LeeEnfield

Thought it an excellent program, touching and very personal, with out going 'over the top', if the first one is anything to go on, I'm looking forward to rest of series.

Well done Channel 5

Andy

Bet she was at your elbow, joining in, Rosie..............

All the very best,

Andy

Hi Rosie and Family,

I'm sure you will give her the send off she deserves, with much love...........and remembering of the good times you've all spent together.

All the very best at this time.

Andy

Happy and peaceful New Year to one and all, see some of you in a field somwhere.........

Andy

Hi Rosie, sorry to hear of your loss.

All my best to you and your family at this very sad time.

Regards and respects,

Andy

For your enjoyment a pic of my ex gf, who is alo now one of my best mates, with my lee enfield, no.1 mk5.

Nice. :-) Think the SMLE + its bayonet LOOKS far more balanced than a no4 = 'pigsticker'.

it's been asked before but.....what on earth were the Army thinking of buying that heap of junk???:-D

well I know what quite a few of the guys who have to use the thing said,..........'a nice political wedge(back hander) to minister responsible'.

What do you mean 'Up to 1957'? :nono: The No4 rifle served The Royal Navy up to the 1970's. The number 4 (T) rifle was standard issue up to the mid 1980's . The standard .22 Enfeild Envoy, single shot target rifle (British Military standard) still serves using a Lee action.

 

Both Indian and Pakistani army and police can be seen with Lee Enfeild Number 1 Mk 3* rifles. The Canadian (Artic) Rangers use the .303 Lee Enfeild Rifle No 4 as their issue weapon, it is part of their divisonal patch.

And that is without the locally produced patterns knocking about all over the Middle, Far East .

Add Iraq and Afganistan, (present conflicts) to above, esp with scope as a snipers weapon,.........according to mates serving out in Afgan, a far better weapon to use than the 'dreaded' SA80; (Greater range, as well.)

Well I've got petlas 900x16 on back of bedford.

These do (sort of) look bar-grip (ish)

If you do go for them, I believe there are two types, of same tyre.........with differing ply ratings

Tis a bit of a b*gger sirting tyres for brit wheels.

Andy

Very true, ammo boots/leather soles, with heel/toe plates and dependant on year maybe studs in differing number and pattern.

Drivers tended to be issues cartridge carriers, as stated. (ever tried to drive a bedford with normal sized fixed pouches ??...............and yes, there are 'MT pouches' out there, but very little real evidence of them being used/issued.- difference is instead of fixed 'hooks' into belt, they used a tunnel that would slide along belt,)

The collection in the photo's is very good indeed.

 

Lot's of people saying where you've got it wrong but i'd say (depending on fine tuning for the exact theatre/period) it's spot on. Don't worry.

 

White mugs are fine for any period. Lot's of photographic evidence of brown mugs in europe post d-day, Unlike the aluminium soap dish and steel mirror they are NOT part of the late war kit for the Pacific theatre. A new water bottle with mug was part of the 1944 pattern kit for that.

 

Drivers did NOT have rubber soled boots. They had leather sold ammo boots like everyone else. Some Commando's had rubber soled boots but they were/are very rare indeed.

 

Bren pouches were worn from the very beginning of '37 webbing by the infantry. The smaller cartridge carriers are for rifle-carrying non-infantry personnel, nothing to do with early/late.

A great mine of infomation re regulations, etc is

'British Army Uniforms and Insignia of WW2' by Brian L Davies.

(and yes, it does go into studs or no studs in some detail. )

Regarding studs in boots, for drivers. there is an official date stated then studs were REFITTED into boots for ALL arms of service, (per this date drivers and Armoured vehicle crews were exempt. Typically I can't lay my hands on it at the mo)

Has to be said, after talking to vererans, what was worn 'in barracks' and was worn in field did vary dependant on co's tollerance, etc.

White mugs fine, andas for rear buckles being femoved from web belt, walking out purposes only, (and only then in some regts)

Andy

Can you not make up new (longer)arms, for mirrors. I've had to do that with MW,...two inch longer than 'standard',......and i can see whats behind me,.well as long as its not RIGHT behind.

