Assistance in determining Granddads rifle?

kaos

kaos

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So, my Granddad was in WW2. He, as many others in that situation didn't talk with me about it when I was young. I'm kind of curious as to what type of rifle he carried - I believe it would have been the the classic Lee-Enfield, but thought I'd ask around here if there are any buffs who would know for certain the model that was issued to riflemen of the English Royal Fusiliers regiment. I know that he was originally a musician for them, but when war broke out he was given a couple of weeks to learn how to shoot & off he went to Dunkirk.

Any ideas? Any sites that could be pointed out? I've had next to no luck finding a place to determine the issued rifle for the respective regiment.

Much thanks!
 
HI
Your Grandfather was most likely armed with a No1 MkIII or even the Ross Rifle left over from the Great War.
Cheers
 
Some research relating to exactly the regiment he served in would probably be in order. The present regiment bearing the name was formed in 1968 as part of the amalgamation of previous regiments. The regiment quoted ( dropping, of course, the word 'English' ) was the old City of London Regiment formed during the Great War not WWII. Many sites can assit in determining the regimental details you seek. From there you may well be able to also attempt further research. Having said all that, if your Grandfather served in the UK forces in the early ( ie 1939 - 1941 ) phase of WWII it is highly probable that he would have been issued a No1 MkIII
 
Dunkirk you said ?...
my dad was there as well,...
and he carried a K 98 and a Luger...
hope this helps...
 
ipscgraz said:
Luger?

Not a P38? I am very possibly misinformed but I thought the P08 was made obsolete by 1940.
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Not true, production was discontinued, but they remained in service during the war...
My dad brought his luger back after the war and so did other German veterans....
 
My understanding of the germand military used any handguns that they could get ammo for, including the Luger, until the war was over.

Arming the rag tag german "Volksturm", resulted in various arms, including 69000 Danish Krag's, with only 5-9 rounds pr gun as well as Carcano's etc.

Towards the end of WW2, the germans had a serious shortage of, among others, small arms.
 
My Grandfather was in France 1940 with the Grenadier Guards. I was lucky enough to find a GG stamped No1 MkIII*, sadly bubba had his way with it, but I restored it and will never part with it. His original rifle ended up in the channel when he swam out to the rescue boats.
 
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polaris said:
Dunkirk you said ?...
my dad was there as well,...
and he carried a K 98 and a Luger...
hope this helps...
Click to expand...

Right place, wrong side...:)

Actually, he did tell me that during new years each year, the English & the Germans met in no mans land & partied. Pretty cool they were able to put the differences aside for one day...
 
That probably would have happened in ww1, not ww2 .... There are several accounts out there or informal cease-fires happening in the trenches on xmas eve/day.

As one story goes, some British soldiers overheard the Huns (that's what the Germans were referred to back then) singing christmas carols, and some of the British started singing carols of their own. Soon enough both sides were happily singing. Some time later a football (soccer ball) was thrown across no man's land into the "enemy's" trenches, and said ball was tossed back. The ball went back and forth several times until some brave (actually quite foolish, borderline suicidal :eek:) soldiers popped out of the trenches and started kicking the ball around in plain view of the enemy. Rather than shoot them, some front-line soldiers from the other side popped out of their own trenches and an impromptu game erupted. Said game is said to have lasted anywhere from a few minutes to an hour, depending on who'se version of events you believe. It all came to an end when one particular officer came out of a dugout and noticed what was going on, was quite horrified but what he saw (OMG ... peace ! the horror !) and ordered everybody back in their own trenches .... The war soon resumed ... I believe the incident in question is claimed to have taken place at the beginning of the war in 1914. I have a VHS tape with on it what is claimed to be a copy of short film clip that was (allegedly) shot during the incident, in my now half-destroyed shed. Nobody seems to know what happened to the ball or whom provided it, but I hope it surfaces one day and ends up in it's rightful place, in a museum.

There are also several accounts of informal truces happening from time to time to allow both sides to police their dead and wounded from no-man's land, soldiers from opposing sides were (allegedly) seen from time to time exchanging cigarettes and/or the odd trinket.

kaos said:
Right place, wrong side...:)

Actually, he did tell me that during new years each year, the English & the Germans met in no mans land & partied. Pretty cool they were able to put the differences aside for one day...
Click to expand...
 
RobSmith said:
That probably would have happened in ww1, not ww2 .... There are several accounts out there or informal cease-fires happening in the trenches on xmas eve/day.
Click to expand...

Cool info... It did happen with my Granddad at least one year while he was in battle though & it was WW2. I'm not sure where he was at the time, or what part of the war (He started in Dunkirk & finished up in Normandy - most of WW2 he was active) But it's the *only* story he'd tell me about as a kid. The only story he'd tell any of us about really. I'm not sure if it was a actual cease fire or the troops just dropping arms for the day though... heh, I believe they had a snowball fight actually...
 
Quite likely as most major belligerants were Christians. IF it could be confirmed by actual factual historical accounts it could re-write some pages from WW2 history books. I've never heard of any such things in WW2, but the shelling did slow down some around xmas ..... Kewl story none the less.

kaos said:
Cool info... It did happen with my Granddad at least one year while he was in battle though & it was WW2. I'm not sure where he was at the time, or what part of the war (He started in Dunkirk & finished up in Normandy - most of WW2 he was active) But it's the *only* story he'd tell me about as a kid. The only story he'd tell any of us about really. I'm not sure if it was a actual cease fire or the troops just dropping arms for the day though... heh, I believe they had a snowball fight actually...
Click to expand...
 
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