Sergeant C.M.G. Lattion, Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit, cleaning Sten gun, Lembeck, Germany 29 March 1945. Photo by Charles H. Richer. Department of National Defence / National Archives of Canada, PA-145591.

The Sten was a type of sub-machine gun or machine carbine. Such weapons were designed to be light, compact, cheap and quick to produce, and deliver high rates of fire over relatively short ranges. Manufactured in Britain and Canada, the Sten was widely copied and continued in service around the world long after the Second World War.