The Bren began life in the 1930s when British officers picked the Czech ZGB 33—itself a refined ZB vz. 26—as their new infantry LMG, licensing Václav Holek’s design to be built at Enfield and Brno (hence “Bren”).By 1937 it sported a top-mounted curved 30-round box magazine, quick-change barrel and conical flash hider, earning its place as the British and Commonwealth section gun through World War II, Korea and beyond.After 1945 many Bens were re-barrelled in the 1950s for 7.62×51 NATO and rechambered to take the FN-FAL’s magazines as the L4; they soldiered on until the L7 GPMG and later the 5.56 L86 Light Support Weapon took over, leaving Bren only as a pintle-mounted backup.Meanwhile, Indian Ordnance kept the Bren’s legacy alive into the 21st century as the “Gun Machine 7.62 mm 1B,” finally ending production in 2012 after more than seven decades of service around the globe.