1945 Long Branch with Cyprus connection.

Bought a 1945 Long Branch today with an unusual feature..the buttstock is carved with crude Greek lettering. Managed to translate most of it, what appears to be someones name, 52B (a unit?) and the names Lemesos and Kokkina, towns in Cyprus. Also the year 1971 and a word that seems to translate to Menes. Have been researching the conflicts in that area around that time, and it is confusing to say the least. I'm aware that the UK sent arms and equipment to Greece to fight the communists after WW2, so it's no surprise that this rifle was over there. Was this captured/used by EOKA, EOKA B? Would love to find out the history on this one, very interesting. Pics soon.

The country was in turmoil through it's history...Canada was there with the UN starting after the war in '64. We continued through during the '74 war and until about '93. During this time, I personally witnessed the Turks and Greeks carrying everything you would have seen from 1914 to the issue of the AKM rifles by both sides. Everything! #4s were the least of it.

Very interesting. I started reading up on the history of the area right after I bought it. The history these old rifles carry is fascinating.

You should have been there...it was mesmerizing! I saw a 1914 Hotchiss gun in action with the Turkish army. I saw every make, mark and model of #1 mk3, #4, and even the #5 in carry. Brens, Stens, Thompsons, M1s and Greaseguns...on and on...everything was there.

A friend of mine has a friend (OK, not very verifiable) who helped the villagers in a small Greek Cypriot hamlet defend themselves. He'd trained in the 1950's and '60's Canadian Militia, and knew how infantry small arms and tactics. I don't recall how he got to Cyprus. But the Bosnian Civil War wasn't the first example of ethnic cleansing and it was known around the world that the tensions were rising. The village kept itself safe from its Turkish neighbours. When word got out, this friend was personna non grata. Apparently he still is unwelcome in Cyprus, or at least on the northern side of the line.

Wow..great stories! I have often said that it was probably a good thing I didn't stay in the military. With everything going on now, I probably would have been more concerned with finding firearms of the not so usual variety!
I would love to find out what the 52B on this rifle is. Can't imagine it being anything other than a unit marking of sorts. Funny thing is, the guy I bought it from thought the carvings were German. When I told him no, it was Greek, he said "No it's not! What would a British rifle be doing over there??"
Some things just make me shake my head..

I remember finding a number of 5 rd clips on the floor of a large building complex in 1975. Obviously a fight and reload had taken place there. I searched and thought I had them all. Five years later in summer of 1980, I once again found myself patrolling that building and returned to the corner rooms where I had made my discovery. I checked again and found one lonely clip in a corner, now white with oxidization, where I had overlooked it before. By the way, there was no brass left behind. All had been policed up by the fighters and returned for salvage after the fights had ended. They were that short of components.

I used to have NIC/CYP No.5 conversion which its reputed to mean Nicosia cyprus (In the UK at least) I also have a Bren Mk1 which has a greek marked sticker on the butt. Have a look at the link

Greek Bren

Very nice Brit! As it turns out, I sold this No4 to a friend today who was as fascinated with it as I was.
Now why did I DO that??

There's a whole thread on those markings on the #5. It's not exactly what you think it means...The Cypriot Query

I had a couple of hundred Canadian Long Branch No.4's back from Greek service. Many had the stickers on the buttstocks. None had any permanent Greek ownership marks.