Somme Buttplate

[albert]

My rifle is a 42 Lithgow and I have mounted a like new walnut stock I bought from the net. I have this Somme dug butt plate and I'm thinking of cleaning the brass, removing the rusty screws and mounting it. What do you guys think?

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[Edward Horton]

Can you name any great battles of the Somme fought by the Australians in 1942, 43, 44 or 45.

Or to put it another way if you were restoring a 1942 Cadillac........



Would you put a 1916 Cadillac rear bumper on your 1942 Cadillac and call it restored.

[Pattern14]

I think you'll have a WWII 1942 Australian rifle with a WWI buttplate. Not sure why you would want to do that? Except that you have no other buttplate.

[albert]

I've got a WWII butt plate on it now but this piece has been sitting on my shelf so I thought well heck I can take the rifle to the range and fire with some history.

[jmoore]

I'm against it, as my first and second reactions. If it MUST be placed on a rifle, which I'm still against, it really ought to be period correct.

Leave it be, I think. Neither the rifle or it's operator made it off the the field "alive", I think. Shudders.

[breakeyp]

I think it woud be nice to mount the butt plate (with minimum cleaning) on a walnut plaque with a nice brass name plate indicating it came from the Somme and hang it on my "I love me" wall. This would be a more proper end for something 100 years old with a known history.

[Jollygreenslugg]

I have this nosecap, recovered from the site of a fierce battle involving a Welsh regiment.

I plan to mount it on a timber base with its details on an engraved plaque.

It's easily the most poigniant item in my collection.



Cheers,
Matt

[Peter Laidler]

Butt plates aside........... what a sheer MAGNIFICENT Cadillac. Is that a restored example Ed? Or a press photo of the era? It looks like the sort of car that Ike would have had (in Kakhi of course) while inspecting the troops just before D Day.

What a pleasure to see a work of art like that............

[Donzi]

Peter,
Pretty sure it's a restored example. Some years ago, a friend had an unrestored one that ran (& that was about it) that he was given in exchange f/painting another car. The only thing I really remember about it was the "flat head"(valve-in-block) V8 engine. It was enormous in comparison to the little Ford flathead V8s I owned. Id bet that one head on the Caddy V8 weighed 75 lbs or so. Yes, it is a beautiful auto, if a little over-ornamented f/my tastes. BTW, I don't think the US military used Cadillacs, @ least officially, in WWII. They did use the engines in some armored vehicles, I seem to remember.
Donzi

Butt plates aside........... what a sheer MAGNIFICENT Cadillac. Is that a restored example Ed? Or a press photo of the era? It looks like the sort of car that Ike would have had (in Kakhi of course) while inspecting the troops just before D Day.

What a pleasure to see a work of art like that............

[Emri]

Butt plates aside........... what a sheer MAGNIFICENT Cadillac. Is that a restored example Ed? Or a press photo of the era? It looks like the sort of car that Ike would have had (in Kakhi of course) while inspecting the troops just before D Day.

What a pleasure to see a work of art like that............

....a Cadillac for a staff car. I don't know about England, but in North Africa and Italy, yes.

Looks like a modern pic to me. Notice the headlights on in one pic, and the license plate "blanked" out in another. It actually is probably nicer looking as a restoration than it was when new. Production vehicles just don't have the attention to detail as a one at a time restoration. It IS a cool looking car !!

FWIW,

Emri