Lee-Enfield Rifle No. 5 Mk. I ('Jungle Carbine') on tripod

[11th Armoured]

Hi, I've recently been going through some of my late father's photographs taken during his army days in Palestine in the late '40s & came across the following image:

Attachment 30152

It obviously looks like some kind of training exercise, but can anyone say exactly what they're doing?


Cheers,

Kevin

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[Thunderbox]

They are almost certainly doing "target indication" training. I.e. they are learning to describe the location of a target/enemy either by reference to a visible object (as in the picture, "a hand's width to the right of the minaret") or to an imaginary clock face.

The No5s on aiming stands are probably being used to point to the "enemy" that they then have to locate & describe to the rest of their section.

[Peter Laidler]

Dead right. Target identification, recognition and indication plus range estimation. I used to teach it using exactly the same kit/method but using L1A1's. Still current today. The bore of the first rifle is 'aimed' at the target given by one of the class and the second rifle is 'aimed' using the sights, with the sights set to the 'shooters' estimation of the range.

It's a great means of teaching or background activity on a range plus you can always make it a competition with a few £££'s for the winner and the losers making the tea or picking up the brass

If it was my class, the rifle would have been pointing at the minarette in the right background

[11th Armoured]

Thank you very much to both of you - another little mystery solved

Kevin

[Bruce_in_Oz]

That photo is just begging for the sort of captions that Spike Milligan did in his wonderful books.

Any takers?

[Peter Laidler]

It looks like they're all saluting and saying '........seig heil o' wonderful fuhrer'

[Brit plumber]

Those aiming rests must have been in service as long as the Enfield Rifle family.

http://www.rifleman.org.uk/Aim_teaching_devices.htm

[gsimmons]

Gunner Milligan! You and Edgington .........

[Peter Laidler]

My dad taught me to aim and shoot from one of those rests when I was little, using a No8. When I'd aimed and consistently hit the bull, he let me use the rifle in the prone position over a sandbag. My scores have gone downhill ever since!

Are they overlooking the sea? Is that a ship in the background?

[Surpmil]

It looks like they're all saluting and saying '........seig heil o' wonderful fuhrer'

The finger method of target indication?

Waving to the Grand Mufti perhaps?