{"id":119883,"date":"2020-05-17T13:24:58","date_gmt":"2020-05-17T17:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=119883"},"modified":"2020-05-17T13:24:58","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T08:30:18","slug":"the-baby-faced-monster-lester-gillis-and-his-lebman-baby-machinegun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/the-baby-faced-monster-lester-gillis-and-his-lebman-baby-machinegun\/","title":{"rendered":"1911 Baby Machine Gun and the Baby Faced Monster: Lester Gillis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"1911
Lester Gillis, shown here alongside his mom, was a natural-born criminal. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lester Gillis was born in December of\n1908 in Chicago, Illinois. His first arrest came on Independence Day at age 12.\nYoung Lester discovered a handgun and inadvertently shot a pal in the jaw. He\nserved a year in reform school before being released to steal his first car at\nage 13. This bought the lad another 18 months in the boys\u2019 penal facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Gillis married his soulmate, Helen, after meeting her in a store. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gillis was a great many dichotomous\nthings. He was a natural leader, a committed husband, and a doting father. He\nmarried Helen Wawrzyniak at age 20 and sired two kids he adored. By 1930,\nhowever, Gillis was making serious bank in the burgeoning field of armed\nrobbery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Les Gillis got started young. By his early twenties, he had stolen enough to become a wealthy man. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The press referred to his gang as the \u201cTape Bandits\u201d after their propensity to truss up robbery victims with tape. On one of his first major scores, Gillis and his troops made off with $205,000 in jewelry from magazine-executive, Charles Richter. That would be more than $3 million today. After several more lucrative home invasions, Gillis robbed his first financial institution. While the $4,000 he stole was dwarfed by his previous jewel heists, Gillis found in bank robbery his true calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Gillis\u2019 boyish looks earned him the moniker Baby Face Nelson. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In October of 1930, the brazen Lester Gillis robbed the wife of sitting Chicago mayor Big Bill Thompson, making off with $18,000 in jewelry. Mrs. Thompson got a good look at Gillis during the robbery and described him thusly, \u201cHe had a babyface. He was good looking, hardly more than a boy, had dark hair and was wearing a grey topcoat and a brown felt hat, turned down brim.\u201d Though no one close to him dared use the moniker, the press and subsequently the rest of the planet came to refer to Lester Gillis by his nom de guerre–Baby Face Nelson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Gillis was a psychopath\u2019s psychopath who showed no hesitation to kill when the perceived need arose. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite his obviously sincere affection for his wife and kids, Les was an inveterate killer. During a 1933 robbery of the First National Bank of Brainerd, Minnesota, he covered the gang\u2019s getaway by emptying his Thompson submachinegun at gawking bystanders. A year later a paint salesman named Theodore Kidder cut off Lester\u2019s car in Chicago traffic. Gillis let his fulminant temper get the better of him and chased the terrified Kidder until he pinned his car against a curb. When the hapless salesman exited the car to de-escalate the conflict, Baby Face Nelson blew him away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
John Dillinger was the apex predator among depression-era outlaws. He and Gillis made a great team. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The specific composition of these criminal gangs ebbed and flowed based upon the vagaries of prison, territory, friendships, and untimely deaths. Soon Les found John Dillinger, and the two became tight as, well, thieves. Cross-country crime sprees can be taxing, so by April of 1934 Nelson and Dillinger were in serious need of some downtime. The two retreated to the Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, for a little well deserved R and R. Accompanying them were Homer Van Meter, John \u201cRed\u201d Hamilton, Tommy Carroll, a young apprentice thug named Pat Reilly, Les\u2019 bride Helen, and three girlfriends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
This is a photograph of the 1935 graduating class of National Police Executives, the forerunner of the FBI academy. The learning curve was steep and bloody for those early Law Enforcement pioneers. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sadly there is only one way to gain\nexperience, and that is frequently just not terribly graceful. While the FBI is\ntypically a well-oiled machine these days, back in the 1930\u2019s tactical Law\nEnforcement procedures were in their infancy. The result was an almost darkly\ncomedic little slaughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
