Ken MacLean

From the London Times: 17 May 1855 - "Yesterday 3,500 stand of Mini? rifles and bayonets, in cases containing 20 stand each were shipped on board the James & Anne, sailing-lighter, for conveyance to the Crimea." 27 Sep 1878 - AFGHANISTAN "As we have before pointed out, it will be the height of folly to advance in small bodies. The batteries of guns presented to the Ameer in 1868, and the 18,000 stand of rifles in that year and on subsequent occasions, will all tend to increase the difficulties of forcing the passes." 9 Oct 1899 - "The Boers have, however, lately provided themselves with about 20,000 stand of Martini-Henry rifles."

Longobardo, It was manufactured by the Mills Woven Cartridge Company, Worcester Massachusets. Their logo was "MILLS, inside a bullet". Here is another item by them, a magazine pouch dated 1918. http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f133/bea...1957_50_13A.jpg Cheers, Ken

Tried a few variations (last letter) of 'Tour'. I must admit that on reading the card I also see 'Tour'

Tony, Your man is 811490 William TOUT. Enlisted 138th Battalion at Edmonton, 23 Dec 1915. Born Brent Knoll, Somersetshire 20 May 1875. He is not at CWGC. Here is link to his attestation paper at NA Canada: http://data4.collectionscanada.ca/netacgi/...amp;r=9&f=G Cheers, Ken

Stijin, I neglected to mention that in the same POW database I pointed to in my previous post that there are three 'Churchill' aircrew there also. http://www.rafcommands.com/Air%20Force%20P...uery%20C_1.html You can ignore the Australian, 401103 J. Churchill as he was shot down by an Italian fighter and went into captivity from Italy. I have viewed his service file, which has been scanned and is on-line at the National Archives of Australia. Again, post to www.rafcommands.com - include photo.

Hi, 941800 W.H. Hunter was POW at Stalag Luft VII: http://www.rafcommands.com/Air%20Force%20P...uery%20H_1.html Suggest you post your question at www.rafcommands.com -Ken

Alexandre, Here you will find brief biographies of all RAF officers of Air Rank (WW1, WW2 and later): http://www.rafweb.org/Index.htm Cheers, Ken

Thanks Rick, Subsequent replies to the thread suggest that the a/c had ditched on the day of loss and had been fished out of the drink some time later by the Germans. This would, I suppose, eliminate the incongruity of an M43 being worn in late 1941. Cheers, Ken

Theodor, This item has Heerswaffenamt (HWaA) code WAa37 on it, so it must be associated with one of the following items which were the responsibility of the inspection office code WAa37, located at the following companies: (Item descriptions in bold added by myself.) -C.G. Haenel, Waffen und Fahrrad-Fabrik, Suhl, Th?ringen (122) : (MP 38 Submachine Gun :1940) -C.G. Haenel, Waffen und Fahrrad-Fabrik, Suhl, Th?ringen (fxo) : (P 08 Luger Pistol magazines ; MP44 Machine Pistol : 1941 - 45) -Gebr. Heller GmbH, Marienthal bei Schweina (csr) : (SG.84/98 : 1939 - 40) Bayonet -Gebr. Heller GmbH, Marienthal bei Schweina (csr) : (SG.84/98 : 1941 - 44) Bayonet -J.P. Sauer-u. Sohn, Gewehrfabrik, Suhl, Th?ringen (147) : (K98k : 1938 - 40) Rifle -J.P. Sauer-u. Sohn, Gewehrfabrik, Suhl, Th?ringen (ce) : (K98k : 1941 - 44) Rifle The Luger magazine and bayonets can be eliminated, so it appears your item was involved with lubrication of one of the weapons shown above. Cheers, Ken

The attached photo is of Blenheim MkIV Z6163 of 500 Sqn that went missing over Northern France 28 Nov 41. http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f133/bea...sFlugzeugII.jpg My question is: could this photo have been taken in November1941? The officer on the left appears to be wearing an M43 cap. Was the M43 issued to Heer as early as 1941?

Could one of our armourers help here? A poster on another forum has asked what the prefix letters 'BS' on a British aircraft machine gun serial number mean. The gun in question is the .303 Vickers Armstrong MkII** of WW2 vintage. Serial number is six digits with prefix BS. -Ken

Could one of our armourers help here? A poster on another forum has asked what the prefix letters 'BS' on a Browning aircraft machine gun serial number mean. The gun in question is the Browning M2, originally 30-06 calibre which was adopted by the RAF, rebarelled for .303 and known as the Browning MkII. Serial number is six digits with prefix BS. -Ken

Hello John, Noted no response to this post, so I put the photos on www.army.ca, where they generated some discussion. To see the responses to my post, go to www.army.ca, click on Forums at top of home page/Military History/Airborne Battle Dress/ (probably on page 2 or 3 of this forum by now). -Ken