Overview[]
The FP-45 Liberator was a .45 pistol designed for resistance in Europe during WWII. The idea was to manufacture a large amount of these pistols, and air drop them into France and other occupied countries for use by irregulars or resistance fighters.
The FP-45 was very secretive during it's design phase. FP-45 stands for Flare Projector Caliber .45. Note that this pistol is not a flare gun. All of the parts were named something innocent - the barrel for instance, was named tube.
A million Liberator pistols were manufactured in 11 weeks. Each of these pistols were test fired at least once. Approximately 600 barrels for the Liberator could be produced per hour. It was said it takes longer to load the weapon, than to manufacture one.
Deployment[]
The Liberator was to be air dropped into occupied territories by the British. 500,000 (half) of the Liberator pistols were delivered to Britain before they cancelled the rest. British officials wanted to be in charge of the deployment, but the Americans declined. This project was then pushed aside as the aircraft that would have been used would have been bombers - which had somewhat more important military targets. Furthermore, only a small amount of Liberator packages could be carried per bomber, each bomber needed a larger fuel load to reach the destination for the drop as well as the relatively small bomb bay. Because of these issues, Britain did not air drop a single Liberator into occupied France.
A small amount of Liberators were dropped into Greece, China and the Philippines. Some countries used the Liberator post war in police forces.
After the war, the existing Liberators were either dumped, incinerated, still in service by police forces, or in storage. The OSS acquired the remaining Liberators that were stockpiled in the US.
Variants[]
Liberator (Early Production)[]
The early production models had an issue where the firing pin block would sometimes rotate slightly, which may cause misfiring.
Liberator (Late Production)[]
The late production models added a guide rod for the firing pin block.
Liberator (Reproduction)[]
An unknown company manufactured reproduction Liberator pistols at some point somewhat recently.
Pictorial instructions in each box air dropped. No text was included for universal use.
| George Hyde Products | ||
|---|---|---|
| Firearms | No image | |
| Assault Rifles | 1944 SMG • No. 3 Light Rifle | |
| Sidearms | FP .45 | |
| Submachine Guns | Hyde-Inland Model 1 • Model 33 • Model 35 • M2 • M3 (A1) | |
 United States of AmericaWeapons Interwar & World War II Period (1919 — 1945) |
|---|
| Infantry Weapons | ||
|---|---|---|
| Melee Weapons | Blades | Ka-Bar • M1 Bayonet • M3 Trench Knife • M1917 Bayonet • M1942 Bayonet • Marine Raider Stiletto • Mark I Trench Knife |
| Sidearms | Pistol | HDM • M1903 • M1908 • M1911 (A1) |
| Revolver | M1917 • New Service • Official Police • Victory | |
| Close-Quarters | Submachine Gun | M1 (A1) • M2 • M3 (A1) • M42 • M50 • M55 • M60 • M65 • M1921 • M1923 • M1926 • M1927 (A1 • A3 • A5) • M1928 (A1) |
| Shotgun | Auto-5 • M31 • M37 • M520 • M620 • M1897 • M1912 | |
| Rifles | Bolt-Action Rifle | M1903 (A1 • A2 • A3 • A4) • M1917 |
| Battle Rifle | M1 (E1 • E2 • E3 • E4 • E5 • E6 • E8 • E9 • E10 • E11 • E12 • E13 • E14) • M1941 • T1 (E1 • E2) • T20 (E1 • E2 • E2, HB) • T22 (E1 • E2 • E2, HB) • T23 • T26 • T27 • T31 • T35 • T36 • T37 | |
| Assault Rifle | M1 (A1 • A2 • A3) • M2 • M3 | |
| Machine Guns | Light Machine Gun | Browning M1918A2 • M1941 |
| Medium Machine Gun | M1917 • M1919 (A1 • A2 • A3 • A4 • A6) | |
| Heavy Machine Gun | M2 | |
| Anti-Materiel | Anti-Tank Rifle | [[]] |
| Recoilless Rifles | M18 • M20 | |
