THE STERLING YEARS: Small Arms and the Man

This is the story of the author’s British company involved in the manufacture, development and usage of one of the most famous sub-machine guns ever produced. Designed at the end of WW2, it saw limited use on a trial basis, carried by paratroopers during the battle of Arnhem, but since the British Forces had plenty of Sten guns at the time, it was not until 1953, that, with a few modifications, the weapon was formally adopted by the British Army. Within the confines of its pistol ammunition, it has rifle-like accuracy, and was extremely useful in urban and jungle warfare alike, and is still regarded as one of the most reliable sub-machine guns in the world, although it was withdrawn from service in 1988.

Apart from licensed manufacture in Canada and India, a total of over 400,000 were made. Sterling built them for the British Government and for overseas sales in over ninety countries. Sterling guns were used as the basis for the weapons used by the Storm Troopers in the Star Wars films. James Edmiston, born in 1943, considers himself a producer of the so-called working class - whatever that may mean. He was educated at Rugby and Brasenose College Oxford, where he had the utmost difficulty in finding time to read law. Apart from a thorough grounding in production engineering, he ran the world-renowned Sterling Armament Company for twelve years; with a degree of success that he claims was due to his various colleagues and loyal employees.