Historical Canadian Colt New service

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zipperhead

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I thought I would post some pictures of this fine Colt that went to War 100 years ago this summer. Carried by Major soon to be Lieutenant Colonel LT McLaughlin. He deployed with the 39 Bn CEF and subsequently served in the 2nd Bn Eastern Ontario Regiment. By wars end he was a highly decorated officer being awarded the CMG, the DSO with 2 bars, 4 MIDs amongst others.
The revolver is in fantastic condition with a 1915 Manufacture date still in the original .455 calibre. The holster that he carved his initials on is 1916 dated so it may have been a replacement at some point in the war.

Enjoy











 
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I've got a commercial .455 New Service in just about the same condition. Some bluing wear on the backstrap, otherwise 90% overall. Made in 1914. Custom made "Patton" style holster. Pachmayr grip adapter which makes it shootable in DA. Might consider parting with it to a collector as it is seldom shot.

I'm at the stage where if I don't shoot a gun, I can't justify having it. Rather have something I WILL shoot!
 
Super nice old fine colt, hard to find in that condition nowadays, probably was not even shot, a real collectors piece.

But what always makes me kind of laugh is how these high ranking officers in the first and second world war got all these medals and decorations while most never saw any action or fighting while directing who should fight while looking at maps in a nice safe HQ building in the rear while many who regularly fought and others who died in actual hand to hand combat got squat.

You can tell by the wear and tear on his fine revolver how many times he had to use it.
 
This officer has a record of distinguished service and it shouldn't be too difficult to research it and locate the citations for his various decorations. People don't get 2 DSOs and 4 MIDs by being comfortably ensconced in the rear echelons. We can be assured that this man was in the thick of it in spite of his personal weapon remaining in pretty pristine condition.

Officers are armed with pistols/revolvers for self-defence at close quarters should the situation arise. When in action they do not rush about looking for opportunities to personally engage the enemy with their personal weapon. Their job is to maintain an overview of the general situation in which their command is involved, exercise command and control of their subordinates, direct maneuver by troops and sub-units as necessary to deal with a changing tactical situation and to maintain co-ordination with higher HQs (re-enforcement, fire support) and flanking units. Generally they will only use their personal weapons in the case of close contact where they may need to defend themselves. There are circumstances when an officer must place himself in close proximity with the enemy with a greater risk of needing to use his personal weapon to protect himself. These might include cases where his unit is being overrun, personal forward reconnaissance to gain an awareness of the terrain or the tactical situation, and sometimes a need to personally be forward to lead and motivate his troops in difficult situations. If an officer chooses to become personally engaged in fighting the enemy he is no longer performing the functions that he is required to do.

Majors (coy/sqn/bty comds) and Lt Cols (bn comds) do get shot at in action and many get to die as a result.
 
While I agree that Majors often got shot at and served at the front lines during WW1, it was not so common with Lt. Col. and above and most of the above awards this gentleman was awarded are only given to officers.

And particularly the awarding of DSO's during the first 2 years of the war was to mainly rear stationed senior officer and was reported as causing disruptions and conflict in the front line officer ranks who were not getting awarded them. This lead to a general order in 1917 to stop awarding the DSO to officers in the rear and only to officers in the front lines and then only ones directly under fire.

This man may well and truly have earned his medals and if so I mean him no disrespect but it is also well reported that a large percentage of medals awarded during WW1 went to officers only and a lot to officers who never actually fought on the front lines and this is what I was alluding to.

The CMG is a companion to the Order of St Michael and St George and was a medal that was not given based on bravery but given out as quoted below -

"It is awarded to men and women who hold high office or who render extraordinary or important non-military service in a foreign country, and can also be conferred for important or loyal service in relation to foreign and Commonwealth affairs."

Not a quite a award the average grunt would ever see.

Mentioned in dispatches (MID) was not even given as a medal until 1919 but was previous to this a way of recognizing service that may or may not have involved fighting on the front and that did not meet the criteria needed to receive an established medal or award.

Field Marshal Viscount Gort, was mentioned in dispatches nine (9) times, as was the Canadian General Sir Arthur Currie. I doubt these men ever got their uniforms dirty let alone had to fire a shot in anger.
 
We are discussing Lt Col McLaughlin here so I don't see much point in expanding the discussion too much further. McLaughlin commanded the 2nd Bn CEF during the last 2 years of the war during which time this unit participated in the Battle of Vimy Ridge and in successive battles until the end of the war with considerable success. That alone says a lot about his performance which richly deserves his decorations. Battalion commanders are pretty expendable in combat and the bad ones don't last long. Battalion commanders don't charge enemy MG positions with bayonets and grenades. That's the job of their troops, although Maj Okill Learmonth, who was one of his company commanders at the battle of Loos in 1917, did something close to that and was awarded a posthumous VC for his actions.

