The Blyskawica certainly took the British STEN design to heart though it held two notable physical differences in its external configuration - it utilized a more traditional bottom feeding for its box magazine (as opposed to the STEN's side-mounted feeding) and incorporated a dedicated pistol grip with its trigger unit (the STEN utilizing its crude metal stock as the primary grip). Otherwise, it was clear that the Blyskawica was, in many ways, a STEN-influenced weapon for it retained an open-bolt, blowback system of operation, was chambered for the same 9mm cartridge and sported an identical tubular receiver. Ahead of the receiver was also a short section of perforated heat shield and barrel, the latter lacking any sort of muzzle detail. The trigger mechanics were contained in a STEN-like slab-sided housing while the butt was of a solid metal construction though holding a two-strut design patternand hinged to fold under the weapon for a more compact profile (reminiscent of the German MP SMG series).
Performance of the Blyskawica weapon included a rate-of-fire of 600 rounds-per-minute with a muzzle velocity of 1,300 feet-per-second. Effective range was recorded at 656 feet. Comparatively, the STEN managed approximately 500 rounds-per-minute with a 1,200 feet-per-second muzzle velocity, effective range being 330 feet. As in the STEN, feeding for the Blyskawica was by way of a 32-round straight detachable box magazine.
As can be expected with a product of this relative complexity, manufacture of Blyskawica submachine guns by underground workshops was slow and numbers limited based on the ambitious requirement. Only about 700 of the type were believed produced despite the thousands realistically required by the resistance. The weapon was naturally pressed into action almost immediately and known to have been used throughout various actions in an attempt to undermine German preparations for the upcoming Soviet offensives. The resistance intended to coordinate capture of strategic areas and recover useful supplies and material. To this was added the reestablishment of the Polish Army as well as reinstatement of Polish political/societal authority.
In reality, the Polish resistance plan met only a limited set of early victories but failed to net many of its primary overlying goals. The movement culminated in the famous and heroic "Warsaw Uprising" which ran from August 1st to October 2nd of 1944. Despite aid from the British Royal Air Force with limited help from the United States and the Soviets, the uprising was unsurprisingly crushed by the German occupiers which resulted in the deaths of many Poles and the total destruction of Warsaw itself. Advancing Soviet forces had halted just outside of the city during the fighting to allow German forces to subdue the rebels and pave an easier road for the Soviets to tackle the remaining, now-weary, Germans in turn. Some 600,000 Soviet troops would subsequently die in the taking of Poland.
Nevertheless, the Blyskawica proved itself a serviceable weapon considering its crudeness and wartime design/development environment. It held a short service life but was actively fielded alongside the better known STEN and other captured - or domestically-produced - weapons of the period. The Blyskawica proved a sound feat of Polish engineering that allowed for a glimmer of hope during a dark time in the country's long-running history. The type was quickly given up at the end of the war, replaced by more refined and modern post-war offerings, these primarily influenced by Soviet designs.
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