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SOLDATINSTRUKTION FÖR INFANTERIET

BY

TOM DAVIS, JR.

When the Thompson Submachine Gun or kulsprutepistol m/40 (submachine gun m/40) was adopted by the Royal

Army of Sweden in 1940, a stand alone 11 page Swedish manual was initially compiled, printed and distributed.

Documentation at the KRIGSARKIVET or War Archives in Stockholm, Sweden, revealed the initial production

run for this first manual was 2000 copies. Only a few copies of this manual are known to survive today. (See The

Ultimate Thompson Book, Fig.405)

In 1941, information on the kulsprutepistol m/40 was included in the Swedish Army manual,

SOLDATINSTRUKTION FÖR INFANTERIET (Instructions to Soldier - Infantry). Much of the information on

the m/40 or Thompson Submachine Gun, including two of the pictures (shown below), came directly from this

initial 11 page manual. While not common, the Swedish SOLDATINSTRUKTION FÖR INFANTERIET manu-

als can be found today. These manuals make a great addition to a Thompson paper collection. However, detailed

information on the m/40 is only found in the 1941, 1942 and 1943 Infantry manuals.

The 1941 SOLDATINSTRUKTION FÖR INFANTERIET manual was the first to include information on the

kulsprutepistol m/40. As the pictures of the manuals show below, there are three different variations of the 1941

manual: the initial or first edition, a second edition and a later third edition. The information on the m/ 40 con-

tained in all three 1941 editions is identical.

1941    ÅRS    UPPLAGA    -

SOLDATINSTRUKTION FÖR

INFANTERIET - 1st Edition

The   cover   marking   for   the   1941

SOLDATINSTRUKTION

FÖR

INFANTERIET - 2nd Edition (ANDRA)

The cover marking for the 1941

SOLDATINSTRUKTION

FÖR

INFANTERIET  3rd Edition (TREDJE)