Fisherman Finds Loaded Nazi Submachine Gun In River
on Oct 07, 2021 • Updated Jan 15, 2025
A fisherman was fishing in the British countryside of Stroud when, to his surprise, he reeled in a loaded Nazi submachine gun dating back to 1940.
The man immediately reported it to Gloucestershire Police who sent in a Special Ops Unit to recover the WW2 weapon. Authorities said he reeled it out of the Frome River and it was a rusty MP-40.
The Nazi Germany Army called the MP-40 the Wehrmacht and it was one of the main weapons the germans used during the war. However, there is no historical evidence showing that the Nazis made it past Stonehouse and up into the Five Valleys where the gun was found.
Police and investigators suspect it was thrown in the river in the 1940s by a German spy who were known to have brought weapons into Britain. Other theories are that it was illegally brought back by a British soldier and he tossed it in the river to get rid of it.
According to the Nottingham Post, a spokesperson for Gloucestershire Police said, “We were called to help out a fisherman today who pulled something a bit different from the river: This German sub-machine gun is a piece of history, which could be as old as 1940. We wouldn’t advise eating this one. The weapon is going to be examined by our force armourer.”
