Weaponry!

Its quite hard to accurately portray a soldier or historical fighter without weaponry, and to this end I have purchased some accoutrements to aid me. Since all my uniforms are British  (ok, I do have one luftwaffe uniform, but that's it on the foreigner's sides ), the arms used are naturally of UK origin. Please note that the guns you see are deactivated or replicas and do not fire at all.

SMLE NO.1 MKIII

Above - Lee Enfield  NO.4 with a NO.1 below

My newest purchase is an SMLE (smellie) NO.1, dated 1938, made in the BSA factory. This mark of rifle was brought into service in 1907, and was a much better designed rifle that its predecessor. The sighting goes up to 2000 yards, though in the First World War, one would question if it was necessary. The characteristic snub nose protects the fore sight and is used to attach the bayonet. The bayonet does not fit over the barrel, like the NO.4, rather, the lug is underneath it.

The bayonet itself is the pattern 1907, it is about 18 inches long, not including the handle. This is a big difference to the later 'Pig Sticker' bayonet, which was designed with economy and usefulness in mind.

Lee Enfield NO.4 MK2

This is my deactivated 1951 Lee Enfield.  This version of the NO.4, whilst made after the war, is virtually identical to the MK1, made in 1940. It features a pop up long range sight, a bayonet that is ww2 (this one pictures was made when there wasnt a steel shortage!) And two charger clips to go into my webbing set.

This particular rifle was made in Canada and shipped off to korea to fight in the war there as part of the Commonwealth alliance. It was a superb weapon as it was accurate, long range and perfectly suited to picking off infantry on mountainsides.  The other good example of this weapon in long range combat was in North Africa; since it was ranged up to 1400 yards, and as the desert was mostly flat around present day Libya,  Egypt and Tunisia,  this wrifle was the best in its class. The German rifles simply didnt have the sight ranging of the British guns, which meant they took casualties before they were even able to fire back!

BREN GUN MK1

This is my date stamped 1941 Bren Mk1 from the Enfield factory. This weapon is much heavier than the SMLE (22.5lbs as opposed to 10.3lbs unloaded), and needs a strong arm to move it around.
I have 10 magazines for this Bren and the mag box to boot. For display I have a full magazine to show people just how heavy it is, and 3 partially full ones for the webbing belt.

This Bren, being a MK1, has the distinctive dial sight of up to 2000 yards. Since taking this picture I have bought a strap for the gun, and im looking for a rear handle and a reasonable price (since they are like gold dust, that isnt easy these days).



To  be a designated bren gunner, you had to be trained, and once you were trained you recieved a patch for your uniform. You were also given a loader, and he would be responsible for making sure you are armed and had enough ammuntion!



My bren stripped down as far as I can get it. As its deactivated I can't remove the barrel with it being welded on, and I cant remove the bipod properly either.

Webley MK VI

 

This beauty is my Webley MK VI, it is also a fake! This is actually a BB CO2 firing Webley, made to the original specifications. I mainly use it for my RAF officer impressions, however its not unheard of for an infantryman to carry one of these sidearms, though they were commonly the smaller .38 caliber as opposed to this mark, which is chambered for .455.

These are a WWI leftover, and although impressive looking, they are not much use in an open battle. Their effective range is about 20 yeads, and after that is a 1 in 10 chance you'll hit anything. These are prized because if you do happen to hit a limb of your enemy, it will remove it without much fuss, these cartridges are incredibly powerful!

Infantry Small Packs Explained!!

Infantry Small Packs Explained!!

 

So What is it?

 An Infantry small pack is what every soldier carries into battle, and indeed carries with them at all times! In this post I shall exaplin the contents and why it is all there!

 How do I look...?

On the right is an action shot of me with my small pack on my back.

As you can see it's mighty full, and barely closes! This is common and is supposed to be like that.

So What's Inside Then?

Here is the general contents of my small pack!

As you can see imediately, there is a water bottle in the pack. British soldiers were allocated two full bottles of water a day. This is to be used for drinking, washing and cooking.

There  are a pair of mess tins, into which your emergency ration fits to keep it protected. 

The wash roll in the centre of the picturecontains the following:

• Knife, fork and spoon
• Spare boot laces
• Shaving brush, shaving razor and blades
• Brass button polisher
• Comb
• Foot powder and Soap
• Clothes Brush
• Boot Brush and polish

And thats just the wash roll!

Seen at the bottom of the picture is my shaving mirror and Housewife kit. A Housewife kit, for those that don't know, is a sewing kit carried by all british troops, whether in the army, navy or air force!

To finish off my small pack, you can see my scarf and trigger finger mittens. These are standard mittens but with an index finger to allow for firing rifles, and for general dexterity!

Finally (just about), is my groundsheet. You can see this folded under the top of my pack in the first picture, it opens out into and 8'x2' sheet, which is used for sleeping on when on deployment, its also a great rain shield for a leaky gun pit (speaking from experience)!