The Little Bohemia Lodge was the site of a bloody violent exchange between G-Men and the Dillinger gang. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Emil Wanatka, the owner of the lodge, was\nplaying cards with Dillinger and noticed his holstered sidearm as Public Enemy\nNumber One raked in his earnings. Wanatka told his wife who told a friend who called\nthe feds. The famed G-Man Melvin Purvis hustled over with a few FBI shooters,\nand they assaulted the lodge straightaway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Eugene Boisneau was mistaken for a criminal and gunned down by Melvin Purvis\u2019 G-men. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Feds attacked en masse from the front\njust as the unsuspecting evening dinner crowd was departing following the famed\nLittle Bohemia $1 Sunday night special. Three innocent diners, Eugene Boisneau,\nJohn Hoffman, and John Morris, were firing up their 1933 Chevrolet Coupe just\nas the FBI agents approached. Somebody misunderstood somebody, and the feds\nopened fire. Boisneau died on the spot, and his two buddies were badly wounded.\nCatastrophically, the gunfire also alerted the professional killers inside the\nlodge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Gillis first tried to shoot his way out of the FBI ambush. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Little Bohemia fight has been exhaustively dissected elsewhere. Suffice it to say, Hamilton, Carroll, Van Meter, and Dillinger took to the woods and escaped. True to his idiom, Lester Gillis aka Baby Face Nelson snatched up his Thompson and fearlessly charged at the G-men, exchanging fire with Purvis himself. After this initial skirmish, Gillis fled alone in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Carter Baum was one of three lawmen who made the mistake of wandering into Lester Gillis while he was particularly desperate. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Several cars later Les found himself at\nthe home of a local named Alvin Koerner along with a total of seven hostages.\nHe quickly thinned the herd to three and was climbing into yet another vehicle\nwhen a government car carrying FBI agents Jay Newman and W. Carter Baum as well\nas a local constable named Carl Christensen drove up. Nelson approached the\nvehicle and disarmingly asked the newcomer\u2019s identities. The\nG-man identified themselves, and Lester Gillis pulled a most remarkable\ncustomized weapon out from underneath his coat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gun<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"1911
Hyman Lebman was a San Antonio gunsmith with an eclectic clientele. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hyman Lebman was a Texas gunsmith whose shop specialized in hard-to-find ordnance. His San Antonio establishment featured hunting guns, boots, and saddles upstairs, but he kept the truly good stuff in the basement. In the heady days before the 1934 National Firearms Act, machineguns were cash and carry. Lebman\u2019s mechanical gifts and the creations he spawned ultimately prompted many a Chicago gangster to undertake a Texas road trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Lebman\u2019s customized M1907 Winchesters were sought-after gangster tools. Homer Van Meter used one to kill patrolman Howard Wagner during a particularly violent bank robbery in South Bend, Indiana. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lebman built customized full auto\nWinchester M1907 rifles. A Lebman 1907 captured from the Dillinger gang is on\ndisplay at the FBI building in Washington, DC. His specialty, however, was what\nhe called his Baby Machinegun. These full auto 1911 pistols represented the\nmost concealable firepower mankind might conjure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Lebman offered his converted 1911 pistols in both .45ACP and .38 Super. The end result was a serious fistful of firepower. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When Lebman was testing one of his early\nexamples in his basement firing range the thing got away from him and stitched\na row of holes through the floor above, nearly killing his young son Marvin.\nThe final versions could be had in either .45ACP or .38 Super and included a\nmodified Cutts compensator as well as the foregrip from a Thompson submachine\ngun. Extended magazines carried either eighteen or twenty-two rounds depending\nupon the caliber, and the little monsters cycled in excess of 1,000 rpm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Lebman never made more than a handful of his iconic full auto 1911 pistols, but they left an indelible mark. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1933 Lester Gillis walked into Lebman\u2019s shop along with\nhis pretty wife Helen and young son Ronald using the alias Jimmy Williams. A skulking\nfellow gangster named Charles Fisher kept him company. An odd friendship\nensued, and the mobster\u2019s family later took dinner with that of\nLebman in the gunsmith\u2019s home. When Gillis departed San Antonio,\nhe left with five full auto Babies in .38 Super, four unmodified 1911 pistols\nin .45ACP, and a brace of Thompsons. Gillis paid Lebman $300 apiece for the Tommy\nguns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Killing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"1911
