Originally Posted by
Paul S.
Some years ago, a Canadian friend who was researching her family history asked me, knowing my military background, about a notation in his battalion's war diary. She wanted to why her grandfather who, 'Sgt. _______ accidentally shot himself in the foot' whilst in the trenches, wasn't put on a charge and no disciplinary action was cited on his record. Mind you this was in February or early March 1916 after the battalion's arrival in France. The battalion's diary mentions being issued Enfield rifles whilst still in England. Yet, pictures taken after 2nd Ypres show them with Ross rifles. My guess then was the possibility that someone else, a junior officer perhaps, had an N.D. Now I'm wondering if he might have been inspecting a Ross that was 'defective' and it went off.
Anyone care to offer a guess or hypothesis?