If I was the OP I'd search out copies of Lt Col McLaughlin's medal citations and details of his service to keep with his revolver. I suppose the fact that his revolver is in such pristine condition is in itself something of a testimony to his success as a bn comd.
 
purple said:
We are discussing Lt Col McLaughlin here so I don't see much point in expanding the discussion too much further. McLaughlin commanded the 2nd Bn CEF during the last 2 years of the war during which time this unit participated in the Battle of Vimy Ridge and in successive battles until the end of the war with considerable success. That alone says a lot about his performance which richly deserves his decorations. Battalion commanders are pretty expendable in combat and the bad ones don't last long. Battalion commanders don't charge enemy MG positions with bayonets and grenades. That's the job of their troops, although Maj Okill Learmonth, who was one of his company commanders at the battle of Loos in 1917, did something close to that and was awarded a posthumous VC for his actions.

If I was the OP I'd search out copies of Lt Col McLaughlin's medal citations and details of his service to keep with his revolver. I suppose the fact that his revolver is in such pristine condition is in itself something of a testimony to his success as a bn comd.
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So a pristine personal revolver is a credential for the gallantry of an Officer that carried it? Glad to hear it. That just increased the value of my Colt New Service; possibly carried by an unknown Officer of great personal courage.
 
Sharps '63 said:
So a pristine personal revolver is a credential for the gallantry of an Officer that carried it? Glad to hear it. That just increased the value of my Colt New Service; possibly carried by an unknown Officer of great personal courage.
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Your sarcasm is a bit off the mark here. To parse this down a bit more; the fact that this man's battalion was so successful without any apparent need for him to get involved in the fighting with his personal weapon is quite a tribute to his performance as a battalion commander and to the performance of the troops in his battalion. Surviving 2 years in command of a battalion, or even surviving 2 years in the trenches of WW1, is quite something, and from the sounds of it he didn't pass his time in a bunker 30 feet underground. Anyone who served in a battalion in the trenches was always at great risk from a variety of hazards. Even when the line was "quiet" German artillery, gas attacks and MG fire was persistent, heavy and quite random in it's effects, much of it ranging back as far as the friendly gun lines which were located well behind the front line battalions. The polite term for the indiscriminate casualties that this caused was "wastage".

There is a published history of the 2nd Bn CEF, The History of the 2nd Canadian Battalion (Eastern Ontario Regiment) Canadian Expeditionary Force. Ottawa. Mortimer Limited 1947, which should be read for further details. I'd like to see the full story of this officer's wartime service including the citations related to his various awards. The history and battle honours of the 2nd Battalion CEF are perpetuated by the Governor General's Foot Guards, a reserve force regiment which is located in Ottawa.

And none of this has squat to do with the value of either your or my Colt New Service revolver.
 
I'm not disparaging the service record of the Officer in question. Suffice it to say that his revolver did not roll in the mud, blood and gore of a trench raid. There are many out there of both types.

How many times have we heard variations of - "This Luger, P-38, Walther was taken from a high ranking Wermacht/Waffen SS Officer by my father-in-law/uncle during the battle of .....". Very few seem to have been taken from hard bitten Gefrieters, Feldwebels, Panzer Grenadiers or Landsers.

I have difficulty according any respect for high ranking Officers that hunkered in the bunker during the most horrific blood letting of modern history. The Generals on both sides were incompetent butchers, relics of a bygone era of heroic charges with colours flying and bayonets fixed. For an illustration of what I'm referring to, watch "Paths of Glory" with Kirk Douglas playing the role of a French Infantry Colonel. This movie could not be made in France as the French would not permit it.

It was filmed in Germany using Bundesgrenschutz Polezei (Border Police) as extras in the uniforms of French Poilus. They looked professional because they were.
 
Interestingly two of the best "British" Generals in WW1 were Australian born John Monash who commanded the Australian Corps and Arthur Currie who commanded the Canadian Corps. Neither of them were professional soldiers, but both of them learned quickly from their battlefield experience and rose to command their respective national contingents. Both had a reputation for innovative and careful planning before an attack and both were careful with the lives of their troops, to the extent that it was possible in the carnage of WW1. Both experimented with the doctrine of combined arms warfare using tanks and aircraft in close support and prodigious quantities of artillery, both in pre-planned barrages and on call. Lloyd George, the British PM, is reported to have said that if he had his way the British Army would be commanded by Currie with Monash as his deputy. Both of them wound up as university chancellors in their later lives.

Currie is one of our best and most under-rated Generals. Only Guy Simonds was in the same league in WW2. I served at Currie Barracks in Calgary for 5 years and always thought that it was great that the base was named after him.

I'm fortunate to have the S&W Pre-Victory revolver and web holster that my late uncle carried from Normandy to VE Day in Holland. He was a tank fitter and carried it daily so it shows a fair degree of finish wear and the odd gouge and nick in the wooden grips from climbing in and out of vehicles. He managed to mail it home in pieces before being repatriated. He never fired it in anger when overseas, but did use it to shoot a coon in his attic about 5 yrs before he died.
 
Sharps '63 said:
So a pristine personal revolver is a credential for the gallantry of an Officer that carried it? Glad to hear it. That just increased the value of my Colt New Service; possibly carried by an unknown Officer of great personal courage.
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There is nothing to say that it was his only sidearm, nor that it wasn't something he (or someone else) bought as a promotion gift or postwar keepsake either.
 
