Last year while surfing the web, I found an interesting 26-hour series that was being done for The Discovery Channel. It is called "Secrets of the World at War." One of the segments was on the Liberator Pistol. Mr. Keith Melton was the person being interviewed about the pistol. He is said to be an expert and noted historian on this subject as well as many others. The following are some of his comments and what my research indicates to be the facts.

These pistols were parachuted into France.------Some pistols were used in France but not very many. I can find no documentation that they were ever parachuted into France. If Mr. Melton has any valid information that this is not the case I would like to have it.

In the butt, there were five rounds of ammunition and an ejection rod.------The pistol was shipped with ten rounds of ammunition. The instruction sheet shows how to store the ten rounds in the butt. The ejection rod is 5 1/4 inches long and the butt of the pistol is  2 1/8 inches deep. There is no way you could store this rod in the butt of the pistol without cutting the rod in three pieces.

The effective range of the weapon is six feet.  Because it was smooth bore the projectile would tumble and basically be non-functional.------In the ballistics chapter of my book, I show a target shot at 50 feet. Four shots were within 5 1/4 inches with the five shots measuring 12 3/4 inches. A five-shot group measured 2 1/2 inches at six feet. These targets show that the bullets were tumbling. The velocity of the bullet averaged about 735 fps. Anyone with any knowledge of ballistics knows that a tumbling bullet is much more effective on a body than one that does not tumble. I have been told that the .223 bullet used by our armed forces tumbles on impact creating a large wound.

The question was asked why the OSS did not send in more effective weapons.------The OSS did send more effective weapons. That is why so few of the Liberator Pistols were used.

I contacted Mr. Melton and sent him a copy of my book. He said he would read it and get back to me. It's been a long time and I am still waiting. I also contacted the "The Documedia Group" who are doing this documentry for the Discovery Channel. They are not concerned about any errors. This interview can be seen on the internet at http://www.secretsofwar.com/html/../experts/melton3.htm

Keep the new information coming and send any comments you may have.