Well here's something that came with a story.
Supposedly this was bought back by a Kiwi soldier from Gallipoli.
Now I always buy the object not the story,and that's exactly what I have done in this case.
However having researched the said chap there was indeed a Kiwi gentleman of that name who served at Gallipoli.
I think its indeed probable this bayo did belong to him,but perhaps more likely bought by him privately sometime after the war rather than bought back.
Which brings up the question,could returning Kiwi soldiers (both Wars) in fact keep/purchase their weapons if they wished?
If they could would they have sold out of service marks applied,as this bayo has?
What was the procedure for returning soldiers,did they still carry their arms off the boats to be collected later or were they collected on the boat before disembarking?
Its not the first time I have come across rifles etc that were supposedly carried by some chaps grandfather or other,but unfortunately without provenance its just a nice story.
Sometimes however there are ways of disproving these one way or another with a little detective work.
Oh,one more thing,the frog (which did not come with it) I am told is a specific NZicon pattern,can someone confirm this?

Cheers,

GDU
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