 Wardell believed that the gun could be quickly manufactured in Australia in quantity and raised the matter with Lysaght's owner, Essington Lewis.Lewis arranged for Owen to meet with a representative of the army's Central Inventions Board, Captain C. M. Dyer.The German Army's use of submachine guns during the French Campaign of 1940 had demonstrated the potential of such weapons, and consequently some elements of the Australian Army were now more receptive to the value of Owen's gun.