There are Aussie marked No4 bayonets that went with the home garrison No 4s and RAAF rifles. The Aussie army were not equipped with No 4s unless they were in a situation where base work shops only repaired No4s then they were issued.
Printable View
There are Aussie marked No4 bayonets that went with the home garrison No 4s and RAAF rifles. The Aussie army were not equipped with No 4s unless they were in a situation where base work shops only repaired No4s then they were issued.
There is a photo of a No4 being carried in the swamps of New guinea on the cover of, "A Bastard of a Place", by Peter Brune. It is an Australian War Memorial photo, AWM 013971. Right there in the foreground is a grim-looking Digger clutching a No4. The photo "description" reads, " Troops of the 2/7th Cavalry make their way through a swamp to forward positions on the Sanananda front".
My own dad, who was a motor-mechanic in an Army Workshop at the time, swore that several individuals were issued No4 rifles. I suspect that the "proper" (No1Mk111(*)) rifles were used at the pointy end (apart from that "stray" at Sanananda), to simplify logistics in the field.
Dad never got much further north than Townsville whilst waiting for "Operation Olympus" to begin. Thus, between fixing busted gun-tractors and Bren Carriers, he and his fellow fitters and mechanics produced all manner of "souvenirs" made from old shell-casings of all sizes, aircraft canopy perspex, fuze-caps from 3.7" AA projectiles, etc. There was so much "once-fired" brass around, some enterprising lad set up a small foundry and was knocking out cast, solid brass models of commonly seen aircraft, like the Lightning and the Hudson. ("I have no live animals or farm-produce in my possession, SAH!")
Any No4 rifles in Oz service were probably diverted there after the fall of Singapore, that garrison no longer needing them.
I've certainly seen a few BSA No 4 Mk I rifles about - I know at least one person who owns one, and I've had a few shooting acquaintances at the range ask me what the "M47C" markings on their No 4 rifle means - but they do seem to be a lot less common than the Longbranch or Savage models for some reason.
New Zealand had quite a few No 4 rifles though, so I supect many of them made their way to Australia over the years.
Plenty of Savage & Longbranch, Britsh made No4s are quite scarce here toQuote:
Originally Posted by Colonel Enfield
This the pic?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce_in_Oz
That's the one.
It's trimmed a bit on the book cover.
Looks like they gave their horses the day off.
Either that, or they had the same problem as the Irish water-polo team.....
1942 and 1943 LB's seems to be the predominant no4 here in NZ, something like around75% are LBs I think, maybe it was one ship load for both countries in 1943.....
The 2/7 cav were apparently operating as a commando unit during the fighting around Buna, there is also a great many photo's in the AWM collection of diggers armed/using with M1 Garands and also using various misc bits of US kit mainly canteens in and around the fighting for Buna. Just goes to show the reality of what did and didn't get issued/used at the the pointy end isn't as clear cut as some history Nazis like to think it is :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce_in_Oz
Having to use what they could find may have been because the communist Wharfies and dockies would not load food and munitions onto supply ships bound for those areas. Thus causing critical shortages for our troops.
Ah......, not so quick Brent65. Photos occasionally need to be interpreted in much the same way as the spoken word. As an example, there is a photo doing the rounds of a German paratrooper at Monte Casino(?) holding a Bren. No......., I don't believe for one second that it was issued to him either! While at the same time some of the pure horse manure that's spoken and written by the armchair generals that needs to be dissected........ It's those who have read 10 books that go onto write book number 11 that you really need to fear!