Lee Enfield at War

[Luis Bren]

Four men of the 51st (Highland) Division dug in near El Alamein, 27 October 1942.



German prisoners and their guards wait in a roadside ditch during 6th Armoured Division's attack on the town of Pichon, 8 April 1943.

[Seaspriter]

At the same dump, ( and I don't live there!) there was the belongings of an old lady, a nurse........
I thought at the time, "Somebody has just chucked this lady's whole life away" Damned sad.

So true, as we are at the end of the line for WWII veterans -- heroic men and women that faced the horror of the Depression and then the War. There are some things that can be done.
1) I'm going through the photos of my deceased parents and writing a story on the back of them to leave something for posterity.
2) I'm also writing stories of key events their lives to be inserted into the old photo albums to give meaning to what is otherwise a set of unknown photos.
3) With the help of their remaining friends, I'm writing the "Guiding Principles" that governed their lives and brought joy to those they influenced.
4) Using a Dremel tool, I'm engraving small plaques on key items of furniture (especially items that go back into the 1800s) to document the provenance in our family for future generations.

.....just a few small ways to memorialize and help preserve the ephemeral into something more lasting before our memories fade and lose all grasp of the richness of the past.

For my Enfield collection, I'm writing a similar story for each gun -- each of the markings tell a story of how it came into being, where it was probably used heroically, and then how it phased out of service eventually to fall into our hands. Generations from now, how much of what of what we have learned about these weapons will be passed down unless we write it down?

[harry mac]

there were "insurance assessors" on the ground as well. When the Divisional Commander ordered, "Turn left NOW!", and an armoured Brigade "rearranged" Herr Schmidt's farm, the "cheque-book warriors" turned up soon afterwards to "ease the pain".
.

It was not unknown for a farmer to encourage a tank crew (or troop) to "accidentally" drive through a fence or over a crop by offering a bottle of something, just so he could put in a claim

[Vincent]

Can anyone tell what the second man from the left is holding?

[Kiwi]

He's holding a 1907 patt bayonet in his left hand and the bayonets leather scabbard attached to the webbing in his right hand. Looks to be me like they are giving their rifles a check and clean. There is a bolt lying just below the right shoulder of the left most soldier.

[Mk VII]

B Coy., The 1st Btn the Northamptonshire Regiment, winners of the Company Shield In India for 1936

---------- Post added at 09:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:01 PM ----------



Loading rodded grenades in Mesapotamia.

[Mk VII]

The Grenadier Guards off to the war in 1914, at Wellington Barracks.

[Richard Hare]

Mk V11,

Never actually seen photos of loading rodded granades before. Thanks for the picture!

You can tell the lads in the last picture are Guards, even without insignia. My Lee Enfields come up past me waist! Some of these lads are tall!

Richard.

[Paul S.]

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...03/large-9.jpg

The Grenadier Guards off to the war in 1914, at Wellington Barracks.

Knowing what transpired during the first few months of the war brings the question: how many of them were still alive at Christmas 1914, or the next?


Added:
I just noticed that some have webbing slings and others have leather ones.

[Surpmil]

Mk V11,

Never actually seen photos of loading rodded granades before. Thanks for the picture!

You can tell the lads in the last picture are Guards, even without insignia. My Lee Enfields come up past me waist! Some of these lads are tall!

Richard.

A relative of mine was recruited into the Lifeguards (Household Cavalry) because he was well over 6 foot. The recruiting sergeant got a £5 bounty for signing him, which was a hell of a lot of money in the later 1940s. I believe this was true for all the guards regiments at the time, and yes, I know the Household Cavalry were not the same thing as the Brigade of Guards, but the bounty applied to both, so I was told by a former recruiting sergeant of the time.