Download or read book The Sterling Years written by James Edmiston and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2011-02-21 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of the manufacture, development and usage of one of the most famous submachine Guns ever produced by a British Firm 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, and tests between the two types of weapon were inconclusive, it was not until 1953, that with a few adjustments, the Weapon was formally adopted by the British Army Whilst not the most accurate of weapons, it was extremely useful in urban warfare and regarded as one of the most reliable submachine Guns throughout the world until it was withdrawn in 1988. A total of over 400,000 were manufactured. Sterling built them for the British armed forces and for overseas sales. The Sterling Guns was used as the basis for the weapons used by Storm Troopers in the Star Wars films.