MAUSER PISTOL STORIES - LONDON

[Gil Boyd]

After the killing of British Policemen in Tottenham before WW1 a siege took place to arrest the offenders, one of which was a George Gardstein who was known to use a C96 Mauser pistol, a very accurate piece of the time.

Even the then Home Secretary Winston Churchill turned up at the scene to witness the Scots Guards, who were called in to capture the offenders, because the British Bobby of the day could only muster double barrel shotguns and Lee Enfield Rifles at best. Churchill had himself been issued with a C96 pistol during the Boer War, so he knew its effects.

The Army brought Maxim machine guns and artillery pieces which were not needed in the end.
The event became commonly known as "The Siege of Sidney Street".
The Siege of Sidney Street, January 1911 : British Jews in The First World War - We Were There Too

At the time London was awash with disenchanted Latvians and other European nationals who called themselves Bolshevists and anarchists, eager to make a name for themselves in England, most had armed themselves with German pistols, which were reported in the English press as "Miniature Gatling Guns" due to their rate of fire.

In December 1910, four so called Russians carrying Mauser and Dreyse pistols shot dead three policemen, which at the time was a big deal as the biggest loss of Police life in one incident.
When the incident was over and the bodies were searched, they had about their person 2 C96 Mauser pistols with a belt of over 150 rounds and also one 7.65mm FN Browning pistol, it was clear the British Police Force needed to have better weapons in their arsenal to combat this new threat to the streets of London.

Ironically, this one incident led Churchill to bring in new legislation in Parliament to limit the rights of immigrants to bring weapons into the UK.

Information

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[GeeRam]

I can remember back in the early 70's when my Dad told me all about the Siege of Sydney Street, as when he went through his basic training in the Met at Peel House in early 1956, it was still very part of recruit training being only 40 years later, and obviously prior to the Braybrook Street shootings in Aug 1966.

I believe its still only one of the handful of occasions in 'modern times' when armed troops have been deployed in assistance of the Police on the streets of mainland UK outside of wartime.

[Gil Boyd]

The Police have caught up on weapons, but sadly the diversity of so many well trained ex Army lads coming out in the last 25 years becoming Firearms Instructors, like I did, has led to varying views by each of them on sniper rifles/single shot H&K G36's/Pistols etc.

There is still no "official" Home Office Policy to tell Chief Constables what they have to buy and have a central purchasing rule which would make infinite sense.

Tika/Sako/AI snipe rifles to name just three in service with a pelethra of scopes!

[Mk VII]

It was also notable as one of the first developing news events to be covered by newsreel film cameras, who got there in the final stages and had the film edited and in the picture palaces by the end of the week.

The site is now occupied by an apartment block called Siege House.

Some years ago I got a chance to examine the two firearms that were recovered from the ruins of No. 100 Sidney Street. A short-barreled C96 and an FN Browning 1900. Both had been damaged by fire, the Browning's magazine bulged at the top and partially jammed in place by a cartridge cooking off in the heat.

[Surpmil]

Churchill had his C96 with him at Omdurman. Without rereading his accounts of the charge, I couldn't say if the extra four rounds over a revolver saved his life or not, but possibly so. It would have private purchase rather than issued of course, as I believe officers side-arms all were at that time(?)

He probably had one with him in South Africa too, even though he was there as a journalist. Again, would have to check the literature to verify that. If so, some Boer presumably got it when Churchill was captured with that armoured train.

One has to wonder who was paying for all the hardware of these putative "revolutionaries" who were soon to preside over the murder of tens of millions of Russians?

[Daan Kemp]

C96 reloads faster than a revolver too.

No record ever of Churchill being armed when captured, or before, according to his writings. No record in SA of such being found on him.

[Gil Boyd]

T.E. Lawrence of Arabia had one, in the film anyway!!

[Flying10uk]

Again, would have to check the literature to verify that. If so, some Boer presumably got it when Churchill was captured with that armoured train.

If you watch the film you will see that Churchill left his Mauser pistol in the locomotive which was not captured by the Boers and got away with part of the train. Whether or not this is actually what happened, i.e. leaving the pistol in the locomotive, I do not know? It does seem like an elementary mistake for a trained soldier to make, just after he has been ambushed, even if he had retired from the army.

[RCS]

The Mauser M96 is very fast shooting in semi auto, I have been able to fire ten rounds long before my friend could fire all seven rounds from a Colt 1911A1 in 45 ACP.

[Gil Boyd]

The M96 was so very much ahead of its time and an excellent example of German engineering at its finest.
History somewhere along a long line changed significantly, allowing copying by countries like China, to erode the good name of German engineering, as much of their copying failed over and over again.
Yes they were and are good at certain low cost items, but in short, much of it is crap, and reflects, "what you pay is what you get" syndrome.
I look back at Milsurps specifically, and it was Germany/the United States/England/Australia/New Zealand and Japan who were the worlds main designers of war equipment, with Russia in there too.
Have those days of brilliance gone, as we the group who own history in our hands, in rifles, pistols and other Milsurps, continue to repair and rebuild stuff from the past that we can keep going?
Bit nostalgic this morning!!