Captured Lee Enfields

roba

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Is there any documented use of captured Enfields by axis forces. With some of the early troubles in the war a fair number must have fallen into enemy hands along with ammunition. Maybe they just went straight to the smelter?
 
Japs used captured Enfield for prison guard use. The Germans supplied captured Enfields from failed Maquis Allied air drops to the pro german French Vichy Militia.
 
The Indian National Army a force set up by the Japanese consisting of exPOWs from the Indian Army was equipped with SMLEs and other British weapons.
 
I have hunted high and low for a FrankenMauser for close to 40 years. I have only seen one up close and personal in all that time and it was obviously ridden hard and put away wet. The fellow wanted IMHO way to much money for it. Still, I haven't seen another.

I saw a World at War documentary showing Axis troops carrying No 1 MkIII rifles they had picked up from fallen Expeditionary troops. There was a rumor that the Germans stripped them of their brass butt plates and replaced them with stamped metal plates. I can't confirm that and have never seen one.

The German's were very willing to use and issue capture weapons on all fronts. Especially to rear echelon troops. The Germans captured all sorts of weapons from France, including Thompson SMGs and issued them to their Artillery troops on the coastal bunkers. We've all seen pics of Axis troops using captured Russian SVT38s and 40s.

As for the Indian troops the Japanese gave British SMLEs to, why not???? They captured thousands of them in Hong Kong and Singapore as well as the other places they over ran during the early stages of WWII from 1930 on. The Indian troops were intimately familiar with the No1 MkIII and didn't require any further training in their use.
 
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Turkish FrankenMausers were found in a shipment in the Century warehouse in Vermont many years ago. I know the guy who found them, there were about a dozen complete rifles and maybe about 20 more less incomplete ones missing bolts. I got to handle one at Alan aka Alan's Armory in Florida when I visited him several years ago. Another batch of fakes made up in Pakistan were imported by Tennessee Guns along will a bunch of Khyber Pass Enfield and Martini-Henry rifles. The Tennessee guns were just junk ready to explode if fired with a live cartridge!
 
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I thought there were some pics in the German book on Beutpatronen (captured ammunition used by the Germans in WW2), but I havent looked at it in a while and am awaay from my copy at the moment.
 
ht tps://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milice_fran%C3%A7aise#/media/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-720-0318-04,_Frankreich,_Parade_der_Milice_Francaise.jpg

Follow the link, photo of Vichy Militia carrying Bren Guns and No.4 Rifles. Guns were supplied by the Germans.
 
Lee En fields traded back and forth between various middle eastern countries and Israel. No 1 MkIII en fields in 22
and 303 have been sold by Israel in the past. Most of the ones I got were very early guns.
 
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