Comments please from the "boys down under"

[Warren]

Forgot I had this. Cannot recall seeing another with these markings.
Any comments..........

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[Bruce_in_Oz]

Rather odd markings for an issue No4 of any sort. I suspect "refurbishment" in the USA by the Australian national who owns the rights to the "Lithgow" name as a trademark.

That said:

Australia did use the No4 on a very limited scale during WW2.

Most of these seem to have been rifles originally destined for Malaya / Singapore; "unforeseen circumstances" meant that some materiel was diverted to Oz.

My late father was a Staff Sergeant in a workshop unit stationed in Townsville and reckoned that there were some No4s in that unit.

The RAAF had them as well.

It would seem reasonable to assume that No4s would be fine in a "training" or garrison role, but would be replaced with No1 rifles at the "pointy end" for obvious logistical reasons.

HOWEVER, on the front cover of Peter Brune's "A Bastard of a Place" (The Australians in Papua), there in the photo, is a digger carrying a No4. Everyone else on the picture appears to be carrying a Bren Gun or a No1 rifle. The picture credit states:

"Troops of the 2/7th Cavalry Regiment make their way through a swamp to forward positions on the Sanananda front" (AWM (Australian War Museum photo) 013971). (No jokes about cavalry losing their horses in the swamp, please)

The fighting around Sanananda Point took place 15-23 January, 1943.

In the same book there is a photo of a Lieutenant McIntosh of 2/9th Bn. and his offsider, Pte. Syd Bourne, one with an M-1 Garand (with fixed bayonet) and the other carrying a 1928A1 Thompson fitted with a sling.

[CINDERS]

In the act of war I guess the Q store goes right out the window as Diggers go we were always on the pilfer to get what we thought would best suit us regardless of any issues.
I mean our WWI diggers did the same we saw, we liked, so we sorta long termed borrowed it.
And if it did the job to the adversary then that's all that mattered, Blood and Iron By Lex McAULEY is another good one to read Bruce, my dad in 4 years away went through PNG, Moratai, Wewak and finally Mindanao with the RAAF never talked about it at all ever and never went to the RSL guess for some they would rather forget.....!

[Peter Laidler]

Weren't some of those skeletonised at Lithgow as surplus 'non-service pattern' weapons as we used to call the various odds and sods. As such, they were just used as training examples. The actions being exactly the same, in much the same way as we retained old No1 SKN rifles

[Lithy]

I'd have thought MA would have been too preoccupied with other FTR programs in 1969 to be bothered with mucking around with non service arms.

I'm calling it along the same lines as an Argentinian marked No4 that was discussed on another forum.

[Peter Laidler]

I meant ongoing apprentice training at the time/era. During the machine shop phase our RSAF 'lockies' (as they called the Enfield apprentices) were sectioning all manner of stuff. No such apprenticeship schemes and things now! If you're not productive in $ and cents, then you're out of the door!

[Lithy]

I understand where you're coming from Pete, but surely skeletonised current service arms would be a more useful training tool for the apprentices and in turn, the end users, than an outdated non service arm?