Long Branch Experimental Serial # EX2 ....

[buffdog]

Interesting. Here we have two rifles, hand stamped EX 2 and EX 11.

One would surmise that in 1941, production was geared into getting rifles into the hands of the Troops, and not Target Shooters.

When we think of the "EX", we tend to naturally think of "Experimental". However, I am going to throw a bone out there for thought.

What if the "EX" was to designate "Exhibition"?

During WW2, the Government had to raise funds and have support for the war effort. One of those ways was a travelling Exhibition that moved throughout the Country showing off the products of Canadian War Industry. This not only include Small Arms, but also vehicles, artillery and tanks mounted on and in railway cars. The train would stop at Towns and Villages, and the public could then tour through the cars and look at the larger stuff mounted on the flat cars behind. Of course, the War Bond people would be there to appeal to the Public for War Effort funds.

These Exhibitions would naturally have the showier pieces, with a bit better quality than the average wartime rifle. The "EX" prefix would give immediate identification of these rifles, and it could be that this particular series was not intended to be used on the Battlefield. Also, certain high ranking and influential people were personally presented with a rifle by the Government. Is it possible that the "EX" series was intended for Presentation rifles also? Or could these be "Pattern Room" type rifles, used for reference?

EX-11 has been modified for target work with a butt stock addition and a cut out for a target sight. But, I would be willing to bet a $100 bill that it never left the factory like that.

We learn a bit more about the Lee-Enfields every day. And today, unlike those previous times, there is more interest in History and the keeping of Records. In many cases, most of those old records that did exist have long been destroyed, so much of what we are learning today is a reconstruction of those times.

Exerpt from Newspaper Article in Hamilton, Ontario. Sorry, I could not copy some of the first and last sentences.


visited the Mulberry exhibition
during. the Hamilton showing,
which closed its doors on Saturday
night at 10 o'clock. This brings the
total attendance of -Mulberry visitors
to 275,000 since the opening in
Ottawa. Exhibitions have been
held in Montreal and Toronto, as
well as Ottawa and Hamilton, and
to-day, service personnel travelling
with the exhibit are busying themselves
packing up the model for
shipment to Winnipeg, the next
scheduled city on the itinerary.
At the close of the exhibition
Saturday 'night, Col . V. C. Steer-
Webster, O.S .E ., representative of
the British War Office who is touring
Canada with the exhibit, stated
that Hamiltonians had shown
more- interest in Mulberry than
had any other thus far. "The type
of questions asked," said the
colonel, "was of a high calibre and
showed an extreme interest in the
.