What model Lee Enfield for Polish Paratroops c.1944?
- Thread starter nntw
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- WMU247 near Edmonton
No4 Mk1* would be the most likely, as it was the standard issue at the time. May have been a No4 Mk1
don't think the Polish Bde would have been using US arms as they were attached to the Brit Paras
don't think the Polish Bde would have been using US arms as they were attached to the Brit Paras
Was definitely British gear, so it would have been a Lee Enfield. They also used Brens and Stens, of course.
When I was at the Imperial War Museum years ago, they had a mannequin dressed in paratroop kit. Interestingly, I recognized the jacket(smock?) as one like my dad was wearing in a pic taken c1946 while on occupation duty in Germany.
As an aside, the pic showed what happened when they smuggled out their firearms and went deer hunting on an ex-Nazi game preserve. Not too sporting- the bambis didn't have much of a chance up against Stens, Brens, and Enfields. They ended up being donated to a refugee camp.
He was a bit rueful telling me the story- this when he was in his 80s- but there was still a bit of a twinkle in his eye as he told it.
When I was at the Imperial War Museum years ago, they had a mannequin dressed in paratroop kit. Interestingly, I recognized the jacket(smock?) as one like my dad was wearing in a pic taken c1946 while on occupation duty in Germany.
As an aside, the pic showed what happened when they smuggled out their firearms and went deer hunting on an ex-Nazi game preserve. Not too sporting- the bambis didn't have much of a chance up against Stens, Brens, and Enfields. They ended up being donated to a refugee camp.
He was a bit rueful telling me the story- this when he was in his 80s- but there was still a bit of a twinkle in his eye as he told it.
The Polish Paras were equipped with British kit, so their rifles were British made Lee-Enfield N.4 MKI in 303 Brit. caliber and possibly also Savage No.4 MKI and No. 4 MKI* Lend Lease rifles. Even the Long Branch No.4 MKI* is possible since a good portion of the production was sold to England during the War.
Polish Airborne
The one picture I found of Polish paras in Market Garden, shows a Lee Enfield No.4 Mk.1 of some type.Major-General Stanislaw Sosabowski was the CO. He travelled to the U.S.,and was shown the American method of deployment. Also came to the Canadian Parachute School at Shilo. Mentioned that the winter weather was brutal, but Canadian hospitality was great, possibly due to the consumption of large amounts of whisky! Anyone interested in the Polish WW2 paras, should read "Freely I Served", by Sosabowski.
The one picture I found of Polish paras in Market Garden, shows a Lee Enfield No.4 Mk.1 of some type.Major-General Stanislaw Sosabowski was the CO. He travelled to the U.S.,and was shown the American method of deployment. Also came to the Canadian Parachute School at Shilo. Mentioned that the winter weather was brutal, but Canadian hospitality was great, possibly due to the consumption of large amounts of whisky! Anyone interested in the Polish WW2 paras, should read "Freely I Served", by Sosabowski.
