Royal engineers "sappers" tunnel rifle

[Peter Laidler]

Roger is correct in the make-up of the plumb pudding igniters Bruce., These 'rifles' were not done on the hoof so to speak but converted to a set design standard with a shortened butt stock bolt and threaded into the chamber oif the tube. We had one complete mortar and a second 'rifle' at Warminster and while I didn't take much notice of them, they were clearly reasonably/obviously well thought out, done to a set pattern and worked.

Apparently, the weapon collection didn't have a plumb pudding bomb thinggy intil they were clearing away some of the area to ascertain the viability of building of the third London Airport at Maplin Sands. (nope....... it's still not even in the design stage............) There a huge cache of puddings in reasonably good condition was unearthed so we got a couple. I used to wonder how they projected in their sort-of flight path although 'flight path' and 'accuracy' might be taking such words to extreme. They were probably as aerodynamic as a piano

[Roger Payne]

The barrel stub on the relic example earlier is in fact the chamber end of a long rifle barrel. Presumably, firing such an odd shaped blank cartridge the chambers would have had to be sleeved or blocked with an insert & re-cut?

Cheers Unprofor1994. Yes, that's right. I may have mis-credited it to The Times previously, but was speaking from (my legendarily scatterbrained) memory!

[UNPROFOR1994]

I found some more information about Brigadier Stokes:

Ralph Shelton Griffin Stokes, son of Francis Griffin Stokes, was born in England on 31 July, 1882. Stokes who was privately educated, interrupted his studies to come to South Africa to take part in the Second AngIo-boer War as a trooper in Paget's Horse. An elite unit whose four companies (51st, 52nd, 68th and 73rd) made up the 19th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry.

During the First World War he was in France with the tunneling companies and as controller of mines with the rank of colonel of the First Army. He also was chief engineer of the Expeditionary Forces in North Russia from 1918 to 1919.

When the Second World War broke out, he returned to England to offer his services to the War office. He was first sent to Narvik and then to the Western Desert as chief engineer in charge of construction of airfields with Montgomery's Eight Army. He rose to the rank of brigadier and was awarded the CBE, in 1942.

In the course of the two world wars, he was mentioned in dispatches no fewer than seven times. He recorded some of his war-time experiences entitled 'Our Arctic Campaigns Archangel 1918-1919; Narvik 1940' in the Royal Engineers Journal.

Source: http://www.saimm.co.za/about-saimm/b...memorial-award

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Didn't exactly hide in the back corridors of Whitehall, did he?

[Alan de Enfield]

There is a gun auction coming up in the UK n a couple of weeks time.

One of the listed items (no picture) is as follows :

Lot No. 766 A SMLE No.4 MKI bolted, barrelled and action short barrel (for bench pistol shooting)

I'm sure its a strange beast - wonder what the butt looks like