Lee-Enfield Rifle: The Lee Enfield was the main Canadian infantry rifle in WW2. It carried two 5 clip magazines, allowing ten shots before reloading. It was rugged and dependable - it still operated even when mud clogged or wet - unlike many rifles. A trained rifleman could fire over 20 aimed rounds a minute with accuracy over 600-900 yards

The Bren Light Machine Gun: The Bren was the main light machine gun from 1940 onwards. A Bren gun crew consisted of a gunner, a loader and two riflemen for covering fire. A Bren weighed 25 lbs and used 20-30 round "banana" magazines, firing at a rate of up 10 rounds per second. The Bren was normally operated from a prone position, with its barrel held up by bipod legs.

Lewis Gun: The Lewis gun was the standard British/Canadian light machine gun used in WW1. Many were still employed in WW2. A loaded Lewis gun weighed 30 lbs and could fire up to 10 rounds per second. The Lewis gun used revolving 50-100 round "drum" magazines .

STEN Gun: The STEN Gun was the standard submachine gun of the Canadian forces. The Sten had an extremely simple design, was very inexpensive to manufacture, and was very rugged. However, it required a skilled operator to handle its powerful recoil. It could fire a 32 round magazines in under 5 seconds but only had an accurate range of 100 metres. In untrained hands a STEN gun could fire bullets wildly in all directions.

Mills grenade: Grenades are effective against machine gun nests, the inside of a bunker or against small groups of enemy soldiers. You grip the grenade tightly and pull the safety pin out to arm it. As you throw the grenade, your hand releases the lever, and it will explode in 4 to 5 seconds.

Mortar: Canadian forces used three sizes of mortars, a two inch mortar carried by platoons, and heavier 3 and 4.2 inch mortars that required specially trained crews. Mortars consisted of a simple firing tube, a base plate and an adjustable bipod stand. When the mortar round was dropped down a tube, the impact set off an explosive in the base of the round. This fired it out of the tube. A second fuse in the nose of the round set off the main explosive when the round contacted the ground. Mortars had a range of up to 2500 metres. They were very portable and could provide an excellent attack or defensive barrage when artillery was not available.

Vickers Machine Gun: This was the main heavy machine gun for British and Canadian forces. It fired .303 caliber rounds in 500 round belts. Heavy machine guns could fire up to 500 rounds a minute, but they typically fired 100 to 250 rounds in bursts to avoid overheating. The gun barrel was surrounded by a water filled cooling jacket. Machine guns could be used offensively to pin down defenders but their main use was for defense. A well defended machine gun could kill hundreds of attackers in minutes.

PIAT ( Projector Infantry, Anti-Tank): The PIAT was the British equivalent of the American bazooka. It came into service in 1943 to meet the need for a portable infantry anti-tank weapon. It fired single explosive powered projectiles with enough power to punch through most tank side or rear armour. A PIAT projectile was also effective against simple defenses such as walls or houses. It had an effective range of 100 metres but could fire up to 300 metres in an angled trajectory. The main drawback was that the PIAT only had a 60% reliability rate. If a shot missed or failed to explode the PIAT crew was in trouble!