A dug up SMLE battlefield shooter

[john Brandon]

Hi guys
This is my first post, and I thought I would share my little tale of woe, concerning a N01 Mk3* that I have had in my collection for some time now.
I've always loved Lee Enfield s, and have 4 that I shoot regularly. The one I am going to talk about is a No1 Mk3* Enfield manufactured Lee Enfield
I used to do a lot of "battlefield archaeology" in France/Belgium. This basically means going anywhere that the tourist would not know about, and scouting the ground for little treasures. This particular week-end I was in a former trench system just outside Ypres scanning over a field in October can be pretty cold and muddy, but this time the ground would reveal something quite remarkable. All that was showing was a part of the nose cap, and I expected to find “just another beat up rifle”. Imagine how it felt to remove the whole rifle, minus the stock, magazine and for- end from the ground. The rifle was almost complete, encased in mud but complete. This was just after the Hungerford shootings, and customs were still a bit twitchy, so I declared it at Dover, and was told “de-activated by other means” I must admit it did look a sorry state. To cut a long story short. I spent 4 months stripping and cleaning, and sourcing the missing parts. Taking it onto some private land, and shooting some proof cartridges (behind a wall) Then taking it to my RFD who had it proofed and it now sits on my ticket. It’s not in the best condition, but, it has seen war service, and it shoots pretty well for an old girl. I hit a V bull at 600yrds at Bisley a few years ago. She doesn’t come out that often, as she is a tired old girl, but it is something I would never part with. Although the serial number can be seen quite clearly, I know it's an impossible task to trace it's history, it would be good to actually know who the former owner was. But I guess I'll never know.The Pictures are before and after.
Hope you enjoy.
thanks
John

Information

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[Thunderbox]

Nice rifle.

Have you tried to repair the forend split? Were the draws & recoil faces of the forend still ok?


IIRC there was a No1 dug out of an old arty gun position a year or two back. That rifle was so well preserved in blue clay that, when cleaned up, it was apparently indistinguishable from an un-buried rifle.

[Badger]

Although tangential to the topic of this thread, here's some links to various battlefield (and other) damaged Enfields and accessories, that I thought members might enjoy reading ..

SMLE hit by AP round !! (by Peter Laidler)

Friday 13th SMLE sniper damage (by Kev G)

Exploding P14 Grenade Discharger Cups (by Peter Laidler)

1912 No.1 MkIII Enfield Rifle (Battle Damaged) (by terryinvictoria)

Regards,
Doug

[browningautorifle]

An excellent find John. We'd all love to see a more comprehensive photo expose' if you wouldn't mind.

[john Brandon]

Thanks for the comments, although she really is a tired old girl, to me it reeks history. I have attached some additional pictures showing the marks that I can find. I particularly like the Nitro Proof one, it's very crisp, and funny enough, this one was in Blue clay also
I have changed the nose cap, and put a different sight on it, New (ish) Butt, forend, and a different bolt (I didn't trust the one that was on it) but apart from another magazine, it is as found.
The split in the wood, I want to keep there, I have just re-blued the action and barrel, and it would glue back together, but I think i would like to leave "as is"

[browningautorifle]

And this is the one you've shot? You say you have more of these? We have a basic section for these as Badger has indicated...if there's more of these at home, we're all eyes...

[Surpmil]

Remarkable story. You'll never find the owner, and the burial parties may not have either for that matter. You might be able to narrow down to several regiments or even one, if the area was only fought over for a short time. One of our experts should be able to nail down the date of manufacture within a few months and that might help.

[ChadC]

Outstanding.

[john Brandon]

Thanks for the comments guys. It is the only one that I have found that is good enough to shoot, I don't know of another in existence, although there will be a few, no doubt. I have attached some photos of some other little gems I have found in the past. The SMLE with the woodwork complete was found near the "mole" in Dunkirk, encases in sea life shells and hard mud that was almost like concrete. A small chisel, and a light hammer, and it all came away. There were 10 rounds dated 1939 in the magazine, but the best one is the SMLE with just the butt remaining of the woodwork. This was found in a ditch near longueval Somme area of France, quite near to the Anzac cemetery. The sling, or what remains of it, still had the round in the slides to stop it slipping (Dated 1915 RL royal Labs) when shooting. and the best bit..... There was still an oil bottle in it, complete with oil. I have, in my little collection, another 6 SMLE's that have been dug from the ground, another SMLE that I shoot, and is mint dated 1917 Enfield, a P14 shooter, and I have just bought a No4T ( just about to start a thread on that one as I need some help

[WarPig1976]

You are living the life I dream of.!! My other hobby is Metal detecting but digging anywhere I could find sweet honey like this is highly frowned upon,in fact illegal. I love watching YouTube videos of Russians digging out artifacts of the eastern front. Keep the pictures coming....