1916 Lithgow 5MD (Pic Heavy)

[CINDERS]

Finally got to doing some pics of my 1916 Lithgow, it was not in a good way when I brought it it had no sling, magazine, safety, bottom swivel, stacking swivel.(I put a Lithgow transitional mag & floor plate on it that stung the wallet a great deal along with the 1916 sling I had earlier brought a khaki 1916 sling as well)
It is fitted with a H barrel so I guess that's why I feel the sight bed is not possibly Lithgow though!
The sight ladder has a barred serial then lower one that is not barred though non matching it is fitted with windage adjustable rear sight.
The bolt & nose cap match and we also have the circle and question mark stamping that no one here to date has been able to decipher and given the years, wars and everything else in the universe will probably go as always unknown.
The barrel was changed in 1937 as allot of them where at that time it has the H stamped on top of the butt wrist, the sling is not blancoed black it is period correct black as issued.
The barrel is a bit tired though not cord worn its lighting that does it I have tried to get period correct parts for it and feel I have got it close not 100% but @98%.
It cost me $100 to buy and @ 5 times that to get it all together.

Information

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[henry r]

Lovely. All those star markings do strange things to me.

It might have been an a fair bit of cash to put it together but it was worth it.
Think how much you would need to spend to get a proper no1 mk3H now, let alone an early Lithgow example with all the fruit.

[Bindi2]

Cinders there is two bill hooks stamped on the rifle one with the serial where is the other.

[CINDERS]

Its on the nosecap Pic #14 Bindi just under the double star stamp thing is I think the chap who stamped the stars may have had a mis hit!

[Roger Payne]

Forgive my ignorance gentlemen, but what is the significance of the 'bill hook' marking? Is it something specific to Lithgow production?

TIA.

[Bindi2]

We don't know who did it why or what for. The one on the underside of the bayonet boss is a new one to me. The Nocks form is the Place. I must admit it is the first time I have seen it on a 5MD. Yes Roger Lithgow production.

[Roger Payne]

Cheers.

[nijalninja]

You gotta love that peaking 'H' under the rear handguard. It has become habit to look there with every Enfield I find, and surprisingly there have been plenty carrying a heavy barrel, which always makes me happy. Sad thing is when the barrel is pitted. Anyway, looks like you have done a great job here, and what a good looking rifle aye? My only question: What is the significance on "5MD" Cheers.

[Bindi2]

You gotta love that peaking 'H' under the rear handguard. It has become habit to look there with every Enfield I find, and surprisingly there have been plenty carrying a heavy barrel, which always makes me happy. Sad thing is when the barrel is pitted. Anyway, looks like you have done a great job here, and what a good looking rifle aye? My only question: What is the significance on "5MD" Cheers.

Each state of Australia was a Military District. 5MD was Western Australia. Cinders home state which is why he is passionate about finding and rebuilding his. They are not that common/easy to find.

[CINDERS]

I did forget to add also that I sourced a 5MD 1916 '07 Lithgow bayonet along with a 5MD 1916 Lithgow Scabbard those 2 alone cost more than the completed cost of getting the rifle up to what I considered almost there, when I pull it down later on this year for the RLO I will get whatever other stamping's I can find and put them up for viewing.

Military districts

The military district (MD) was the basic administrative unit of the Australian Army for most of the twentieth century.

Establishment of military districts

Prior to the Federation of Australia, each colony maintained its own military and naval forces. (The federal system. Australia became an independent nation on 1 January 1901 when the British Parliament passed legislation allowing the six Australian colonies to govern in their own right as part of the Commonwealth of Australia.)

After Federation, the forces came under control of the Commonwealth. To assist with administration of the new Australian army, each state was allocated a military district to be known by its state name. The Northern Territory was not allotted to a district, although it was administered by South Australia. It was re-allocated to Queensland in 1911.

In 1911 the boundaries for the military districts were changed.
Although based on states, the new districts did not strictly follow state boundaries:

1 Military District (1MD) – Queensland and the 12th Battalion area, including Casino, Lismore, Grafton, and the Northern Territory.

2 Military District (2MD) – New South Wales (excluding: the 12th Battalion area as above; Broken Hill, Torrowangee and Silverton; and the 44th Battalion area, including Corowa, South Corowa, Mulwala, Moama, Mathoura, and Deniliquin) and the 57th Battalion area of Victoria, including Wodonga, Barnawartha, Chiltern and Tallangatta.

3 Military District (3MD) – Victoria (excluding the 57th Battalion area as above), including the 44th Battalion area as above.

4 Military District (4MD) – South Australia and Broken Hill, Torrowangee, and Silverton in New South Wales.

5 Military District (5MD) – Western Australia.

6 Military District (6MD) – Tasmania.

The territories of Papua and New Guinea were allocated to 1MD after the First World War.

Reorganisation of military districts and regional commands
In 1939 the Northern Territory and the territories of Papua and New Guinea became separate military districts. They were designated 7 Military District (7MD) and 8 Military District (8MD) respectively.

At the beginning of the Second World War, the districts were reorganised into geographic commands:

Northern Command – Queensland (1MD)
Eastern Command – New South Wales (2MD)
Southern Command – Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania (3MD, 4MD, 6MD)
Western Command – Western Australia (5MD)

Early in 1942 the army command structure was again reorganised based on a system of operation headquarters. New South Wales and Victoria (Northern and Eastern Commands) became the First Australian Army; Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania (Southern Command) became the Second Australian Army. Western Australia (Western Command) was replaced with 3 Australian Corps; 7MD was renamed Northern Territory Force; and 8MD became New Guinea Force. Each area was administered by a Line of Communications.
After the end of the Second World War the regional command structure was reinstated. In 1950 South Australia and Tasmania were removed from the Southern Command and respectively formed the Central and Tasmania Commands.
In the early 1970s the army moved from geographical commands to a system of functional commands, which absorbed many responsibilities of the military districts, such as training and logistics. However, smaller military district headquarters remained to provide general support within their areas and to act as points of contact between the army and state governments.
Military districts were finally disbanded in 1997 under reforms to reduce administrative costs.