1907 with Arabic markings

[Eddie Parks]

Not sure about white tea. In Oman we lived on "chai hamra" aka red tea, which came in hard blocks you chipped at with a knife. No British or US rations for us, Omani field rations consisted of live goats, onions, rice, lentils and salt. The spices were bought from the battery commander's fund which was a welfare grant to the BC from the Sultan. I personally also paid for an orange a day for each man. When we had a party the battery fund paid for a cow and I chipped in a can of coke for each man.

BTW if you are in Arabia again stay well clear of "white coffee" which is hot Rose Water.

I am prejudiced, of course, but the Omani army is, man for man and in the desert, a match for any army in the world.

And they keep their rifles clean.

[Peter Laidler]

I wonder if the biscuits were a) the white (sometimes a bit brown in colour) 'hard-tack' which was a potato based biscuit made so that you could use them as axle stands when fixing a puncture. There was another that was a sort-of 'garibaldi' biscuit laced with raisins. This was identical in size to hard tack but known as BISCUITS AB for 'Arxe Blocking'. Then there was the holy grail of biscuits Oatmeal Blocks. These were about 2.5" round and 3/8" thick, wrapped in cellophane and came in a tin of 10 or individually wrapped. They were VERY expensive and something to die for - like eating the finest succulent steak! And made by Huntley and Palmer in Reading and not available outside the MoD. Yummmmmy

[Eddie Parks]

And oatmeal blocks made into porrage by a skilled hand on a wet cold morning!! Oh yes.

[MasterChief]

I've had this for about 20 years. Only paid $25USD. In about fair condition with 1916 Lithgow scabbard.

[browningautorifle]

Interesting how it ended up with 1917/14 grip scales...

[Peter Laidler]

We used old blades and other odds and sods to do hardness testing and testing the effects of heat on various surfaces..........., yawn, yawn and all that, so know how tough the blade material is. So I always wondered how long their steel letter/number stamps (or 'teeps' as we used to call them) lasted at the factory! Pommel is soft as sxxx but the blades are as tough as guts.