Gillis\u2019 execution killing of Carter Baum with a Lebman 1911 Baby Machinegun was the optimal application for this sinister little machine pistol. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gillis stood in the dim light outside the agents\u2019 government vehicle and drew one of Lebman\u2019s .38 Super full auto 1911\u2019s from his coat. Before the G-Men could react, he hosed down the car at more than 1,000 rounds per minute. Constable Christensen and Agent Newman were badly wounded. At a range of less than ten feet, Agent W. Carter Baum caught three of the zippy little .38-caliber rounds in the neck. The hapless government agent bled out and died in short order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Lester Gillis hosed down the G-Men\u2019s car so quickly they were unable to return fire. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gillis later remarked that he had been\nsurprised that the feds had not fired first, feeling that they had the tactical\nadvantage. However, when Baum\u2019s weapon was recovered it was found that\nhe had not had time to disengage the safety on his 1911. Gillis took the FBI\ncar and eventually successfully made his escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rest of the Story<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"1911
Helen Gillis was herself considered Public Enemy Number 1 for a time and was rumored to have had a shoot to kill order issued in her name. She remained loyal to Les to the bitter end. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Helen Gillis was captured in the lodge by\nthe FBI along with Homer Van Meter\u2019s girlfriend Marie\nComforti and Tommy Carroll\u2019s squeeze Jean Crompton. These three\nwomen were interrogated aggressively and eventually convicted of the crime of\nharboring fugitives. They were paroled soon thereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Gillis and his perennial associate John Paul Chase went out in a hail of bullets. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lester Gillis inherited the title of\nPublic Enemy Number 1 after the violent deaths of John Dillinger and Pretty Boy\nFloyd. On November 27, 1934, Gillis and an associate named John Paul Chase were\ncornered by federal agents Samuel Crowley and Herman Hollis at a turnout in\nBarrington, Illinois. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Lester Gillis murdered three FBI agents himself, more than any other single criminal. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Armed with what was likely a Colt Monitor BAR, Gillis killed the two G-Men. However, he caught eight buckshot in his legs and a single .45ACP bullet from a G-Man Thompson to the belly in the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Gillis bled out later that evening as a result of the belly wound he received from a G-Man Tommy Gun. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This heavy .45ACP round perforated his\nliver and pancreas before exiting out his back. Gillis died later that evening\nin his wife Helen\u2019s arms. He was 25 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Hyman Lebman was prosecuted by the government for providing weapons to gangsters but never served time. He operated his gunsmithing business until well into the 1970s. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hyman Lebman had to stop his machinegun business after the passage of the 1934 NFA, but he continued working as a gunsmith in San Antonio into the 1970s. He finally closed his business after relentless pressure from the feds. His son Marvin described the gangsters to whom his dad sold his guns as \u201cmen in nice suits and hats.\u201d Hyman Lebman died of Alzheimer\u2019s Disease in 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1911
Lester Gillis was an archetype, a hardscrabble young criminal who gained fame and notoriety before dying young and hard. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"1911
The Lebman 1911 Baby Machinegun Gillis wielded against the three lawmen near the Little Bohemia Lodge was an optimized gangster tool. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Lebman 1911 Baby Machinegun Gillis wielded against the three lawmen near the Little Bohemia Lodge was an optimized gangster tool. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":119904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,257,772],"tags":[132,102,752],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-119883","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gunsamerica-authors","8":"category-historical-guns","9":"category-will-dabbs","10":"tag-buzz","11":"tag-feature-articles","12":"tag-historical-guns"},"yoast_head":"\n1911 Baby Machine Gun and the Baby Faced Monster: Lester Gillis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"1911 Baby Machine Gun and the Baby Faced Monster: Lester Gillis - Will Dabbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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However, shooting guns and claiming it was work seemed like a pretty sweet hustle. As a result, Will serendipitously transformed an avocation into a vocation. Raised in the Mississippi Delta, Will flew UH1H, OH58A\\\/C, CH47D and AH1S helicopters operationally as an Army Aviator. He is SCUBA-qualified and has parachuted out of perfectly good airplanes at 3 o'clock in the morning. Will has summited Mount McKinley, Alaska, six times\u2026always at the controls of an Army helicopter, which is the only way sensible folk climb mountains. Will has delivered sixty babies and occasionally wrung human blood out of his socks. He is married to his high school sweetheart and has three awesome adult children. 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