| Rocket Launchers | M1 (A1) • M9 (A1) • M18 • M20 | |
| Flamethrowers | E1 • E1R1 • M1 (A1) • M2 (A1) | |
| Grenades | Grenade Launchers | [[]] |
| Rifle Grenade Launchers | M1 • M7 • M17 | |
| Anti-Personnel Grenades | Mk 2 • MK3 • MK3A1 • MK3A2 • M1 Frangible Grenade • T13 | |
| Anti-Tank Grenades | [[]] | |
| Smoke Grenades | [[]] | |
| Mines | Anti-Personnel Mines | M3 • M16 |
| Anti-Tank Mines | M1 • M1A1 • M4 • M7 • M7A1 • M7A2 | |
| Other | Flare Guns | [[]] |
| Other Man-Portable Explosives | M1A1 Bangalore Torpedo | |
| Infantry Equipment | ||
|---|---|---|
| Camouflage | Camouflage | [[]] |
| Clothing | Backpacks | [[]] |
| Body Armour | [[]] | |
| Bomb Suit | [[]] | |
| Elbow and knee pads | [[]] | |
| Signals & IFF | [[]] | |
| Suits | [[]] | |
| Vests & Webbing | [[]] | |
| Headwear | Communication | [[]] |
| Gas Masks & Rebreathers | [[]] | |
| Goggles | [[]] | |
| Helmets | [[]] | |
| Vehicle Headwear | [[]] | |
| Optics, Detection and Surveillance | Man-Portable Radar | [[]] |
| Mine Detectors | [[]] | |
| Night Vision Goggles | [[]] | |
| Periscopes | [[]] | |
| Rangefinders | [[]] | |
| Surveillance | [[]] | |
| Artillery | |
|---|---|
| Anti-Aircraft Guns | M45 Quadmount • 37mm M1 • 37mm M1A1 • 37mm M1A2 • 40mm M1 • 3-Inch M1917 • 3-Inch M1918 • 3-Inch M1 • 3-Inch M2 • 3-Inch M3 • 3-Inch M4 • 90mm M1 • 90mm M1A1 • 90mm M2 • 120mm M1 |
| Anti-Tank Guns | 37mm M3 (A1 • 57mm M1 • 75mm M1897 • 3-Inch M5 • 90mm M2 37mm T3 • 37mm T7 • 37mm T8 • 90mm T8 • 105mm T8 |
| Coastal Artillery | 3-Inch M1902 • 3-Inch M1903 • 90mm M1 • 6-Inch M1897 • 6-Inch M1900 • 6-Inch M1903 • 6-Inch M1905 • 6-Inch M1908 • 6-Inch M1 • 6-Inch T2 • 12-Inch M1890 • 12-Inch M1895 • 12-Inch M1888 • 12-Inch M1900 • 14-Inch M1907 • 14-Inch M1909 • 14-Inch M1910 • 16-Inch M1895 • 16-Inch M1919 • 16-Inch M1920 • 16-Inch Mark 2 • 16-Inch Mark 3 |
| Field Guns | 75mm M1897 • 4.5-Inch M1 • 4.5-Inch T3 • 6-Inch M1897 • 6-Inch M1900 • 6-Inch M1903 • 6-Inch M1905 • 6-Inch M1908 • 6-Inch M1 • 6-Inch T2 • 155mm M1 • 155mm M1A1 • 155mm M1A1E1 • 155mm M1A1E3 • 155mm M2 • 155mm T4 • 8-Inch M1 |
| Howitzers | 105mm M1 • 105mm M2 • 105mm T2 • 105mm M2A1 • 105mm M3 • 155mm M1918 • 155mm M1 • 8-Inch M1 • 8-Inch M2 • 240mm M1 |
| Infantry & Mountain Guns | 75mm M1 • 75mm M1A1 |
| Mortars | 60mm M2 • 81mm M1 • 4.2-Inch M2 • 12-Inch M1890 • 36-Inch Project 4712 |
| Railroad Artillery | 8-Inch VI • 8-Inch M1888 • 10-Inch M1895 • 10-Inch M1888 • 10-Inch M1900 • 14-Inch M1920 |
| Recoilless Guns | [[]] |
| Rocket Artillery | [[]] |
| Siege Artillery | [[]] |
| Land Vehicle Weapons | |
|---|---|
| Vehicle Machine Guns | M1919 (A4 • A4E1 • A5) • M2 (Fixed • Flexible • TT) |
| Standard Tank Guns | 37mm M5 (E1) • 37mm M6 • 37mm M1924 (A1) • 75mm M2 • 75mm M3 • 75mm M6 • 3-inch M5 • 3-inch M6 • 3-inch M7 • 76mm M1 (A1 • A1C • A2) • 76mm T1 • 90mm M3 (A1) 37mm T21 |
| Other Cannons Mounted on Tanks | 75mm Howitzer M1 (A1) • 75mm AT Gun M1897 • 105mm Howitzer M2 • 105mm Howitzer M4 • 105mm T8 • 155mm Howitzer M1918 • 155mm Howitzer M2 |
| Rocket Artillery | M17 • T34 (E1 • E2) • T40 |
| Vehicle Flamethrowers | E7-7 • E9 • E14-7R2 • Navy Mk.I • Ronson |
| Spotlights | Canal Defence Light |
| Aircraft Weapons & Munitions | |
|---|---|
| Aircraft Machine Guns | AN/M2 • M3 |
| Aircraft Cannons below & including 30mm | [[]] |
| Aircraft Cannons above 30mm | 37mm M4 • 37mm T9 • 37mm M10 • 75mm M5 • 75mm T13E1 |
| Aircraft Rockets & Missiles | T64 H.V.A.R. |
| Aircraft Bombs, High Explosive | [[]] |
| Aircraft Bombs, Anti-Personnel | [[]] |
| Naval Weapons & Munitions | |
|---|---|
| Naval Machine Guns | M2 |
| Naval Cannons below & including 30mm | [[]] |
| Naval Cannons above 30mm | 37mm M9 |