THE PROPER WAY TO USE THE MARTINI HENRY RIFLE - ROURKES DRIFT THE FINAL ATTACK

[Gil Boyd]

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[fjruple]

Great movie!!

--fjruple

[Gil Boyd]

Any bids on what Stanley Baxter's pistol is, bearing in mind it is the 22nd January 1879, also what Michael Caine is using?

[Patrick Chadwick]

Neither Baxter nor Caine are using PISTOLS. They are using REVOLVERS. And they look like Webley Mk.VI in both cases. Not correct for 1879.

[Kiwi]

What is a bolt action rifle doing in there?

[Gil Boyd]

Patrick,
Absolutely right bollocking taken thats why I put the date on this and what goes wrong with Military Historian advice in films quite often

[Ridolpho]

What is a bolt action rifle doing in there?

Good eye Kiwi- never noticed that before. Seems to be a couple of them and they have socket bayonets!

[Gil Boyd]

A bit of useless information, it was the choice of the Officers as to what revolver they wished to use as long as it accepted issue ammunition at the time.
However, during the filming:

Lt John CHARD VC used a Webley VI revolver and his real one is now in the Royal Engineers Museum at Brompton, UK.

Lt Gonville BROMHEAD VC used a Dean & Adams .455 revolver. He was a Lincolnshire lad whose villagers at Thurlby on his return to UK after the battel clubbed together and bought him a Stanton .45 which was not clearly used at Rorke's Drift.

The bolt action rifle used in the film in the centre and rear ranks ( which they hoped would be out of camera shot) were in fact Lee Enfield MK1 CLLE .303 and Martini- Enfields bolt action rifles.

Historically this period of the British Army anyway was a diabolical time as ammunition sizes varied greatly even in the same units, from revolvers to rifles. The first breech loader purchased for the British Army was made by William Tranter in 1863, a .44 calibre revolver using rim fire cartridge . The only rim fire weapons to be issued by the British Army and it was Tranters revolver which was taken into service in very limited numbers.

William Tranter interestingly enough went on to become the founder of the Birmingham Small Arms Company.
Thats why when I did my research into Parker Hale and its history, I was moved to see that we, as a nation, lost so many great weapons manufacturers in one City of our country.

[browningautorifle]

What is a bolt action rifle doing in there?

That was always a bad piece of scene...easy to pick out.