren gun

Breech block for a Mk2 Bren machine gun made at The Monotype Corporation, a typecasting manufacturing company, during the Second World War. The decentralisation of armament production to engineering firms was known as 'the Monotype model' as a result of the British government commissioning The Monotype Corporation for war work. The Monotype factory made nearly 20 million various components for different articles of war.

A single sheet of paper accompanies the object with handwritten notes detailing the object's status as a Section 5 prohibited firearm, some historical information, and hand drawn images of the object and a complete Bren gun.

The Bren was a lightweight machine gun first issued in 1937. It was developed from the Czechoslovakian ZB series which were manufactured by Zbrojovka Brno. The name Bren was a result of this connection, it is a combination of Brno and Enfield, the site of the British Royal Small Arms Factory, where the modifications were made.

The Mk2 was introduced in 1941 for two reasons. Numerous Bren guns had been left behind during the evacuation from France due to their heavy nature and there was an increased need for mass production. The design was stripped back to make them lighter, simpler and easier to build. After the Mk2 was designed The Monotype Corporation was instructed to make them and from September 1941 onwards, they produced 72,000 guns.

The gun had a cyclic rate of fire of 500 rounds per minute, and each gun was issued with 25 magazines. Further modifications to make the guns into anti-craft weapons were added and they were used by specialist troops like the Long Range Desert Group. Due to its accuracy and reliability, the Bren gun was used on every British front in the Second World War.