Churchill the Thompson gunner, gun found

It would appear that the Thompson submachine gun held by Winston Churchill in a 1940 photo has been located in a British museum:

In 1940, as Britain feared invasion was imminent, the Prime Minister was photographed with the gun while inspecting coastal defences. . . . The British saw the picture as a symbol that Churchill really was prepared to “fight on the beaches” and rallied behind him.

Churchill was photographed holding a civilian version of the iconic Thompson, leading to Nazi claims that the picture showed he was just a gangster. The civilian version, featuring a round magazine and a front grip, was a favorite of Al Capone's Chicago mobsters.

While the gun was thought to be lost, it turns out to be that the "Combined Military Services Museum in Maldon, Essex, says it has the gun on display as part of the Donnington Collection." Sounds good to me. Seems to me, though, that Churchill could have gotten ahold of a military version and looked much more bad-ass with one of these:

Note the stick magazine, lack of a forward pistol grip and the sling keepers at the front and rear bottom of the stock. Also, that looks like a 30-round magazine. Standard was 20 rounds -- less chance of hanging up on something.

Hat tip to Girls Just Wanna Have Guns.

I don't think Winston the Thompson Gunner can stack up to this, though: