By John Marshall It was described as crude, cheap, dangerous

and ingenious. It was all of these things. And itwas precisely because of these things that theAmerican FP-45 “Liberator” pistol made duringWorld War II deserves a spot on the shelf of trulyclassic handguns.

The idea for this pistol was conceived in 1942.The American Office of Strategic Services (OSS),headed by general “Wild Bill” Donovan, was look-ing for a way to arm resistance forces in Nazi-occupied Europe. The Joint Psychological WarfareCommittee believed that if resistance arms couldbe provided, the negative effect on the morale ofthe occupying German troops would be consider-able and very worthwhile. But the production ofthese arms could not cut into normal production ofmilitary firearms for our armed services and forthose of our allies.

The solution proposed was the development ofa cheap, single-shot, throwaway handgun thatcould be used at close range to dispatch enemysoldiers. The users of the weapon could thenappropriate the weapons of the victims formore versatile use. The Joint PsychologicalWarfare Committee believed that with suchguns, three objectives could be accomplished:

• First, demoralization of enemy troops usedfor policing conquered countries.

• Second, stimulation of civilian morale and thewill to revolt.

• Third, lessening of civilian fear of reprisals foracts of sabotage.

The Committee suggested the design and manu-facture of large quantities of small, inexpensive butheavy caliber pistols using standard ammunition.Also suggested were the preparation of instructionsfor use and the distribution of ammunition togetherwith the pistols. They also felt that time was essen-tial, and that complete secrecy of the project wasparamount. These ideas were tossed to the U.S.Army Ordnance Department, and its engineersquickly and secretly went right to work on thedevelopment of a design that would meet suchrequirements.

In April of 1942, the Ordnance officer in chargeproposed a welded-up single-shot weapon madefrom simple stampings, rods, castings, rivets andsprings, with an unrifled barrel chambering the .45ACP cartridge. Rough sketches of the design wereforwarded to the Inland Manufacturing Division ofGeneral Motors. In late April and early May, com-plete design drawings were made by a select groupof engineers at that company who worked inabsolute secrecy. In early May, the Joint Psycholog-ical Warfare Committee approved the design. Soonafter, the Chief, Military Intelligence Service of theWar Department General Staff requested one mil-lion of the new weapons be provided.

The Ordnance Departmentthen sought a manufacturing source.The Inland Manufacturing Divisionwas a logical choice due to its knowl-edge of the project, but it was alreadyheavily involved in production of theM1 carbine. General Motors suggestedthat additional manufacturing capacitycould be made available at their GuideLamp Division in Anderson, Indiana. Thecontract was let. Officially, the items tobe manufactured were “Flare Projec-tors” and given the military designa-tion FP-45. Only a few executives,final assembly and proof test person-nel knew the true nature of the proj-ect. Manufacture of the various partswas compartmented and assigned to totally dif-ferent departments. Cover names were given to

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40 CCLLAASSSSIICC HHAANNDDGGUUNNSS:: TThhee WWWWIII FP-45 “Liberator” PistolTThhee JJooiinntt PPssyycchhoological WarfareCCoommmmiitttteeee bbeelliieevveedd that providingrreessiissttaannccee aarrmmss wwoould have a con-ssiiddeerraabbllee nneeggaattiivve effect on themmoorraallee ooff ooccccuuppyyiinngg German troops.

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