No.4 Grenade Projector Case

[Peter Laidler]

The same sort of thing happened with scabbards to some extent....... The No9 and useless No7 bayonets were withdrawn a couple of years after the No4 rifles were slowly withdrawn. It too ages for them to finally go from the training and tail-end units, believe me. The quartermasters were told to keep the No5 scabbards for the new issue L1A1 rifle bayonets. Which they duly did. Alas, the new L1 rifles came with bayonets.......... and scabbards. The old scabbards went the way of the grenade launchers. After a couple of years, straight into the scrap. I wish I'd kept a few more than I did!

Back to grenade launchers. War Stores - or Mobilization Stores still had No1 EY wire bound rifles into the late 60's as I recall. There was a big programme to overhaul hundreds of them, distributed to large Field and Base workshops across the UK and Wetter in Germany. Warminster stripped rustproofed, greased, assembled, wire wrapped and preserved hundreds of them as part of what we called a WORP. War Office Repair Programme. Never saw a cup except for the cup that we had to test the fit on the nose cap. Another waste of time......, never saw one again!