Just thought you might be interested in a ‘Drill Rifle’ that was given to the local cadet corps by Branch 405 of The Canadian Legion.
It was sitting in the corner of a furnace room for many years forgotten. Shared a dusty space with some brooms, mop handles and broken snooker ques. It was handed on to the cadets as they will make good use of it.
Yup, it is a piece of solid wood. It is around 100 years old. This is an artifact from the First World War for teaching rifle drill on the parade square. Actual rifles were in short supply with militia units, so wooden dummy rifles were made up. This one is solid oak and is shaped roughly to represent a Ross rifle of some kind.
The cadets used it this last week to practice their drill for an overnight vigil at the town Cenotaph on Nov 10/11. The dummy rifle was almost as tall as some of the cadets. Pic shows it standing beside their issue DP, a C No.7 Long Branch that has been welded shut at breech and muzzle.
It was sitting in the corner of a furnace room for many years forgotten. Shared a dusty space with some brooms, mop handles and broken snooker ques. It was handed on to the cadets as they will make good use of it.
Yup, it is a piece of solid wood. It is around 100 years old. This is an artifact from the First World War for teaching rifle drill on the parade square. Actual rifles were in short supply with militia units, so wooden dummy rifles were made up. This one is solid oak and is shaped roughly to represent a Ross rifle of some kind.
The cadets used it this last week to practice their drill for an overnight vigil at the town Cenotaph on Nov 10/11. The dummy rifle was almost as tall as some of the cadets. Pic shows it standing beside their issue DP, a C No.7 Long Branch that has been welded shut at breech and muzzle.
