Uziel was born Gotthard Glas on 15 December 1923 in Weimer, Germany.
After the Nazis came to power in Germany, he moved to the British Mandate of Palestine where he changed his name to Uziel Gal.
After the creation of the State of Israel, he started designing a gun which was put into service by the Israeli Defence forces in 1951.
The gun he designed was named Uzi after him and his request for a name change wad denied by the IDF.
He retired from the IDF in 1975 then moved to the US where he died of cancer in 2002.
The Uzi submachine gun that was designed by Uriel Gal. (Source: courtesy.)
2. Yisrael Galil.
Yisrael Galil was born Yisrael Balanishkov on 23 October, 1923.
During the six day war against the Arabs, Israel had captured very many AK-47s and found them to be effective in the desert conditions.
The Israeli Army gave two groups one led by Uziel Gal and another by Yisrael Galil, to design a new rifle based on the AK-47. Galil's design was chosen over that of Uziel which is the Galil assault rifle. In Israel, Galil is known as the father of the rifle. He died in 1995 aged 75.
The Galil assault rifle. (Source: courtesy.)
3. John T. Thompson.
John T. Thompson holding a Thompson submachine gun that he invented. (Source: courtesy.)
John Taliaferro Thompson was born in December 31, 1860 in Newport Kentucky, in the United States.
He served in the United States Army, from 1882 to 1914, then from 1917 to 1918, where he attained the rank of Brigadier General.
He was awarded with the distinguished service medal.
He died of a heart attack in June 21, 1940 and is buried on the grounds of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York.
4. John C. Garand.
John C. Garand holding an M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle. (Source: courtesy.)
Jean Cantius Garand was born on January 1, 1888 in St. Remi, Quebec, Qanada.
Garand patented his MI Garand in 1932, it was approved by the US Army on January 9, 1936 then went into mass production in 1940.
The M1 Garand rifle was very successful in World War Two that US Gen. Patton wrote, "In my opinion the MI rifle is the greatest battle implement ever devised."
John C. Garand retired in 1953 and died on February 16, 1974 at the age of 86.
5. Eugene Stoner.
He was an American firearms designer.
He was born in 1922 in Gasport, Indiana, US.
He also served in the US Marine Corps during World War Two.
He is most recognised for designing the AR-15 rifle (shown below) that was later modified into the M16 rifle by the US military.
Eugene Stoner and Mikhail Kalashnikov met for the first time on May 16 1990 in the US where they spent time touring the US and exchanging ideas.
Eugene Stone unfortunately died of cancer on April 24, 1997 at the age of 74.
Other notable firearm designers include the German, Hugo Schmeisser and the American, John Moses Browning.
Content created and supplied by: Ledward (via Opera News )
COMMENTS