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Watch the above trailer with reference to the number of casualties anticipated due to the 'rolling barrage' of the French artillery in the abortive attack led by Kirk Douglas.

All the careful planning and attention to detail cannot prevent such casualties. It was an accepted price, an example of "friendly fire" deemed appropriate by the Generals.

I recall being told in basic Infantry tactics that a frontal assault against a prepared position would result in 50% casualties. This high rate of attrition has been borne out many times.
The ANZACS paid this price at Gallipoli in WWI. Look at the toll of Allied soldiers in the assault on Monte Casino during WWII, a ruined monastery held by young Fallschirmjaegers, some so green they were not even airborne qualified.

The ANZACS had Naval gun support and Monte Casino was bombarded into oblivion.
 
Lee Enfield said:
There is nothing to say that it was his only sidearm, nor that it wasn't something he (or someone else) bought as a promotion gift or postwar keepsake either.
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Tough to say. It's engraved to show him as a major in the 39th Battalion CEF, but he went on to command the 2nd Bn CEF as a Lt Col. McLaughlin's final rank was Colonel from what I've been able to find. Perhaps the OP can enlighten us a bit more because we are really just speculating.The 39th Bn was never part of the Cdn Corps in France. It remained in the UK as a reinforcement unit until being disbanded in 1917.
 
I don't have anything else on the revolver or the owner. My initial post included information that I picked up from several internet searches. I could take some lessons from yourselves as you found more information than I ever did. I picked the revolver up at auction last year and there was no accompanying paperwork. Being a soldier myself, anything with Canadian military provenance catches my attention, so I ended up paying more than a New Service is worth based on that.
 
Sharps '63 said:
Watch the above trailer with reference to the number of casualties anticipated due to the 'rolling barrage' of the French artillery in the abortive attack led by Kirk Douglas.

All the careful planning and attention to detail cannot prevent such casualties. It was an accepted price, an example of "friendly fire" deemed appropriate by the Generals.

I recall being told in basic Infantry tactics that a frontal assault against a prepared position would result in 50% casualties. This high rate of attrition has been borne out many times.
The ANZACS paid this price at Gallipoli in WWI. Look at the toll of Allied soldiers in the assault on Monte Casino during WWII, a ruined monastery held by young Fallschirmjaegers, some so green they were not even airborne qualified.

The ANZACS had Naval gun support and Monte Casino was bombarded into oblivion.
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Artillery and air support is still a fairly blunt instrument, even after the introduction of precision guided munitions. There is always a risk of "blue on blue" losses because of difficulties with IDing the precise location of friendly troops and/or errors in targeting on a mobile battlefield. One of the classic errors with artillery was/is the stray gun(s) firing short because of failure to get it on line or excessive barrel wear or, maybe even errors in loading the correct charge. On balance the benefits of having arty and air support outweigh any risk of casualties to one's own troops. It's actually surprising how well dug in troops with overhead cover are protected from the effects of arty fire.

There is a good training demo for both arty and infantry which involves preparing a number of foxholes, some with and some without the desired 18 inches of overhead protection. Torso sized target balloons are then put in the holes and arty is fired on the position. It's educational for people to see the number of intact balloons afterwards. For properly protected infantry in positions like this arty is considered to have more of a neutralizing than a killing effect. It certainly keeps peoples heads down while you are advancing against the position which is the main idea. This is the main reason why the APC was developed for infantry- to protect the infantry from HE and mortar fragments while the infantry moves rapidly onto an enemy position with arty fire being lifted at the last moment. The shovel is still the soldier's best friend along with his rifle. Time and again its been shown that you can call down arty fire on enemy who are overrunning your position with minimal friendly losses, as long as you stay below ground in properly prepared holes. The fighting in Korea was the last best illustration of this.

There is no rule of thumb about the degree of losses to be anticipated when assaulting a prepared enemy position. It depends on a whole bunch of factors incl the nature of the terrain and availability of covered approaches, the use of supporting fires, armoured support, the scheme of maneuver, time and space to get onto the objective, the existence of obstacles in front of the defence, relative quality of troops, etc. One thing that isn't taught or practiced anymore is WW1 style attacks where dismounted infantry move across an expanse of open ground in the face of intact enemy obstacles and defensive fires. That's a sure invitation to failure. There are always going to be casualties and the challenge is getting the mission done while keeping losses to a minimum. A risk of 50% losses in an attack calls up Plan B or C.

One lesson from massed air bombing of places like Cassino and Caen in WW2 is that it often improves obstacles/fighting positions for the defender while hindering your own movement. Massed bomber raids were tried in Normandy and did achieve some results, but they also killed a lot of friendlies and disrupted our own attack plans and timings while creating obstacles to our own movement. The Gallipoli operation was a disaster from the outset. I suppose the best that could be said of it was that it created an understanding of what not to do when planning an amphibious operation.
 
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