anti-aircraft platoons of some British infantry battalions during the North European campaign of 1944-45. Etymology The origin of the name is not entirely clear. Some sources suggest Poland and the "Sten Company" to give Pol-sten, though the Sten gun was not made by a Sten Company. Official (United Kingdom) sources indicate the name to have been a compound based on Poland and the Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield in the same manner as the Bren gun (Brno + Enfield) or Sten (Shephard, Turpin + Enfield); also to reflect the gun design being mostly Polish (and the magazine mostly Czech) and the 8 Polish engineers in the design department. The "Sten" ending may also have linked in with the idea of the gun as a cheaper and quicker to produce weapon just like that gun was. Operators Former operators See also Polski Sten, the actual Polish derivate of the Sten gun Notes References External links Airborne Polsten gun Anti-Aircraft: Polsten 20mm Quad World War II anti-aircraft guns World War II weapons of the United Kingdom World War II weapons of Poland 20 mm artillery Autocannon Poland–United Kingdom military relations