Information sought (See pic.)

Hi guys,
This was in the latest Australian Target Rifle I get being a WARA member I was hoping there are those with the resources to investigate this request.
It would be nice to find the rifle so the 92 y/o veteran can find out where it has gone since 1945.

Chaps like Muffet, Son, Bruce in Oz, Peter Laidler, Badger and other members of the web site who have better resources than me and perhaps records with the mentioned HT.
If you could post your results here and to the person requesting the info in the mag it would make the ex snipers day I feel.

It is the least we could try and do given what these chaps went through for us...........!

All I got from Skennertons Lee Enfield Story is that it was in stores as of the 23/11/1944

Thanks in advance chaps.:thup:
CINDERS

Nice picture.

Looks vaguely familiar to me.:banghead:

Cannot vouch for the pics origins it was in the article I just thought we could try as a collective to at least give a digger some closure to the whereabouts of the weapon he used to stop that horde getting to Aus much like the 39th Batt.....

Yeah Cinders, I saw the article.
If Russ Linwood hasn't got already got access to all the info he needs, then there's not much I can add.
With the very limited usage of this rifle in combat in WW2, I'd be inclined to let this one go through to the keeper.

I sent him an e mail to get in touch with Ian and Brian but would think he has already done that one would think it found a good home with some one who would appreciate it then again it may have ended up in the back of Bourke in a utes tray shootin' roo's thanks anyway Muffet

Russ is in a position where he should be able to approach the state Firearms Registries and search the number.(or have strings pulled to get the same result.)

I have over two hundred rifles details in my survey at home. Not all have any sort of contact info, and a lot were no more than forum id's going back many years. Still, will have a look and see what I can find.


Unfortunately the rifle is not among those in my survey.

Other than official state records, I don't hold much hope in it turning up.... Still, we can keep an ear to the ground.
Thank you for bringing this here Cinders... Wish I could do more.

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Originally Posted by muffett.2008

Russ is in a position where he should be able to approach the state Firearms Registries and search the number.(or have strings pulled to get the same result.)

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Muff I would not be very happy if my information was passed on by the Local registry to a third party in fact I would be very grumpy. Regardless who or what Russ is.

The reply from Russel Linwood on the trooper L. T Wright issue and withdrawal of the rifle.

As a postscript I started this to try and give an old digger a sense of closure who knows he may have metted out a few 174 grainers into the enemy this is about a person who wants some closure if a person was willing to lay down their life to give us freedom then I see this as a minor ask from him

Besides we are not dealing with WMD's, trying to deliver state secrets to nasty people all that has to be said is the rifle has been found and is being cared for or it cannot be found as records are incomplete as to its whereabouts or just tell the digger is was written off.

Thanks Son

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

The reply from Russel Linwood on the trooper L. T Wright issue and withdrawal of the rifle.

As a postscript I started this to try and give an old digger a sense of closure who knows he may have metted out a few 174 grainers into the enemy this is about a person who wants some closure if a person was willing to lay down their life to give us freedom then I see this as a minor ask from him

Besides we are not dealing with WMD's, trying to deliver state secrets to nasty people all that has to be said is the rifle has been found and is being cared for or it cannot be found as records are incomplete as to its whereabouts or just tell the digger is was written off.

Thanks Son

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Cinders if I have it I will PM you.. I am only upset at Muffs comment/method of how it could be found if it is still out there.

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

As a postscript I started this to try and give an old digger a sense of closure who knows he may have metted out a few 174 grainers into the enemy

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There were no 174 grainers being metted out by that particular one, the rifle was issued quiet a bit after VJ day.

From what I can see, serial no 28442 is not on Skennerton's list of No 1 Mk III (H) T's.

Yep Mike, the AAB83 Record of Issue shows only the last rifle issued and withdrawn the same day.
Previous issues would/may have been on a different page or if he was with another Unit, in an entirely different Book, as they were Unit orientated.

Bindii, An approach from the AWM on letterhead to each states Police Commissioner, would garner assistance, a search of the Serial Number within the Registries does not create the drama you think it does and would quickly eliminate States and if the S/N was recorded, than they would be able to determine ways of making contact with the Owner.

This is no different from me as a Dealer, punching in a S/N to authenticate Registration/Ownership prior to a transaction, or doing a missing/stolen firearms check.

Robd, 28442 is on the second page, assuming it is a 1915 action, as there is no prefix on the soldiers record, although this was often overlooked when recording.(can't expect the Q staff to remember everything.......that's why blankets were batched in lots of 10....had enough fingers for that)

Note the issue dates on the AAB83, they are all from 11/45 on, no previous dates, so there is another page or book to look at here.

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Originally Posted by RobD

From what I can see, serial no 28442 is not on Skennerton's list of No 1 Mk III (H) T's.

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As for the rifle in question it is found in Skennertons The Lee Enfield Story - Australian production - Page 318, left column 1/3rd way up page from bottom just under Rifle No. 28118 just above rifle 28467.

Interesting to see "Telescope Sniper" was issued was this the scope to the rifle or was this the scout telescope. TIA

Funny thing is no one told some Japanese soldiers the war was over until the last one was captured/surrendered into was it the late 70's I think and he did dispose of a few of the enemy well after VJ day. We do not know what went on with some of those islands or back block islands only that the war had ended by the time this rifle was issued besides we can only go on what the historians tell us and even they did not find out everything.

For some the war was not over and for some the war will never be over..........

Thanks Bindi2 for that it is appreciated.

These rifles were STILL the issue sniper equipment when Australian infantry battalions were being sent to Viet Nam in the mid 1960s.

They were of little use there and, to my knowledge, never used in actual combat.

Why?

1. They were, of course, in .303, not a lot of which was in stock with the front-line units there.

2. There had been virtually NO interest in "sniping" since the winding down of the Korean "Police Action" in 1953, thus, most of the "corporate knowledge" was rapidly disappearing. This had, unsurprisingly enough, also happened after WW1 and 2.

The "other side" made use of "agricultural but very effective", scoped Moisin Nagant rifles, whilst the US initially fielded WW2 leftover '03 and M1C and M1D sniper units.

Things got better when the wonderful (X)M-21 arrived. For those not familiar with this beast, it was (and still is, minus the "X"), a seriously tweaked M-14 topped with a Leatherwood ART scope and occasionally fitted with a Sionics "muffler"; altogether, a VERY cool and astoundingly accurate piece of gear.

The "HT" SMLEs were still in the official Australian maintenance paperwork until at least 1976.

A quick search has found that Tpr Wright was in the Australian 2/4 Commando Squadron, Which did see quiet a lot of operational time in the Pacific. Be nice to track the gun down for the old digger, its not often a rifle or a person can be attributed to one another.