TonyE Posted 13 May , 2009 Share Posted 13 May , 2009 TonyE Is Rubin to which you refer related to Schmdit-Rubin (the straight pull rifle used by the Swiss?) And while we are on the obscure.... which rifle type was used by the largest number of men in WWI? Obvious candidates SMLE No1 MKIII, Mauser GEW 98, Moisin-Nagant 1891.....? Chris Yes, Col. Rubin was the commander of the Waffenfabrik Thun, the Swiss equivalent of the Royal Small Arms factory at Enfield. He is often referred to in British contemporary documents as "Rubini". As for which rifle equipped the most men in WWI I would have to investigate. It is probably the Gew.98, as although the Russians had huge armies, they were extremely short of M-Ns and had large numbers of foreign weapons, e.g. 600,000+ Arisakas, Vetterlis, Winchester 95s etc. Also, by the latter part of the war the Germans were producing more G.98s than they needed. It is estimated that there were over two million rifles unissued in depots at the end of the war. regards TonyE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 13 May , 2009 Share Posted 13 May , 2009 Why are there 12 soldiers in the R.A.M.C with the same number, that being 223, the R.A.S.C. have a similar amount. I would have thought only 1 person would be number 223, even the Royal Warwickshire Regt has 2 men numbered 223. Confused.com Kevin Kevin, Very basically it is because the number was unique to the unit, not the regiment or corps. Thus there was only one incidence of a number in a battalion, or a field ambulance etc. Even the 1917 re-numbering didn't sort this out entirely and the regimental number didn't become unique army-wide until (I think) the early 1920s. I reckon a search of LLT will turn up something to throw more light on it for you. Cheers, Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Woodland Posted 18 May , 2009 Share Posted 18 May , 2009 I have heard it said that a Vickers machine gun's barrel is worn out after 10,000 rounds have been fired. Presumably it could still be used with reduced accuracy after that point. Further how do you change the barrel anyway, is it screwed out, clipped or what david I have no knowledge or experience of the Vickers but when the barrel went on the GPMG mounted in one of several Armoured vehicles, the rounds went all over the place and aiming was impossible. I suspect it would be the same with all machine guns although I dont recall many barrels going on the .30 Browning which was the GPMGs predecessor. Perhaps something to do with a lower rate of fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedog Posted 19 May , 2009 Share Posted 19 May , 2009 G'day all. I have posted in the past, and Raich has recently asked questions about HMAT Medic (A7). Can anyone give me firm affirmation of her departure date from Sydney, Australia when she conveyed, among others, the 12th Reinforcements 2nd Battalion AIF. Was it 30/12/15 or 7/1/16? Thanks in advance for any response Regards Pop (Sean McManus) G'Day Sean. The information that I have , taken from the "First AIF Order Of Battle" website lists the HMAT MEDIC departing Sydney on &th. Jan. 1916. Peter Sean Due to a typo , lets make that 7th. Jan. 1916 Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 19 May , 2009 Share Posted 19 May , 2009 What happened to shell shocked prisoners? For example at Messines, there must have been many shocked prisoners, were they given any special help once in captivity, or was it a case of ' get on with it ' we've enough of our own to worry about. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthergw Posted 20 May , 2009 Share Posted 20 May , 2009 A big problem with shell shock at the time was diagnosing it. When there were physical symptoms, paralysis, blindness, obvious signs of shock, it would be dealt with as a casualty in the same way as a wounded soldier was. I assume that would extend to prisoners who were deemed insane. I haven't read of any special measures but that would appear to follow the treatment of prisoners generally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyE Posted 20 May , 2009 Share Posted 20 May , 2009 What happened to the millions of fired shell cases. Were they collected and refilled or recycled and then refilled or what ? David Wherever possible shell cases were returned to depots and then sent home to be reloaded. Cases for QF guns were marked "CF" for Cordite full charge (or CR for reduced charge) and when reloaded another "F"(or "R") was added for each full charge. Thus a case marked "CFFF" has been reloaded twice with full charges. Also, the original loading lot number and date would be struck out and the new data stamped on. Cases were often re-annealed or metallurgically examined and those with defects condemned as scrap for re-smelting. The collection of shell cases after a battle was one of the jobs of the salvage battalions. Regards TonyE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyE Posted 20 May , 2009 Share Posted 20 May , 2009 I have heard it said that a Vickers machine gun's barrel is worn out after 10,000 rounds have been fired. Presumably it could still be used with reduced accuracy after that point. Further how do you change the barrel anyway, is it screwed out, clipped or what david A little late to be answering this one but I missed it earlier! As others have posted, a worn out MG barrel will scatter rounds far and wide, so it is the last thing one wants, especially when firing overhead barrage fire. The barrels on Vickers guns were changed by removing the muzzle attachment, elevating the gun and withdrawing the barrel slightly and placing a cork in the barrel port of the water jacket, then depressing the gun and withdrawing the barrel rearwards through the action. The new barrel then had the gland packed with asbestos string to make it watertight and was reinserted into the jacket from the rear. There was a ramp on the inside of the water jacket at the muzzle to guide the barrel through the hole which then pushed out the cork. The gun was depressed to drain any water from the barrel, the muzzle attachment was refitted to the new barrel and you were good for another 10,000 rounds. That, at least, is the simple version. The action also had to be to the rear with the lock removed etc. but that was the principle. Regards TonyE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 20 May , 2009 Share Posted 20 May , 2009 Thanks for reply Tom. It must have been especially difficult for a prisoner, suffering from shock. Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 20 May , 2009 Share Posted 20 May , 2009 Order, ORDER! ORDER Suggestion: can those posing a question allocate it a number? As we have a degree of chaos in the backlog, can we number from 1., from now? Hence, in a week or two, someone can reply "Q17, A. is: or is that too sensible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 20 May , 2009 Share Posted 20 May , 2009 That's very sensible. There's a job going as speaker, you should get you're name in. The perks ain't so good now though. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 20 May , 2009 Share Posted 20 May , 2009 Question 1. Does anyone have convincing proof that recruiting on the normal '7 years with colurs and 5 years with reserve' continued or ceased after 4th August 1914? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthergw Posted 20 May , 2009 Share Posted 20 May , 2009 A little late to be answering this one but I missed it earlier! As others have posted, a worn out MG barrel will scatter rounds far and wide, so it is the last thing one wants, especially when firing overhead barrage fire. .................... That, at least, is the simple version. The action also had to be to the rear with the lock removed etc. but that was the principle. Regards TonyE I can say that it was not a task that was undertaken lightly, when in the field. It required the learning and frequent use of many strange words beginning with B and F. Unlike changing the barrel on a Bren which merely took the skin off your hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David B Posted 20 May , 2009 Share Posted 20 May , 2009 Thanks Tony, (replies 107/108). Rather a complicated operation but I guess machine gunners got quite adept, especially if one had an enemy bent on revenge coming towards you. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 21 May , 2009 Share Posted 21 May , 2009 Question 1. Not quite the same but I am looking at the papers, sent from the Coldstream Guards, of a man who enlisted on 27 January 1916. Three years plus nine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 21 May , 2009 Share Posted 21 May , 2009 QI. Many thanks, that is indeed helpful because the Guards 'always' recruited 3 and 9 rather than 7 and 5 [this ties in with the fact that historically they relied on a large reserve of 3 times the men with the colours but had no SR battalions]. All fits! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KevinEndon Posted 21 May , 2009 Share Posted 21 May , 2009 Question No. 2 How long after contracting Tb would death occur if no medicine was given or was ineffective. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 21 May , 2009 Share Posted 21 May , 2009 Would depend on the organs or parts of the skeleton affected by the disease and at what stage it had been diagnosed as well as the age and physical condition of the sufferer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KevinEndon Posted 21 May , 2009 Share Posted 21 May , 2009 Question No. 2 follow up. Cheers Squirrel, I am wondering if I have a poss non com case, the person in question died in a sanatorium in 1920 from Tb and wondered if he would have contraced it in service, lived for a year or so then passed away or contracted it after leaving the army. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthergw Posted 21 May , 2009 Share Posted 21 May , 2009 People lived for years with pulmonary TB ( consumption) often while haemorrhaging constantly. The difficulty would be proving that he contracted it while serving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 21 May , 2009 Share Posted 21 May , 2009 Hi Kevin, maybe you could edit it to Question # 2. Grumpy's idea is good don't you agree? Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 21 May , 2009 Share Posted 21 May , 2009 Re: Question 2 - TB William Chippindale was discharged to pension suffering from TB which he had for 3 years and lived with. It was pneumonia which killed him 3 days after he contracted it. This is one of the age old 'how long is a peice of string' situations. Every case would be unique. Cheers, Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 22 May , 2009 Share Posted 22 May , 2009 Question 3 59166 Pte William Robertson. 17th Royal Scots. KIA 29/9/1918. Formerly 57502 Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders I believe 17th R/S were a bantam Bn. Would the fact that this man ended up in this Bn mean he was a man of small stature, or were ranks filled by anyone available? ( unsure which year he was trsfrd to R/S ) Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 22 May , 2009 Share Posted 22 May , 2009 I'm bumping this up as no replies so far. I think it was / is post 24. I've been back and labelled it as that but will alter it if I find I counted wrongly! Hello all, I suddenly wondered - why weren't the MICs and rolls burnt? Does every one survive to this day? Regards CGM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 22 May , 2009 Share Posted 22 May , 2009 Hi CGM Am presuming they were held in a different building, ie not Arnside. I think the MIC's were probably kept where they made the medals? Someone who really knows will no doubt correct me. Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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