SMLE rifles used by British troops, Germany May 1945

i was watching on YouTube "Hitlers Henchmen" Karl Donitz, at the end of the video, showed Donitz and his gang under guard by British troops, armed with a mixture of SMLE rifles, and the Pattern 1907 bayonet fixed, and the No.4 rifle , was this a common occurrence, as i thought all British and Canadian troops had been issued the No.4,before the landing in Normandy, or was it that some troops preferred the older SMLE, and were allowed to retain this over the more common No.4 rifle, thanks for all replies

I take it that it was a period film of the events taken at the time and not a post WW2 film with the parts played by actors? Why not copy the link and post it here so everyone can have a look? I would suggest that it would depend on which unit that the guards were from on which rifle they would be using. I don't think that it was a matter of personal choice.

I know my dad was issued a #1 Mk3 at the beginning, he carried it for a while. I would have thought before he went in on D-Day they would have refitted them. I do recall pics of #1 Mk3s somewhere in France though.

If we can see the actual footage we maybe able to figure out which unit they are from, between us.

i
m sorry, but my computer skills are sadly lacking in getting this video transferred over to this site

Not hard to find -

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...0/mmg1gg-1.jpg

Donitz and his staff were apparently arrested by an RAF Regiment Task Force at his headquarters and then handed over to the King's Shropshire Light Infantry. So a photo/film at the time of the handover may well have had RAF Regiment with No1 MKIII's and KSLI's with No4's.

Nice detective work.

The issue of equipment isn't all cut and dry as some of you might suggest. What a regiment IS issued with and remains issued with and is replaced with is down to the Regimental Quartermaster. Rifles and replacements would be what is on hand and what comes through the Ord supply system. Both sorts of rifles were in the system and both sorts serviced on a large scale. Think of Bren guns. Would any QM care that he still had old tired Mk1's when Mk2's were available? Nope. He has 875 .303" rifles and 91 Brens issued to the Regiment

I should have thought that there would have been a concerted effort to refit units before the D-Day advance though if possible. Easy way would be re-issue new and pull the old for refurb. You want new for an attack like that...

Does anyone know when the RAF Regiment "officially" received the No4 rifle, please? My understanding was that they retained the SMLE for longer than the British army but I don't know if they retained them "officially" until after the end of WW2. The above picture may indicate that the change-over happened after WW2? You do occasionally see 1907 bayonets for sale on the surplus market with apparent RAF markings on them.

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Originally Posted by TomH

Donitz and his staff were apparently arrested by an RAF Regiment Task Force at his headquarters and then handed over to the King's Shropshire Light Infantry. So a photo/film at the time of the handover may well have had RAF Regiment with No1 MKIII's and KSLI's with No4's.

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Very likely. Not easy to see the shoulder flashes of the guys with the SMLE's, but RAF Regt. does seem likely. The officer kneeling down searching clearly has KSLI shoulder flashes, so it does tally.

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

Does anyone know when the RAF Regiment "officially" received the No4 rifle, please? My understanding was that they retained the SMLE for longer than the British army but I don't know if they retained them "officially" until after the end of WW2.

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As did the RN as well IIRC (along with using 08 webbing as well)

The RAF in Malaya and Singapore had No4 rifles .38 Webleys and Mk2 Sten guns right up until they left in early '70 As did the RN. No4's and Lanchesters plus Enfields and Webleys

I recall the guys I joined up with in 1974 telling me stories about the reserves, watching the Sten guns being destroyed out of the armories in the previous few years. That would make it the beginning of the '70's.

Besides which those nice long 1907 bayonets were so familiar to Jerry by 1945 that it must have almost made the altefrontkampfer feel nostalgic to see them. ;)The spike has a certain nastiness about it, but not quite the visual impact of a well polished 1907.