Hi as anyone got the paint code for ww11 desert colour?

thanks Keith.

Off hand no, PM me and I may be able to put you in touch with someone who will deffo know.......

Andy

Well this shell was also known as 3rd patt airborne helmet, which was beginning to be issued from 1944.

If shell is older than liner, and I guess it could well be, 'R', could stand for "R" force.

This was an inter arm force attached to HQ 21st army group, under command of Royal Engineers.

Long shot, maybe's,.............

Helmet shell of this type was used for not only tank personnel, but also para and dispatch riders.

Each of whom had different liners inserted.

Welcome to the forum, anyways, Douggie.

All the best,

Andy

Thanks Guys, again much appreciated...................

Andy

Can (sort of) relate to the 'that wasn't worn like that', folk...........

well from a reenacting point, anyways.:-)

In the dim and distant I use to portray Canadian OR Italy 1943,...after extensive research, via archives in Canada,..and unit historys, i discovered that they DIDN'T blanco their webbing,.........(in fact they use to leave it in salt water for as long as to bleach it down even more,)..........only to run into a'button/stitch counter at very first event. :yawn:.........after he had gone on for a while,..........making himself look stupid, I hasten to add,.......I informed him, chapter and verse where his infomation was WRONG;

Moral here was/is, if I'd NOT done the research and just accepted his outpourings,........I'd have been doing a real dis-service to those guys who wore the kit for real.

Oh and the Arrse site.............:whistle:

Many thanks all,........see you during the year. (and no, I'm NOT buying........:red:)

Many Thanks to you all.

See you in a field somwhere during the year.

Andy

Here's a little-known insignia for you to consider.

 

In 1980 it was decreed that all German Colloquialists and above (I was a Linguist) were to identify themselves as such on ex Spearpoint for the benefit of the media. We were each issued with a strip of six Bundeswehr cockades (google "Bundeswehr cockade", select Images and see a roundel in yellow / red / black, about life size. I'd give you a link but it's many many lines long and garbage and I dunno if it would work. See other images of them worn on Jap caps etc: you'll see they are mounted on a square of drab material and mounted as a diamond) for us to sew onto combat jackets, shirts, overalls or jumpers, whatever the user predicted would be what he would be wearing on Spearpoint.

 

I still have one, rather battered and tattered, that was repeatedly removed from an item of worn-out clothing and sewn onto its replacement.

 

It was worn by us on the left sleeve, right above the combat jacket left-hand sleeve pocket mounted square, not diamond. Equivalent spot on other clothing.

 

Still wearing it when I got out in 1989 because no formal instruction had ever been given to remove it and when orderly officers asked about it on guard mount, that's what I told them and none of them ever thought to dig deeper. I certainly never did.

 

It wasn't often a squaddy got the chance to vary his uniform officially, so the opportunity was never wasted. (It was not authoried for wear on Number 2s, I hasten to point out.)

Nice first hand infomation,..........that certainly would not be found in 'official', and comtempory reference books.

..........................and I'll bet if you wore kit with insignia as such, there would be an outpouring of,.................'it wasn't worn like that', type stuff, by the so-called experts.:cool2:

Looks to be a good idea,......esp with idiot boards explaining insignia etc. Maybe's one thing to think about is drilling some holes in feet of display stands to accept metal 'tie down pegs',.....

We could try it but I don't think it will catch on :cool2:

:rofl::rofl:

Hi Sparky and Lee Enfield: John from www.karkeeweb.com very kindly responded to my enquiry regarding the belt but could not find anything that matched it. He thought the light webbing belt itself of is of a type used for cadet equipment many years ago, which probably originally used the snake-type buckle that disappeared after WW1. Somewhere along the way, it's been married to a Mills pattern brass buckle and the small pouch. He doubts that it was ever official issue and thinks it may have been just made up from odd parts. So there we have it. I remember several officers and soldiers during my service, who were members of civilian shooting clubs and owned their own pistols, which were kept in the unit armoury. Some of them also used non-issue holsters for shooting and I think the belt may have been made up for just that purpose.

Thats interesting, Paddy

Thanks for the update.

All the best,

Andy