Grandfathers service rifle (Now with 56k death!)

[outoftowner]

Ok, so I have just found all of my grandpas old war stuff. Its kind of cool seeing that he qualified with his rifle (didn't specify what kind but my guess is a lee) and sten with a mark of 1st and bren with a mark of 2nd and an officers note of "excellent". I also find it that he failed his light machinegun lol. He also received a Q for sten another 2 times, bren another time, and the piat anti tank weapon.
He was trained in shilo in Manitoba and was eventually posted as a camp guard in Britain. I don't know which camp he was stationed as a guard, I could interrogate my dad and see if he knows anything upon a later date. One of the stories that I remember my dad telling me (my grandpa died in 1975 so his stories are second hand) that my grandpa sometimes saw some guys get so desperate to get out that they would pull the pin on a grenade and stick there arm around a building just to get out.

But what i'm getting at is, I am wondering what rifle my grandpa was issued. my suspect is a lee, the only detail I know is that it was a bolt action. I am wondering if it was a canadian issued rifle, or would it be british since he would be in a british camp.

Oh and another cool thing we found. We found his old notebook from training and it had instructions on how to clean his uniform, and what to do in a gas attack and whatnot. To say the lest it was really interesting.

Thanks in advance.

 

[TheTooner]

He almost certainly used a Lee Enfield most of the time and from the beginning. He may have used a Cooey or other .22 training rifle during basic training in Canada but would have been trained to use a Lee Enfield in .303 as his personal weapon during basic training as well as training with the Sten SMG and Bren LMG. Depending on when he joined he may have trained initially with a No.1 Mk3 and then later been issued a No.4 Mk1 or Mk1*. Most Canadian units used the No.4 for most of the war because with the expansion of our Army we didn't have many of the older No.1 rifles and Long Branch soon started making No4s in numbers surplus to our needs. (The British Army had more No.1s so they would have taken longer to replace them all with No.4s.)

 

[Grizzlypeg]

That's cool. I have my grandfathers old service book from WWI. It has his places and dates, serial number of his Lee Enfield, useful phrases in French and German, how to judge distance and penetration of ammunition through various materials. Never got to meet the man, he was unfortunately gassed, and didn't live to a ripe old age.

 

[outoftowner]

He almost certainly used a Lee Enfield most of the time and from the beginning. He may have used a Cooey or other .22 training rifle during basic training in Canada but would have been trained to use a Lee Enfield in .303 as his personal weapon during basic training as well as training with the Sten SMG and Bren LMG. Depending on when he joined he may have trained initially with a No.1 Mk3 and then later been issued a No.4 Mk1 or Mk1*. Most Canadian units used the No.4 for most of the war because with the expansion of our Army we didn't have many of the older No.1 rifles and Long Branch soon started making No4s in numbers surplus to our needs. (The British Army had more No.1s so they would have taken longer to replace them all with No.4s.)

Why thank you. I do believe he started training in 1943, and then went overseas in early 1944 sometime, because my uncle was born in december 1944 and he came back to see his son once, and then went back over.

So how much would be a rifle similar to one that my grandpa was issued? I'm thinking about picking one up, more for my dad than anything. I think it would mean alot to him.

 

[LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1]

A decent condition Long Branch made No.4 would run you around 350-450 depending on who you asked. I think 1943 is the most common year but I could be wrong.

 

[BUSHMAN79]

Many camp guards were armed with cut-down Ross rifles, No.4's were in high demand for the front lines. Another possibility would be the P-14/M-17 rifles. Lots of SMLE's were used by Canadians right through WW2, so he may have had one. Grizzlypeg, you should post the ser.# of grandpa's Great War service rifle. Maybe one of us has it!

 

[outoftowner]

Damn, that opens up a whole bunch of possibilities now....hmm I'm going to have to check those notes again and make sure that there is nothing I missed....

 

[alexD92]

Do get some pictures.

 

[outoftowner]

Well I work tomorrow so maybe tuesday i'll try and get some

 

[outoftowner]

Ok so I have all of the interesting stuff you can decipher, theres alot more pages to these things I just didn't scan them either cause they were blank, they were filled with family names, or there was stuff that was easy to decipher. I plan on scanning all of his documents on a later date, maybe i'll post some up here. So first things first his little black notebook:

(just threw that one in there for fun, I think it was from when my grandpa came back home on leave)

And now onto the standard issue M1 soldiers service book!

Well thats about it. I guess this thread has turned into more of a showing my grandpas military history instead of finding what rifle he got, well actually i'm still looking for that. I'm also looking for which base he was issued to in britain. Oh ya, 56k Death, if you run dial up your screwed, I might resize them thursday...

 

[kjohn]

Neat stuff!! Thanks for sharing. I note one of the names near the top: W. Velestuk. We have people by that surname at home and one is Bill. He would be old enough to have served in WWII. I'll do a bit of digging on that one for you.

 

[outoftowner]

oooh thank you very much!

 

[Beaner1976]

Ya, thanks for posting