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.

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