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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

What is this?


OLD ROBIN HOOD

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Greetings from the Royal Hunting Forest of Sherwood where it is both wet and cold. 

 

Illustrated is  a piece of officers equipment that I have owned for  very long time.  When 1 bought it it came with some other WW1 officers items.

It looks rather like a wallet and measures 6 inches by 4 inches by 3/4 of an inch in depth.  Inside are 10 compartments each of which takes one .303 cartridge.

An internal flap covers the tops of the cartridges and the lid folds down and is secured with a stud.  It is very well made in pigskin.

I am not sure of its actual purpose, it can't be carried on a belt, only in a pocket.  Only one person has ever made a suggestion. 

He said that as the war progressed officers tended when leading an attack, to wear a standard other ranks service tunic and carry a riffle so as to make themselves

less obvious to enemy snipers, which to me makes good sense,   If this is the case one would assume that the officer would have 10 rounds in his SMLE magazine

and a further 10 in this little pouch.  I don't know if this is right or wrong but to me it sounds logical.

So, if any of you good folk have any other ideas I would be interested to hear.

 

                            Old Robin HoodDSC01653.JPG.10a32a595f2aa4a9ebdea8bf1232afbe.JPGDSC01654.JPG.394b74cc76d72d7a8e476697683015e3.JPGDSC01655.JPG.e6f3fe4b7117bcb81edbd7c07b650eed.JPGDSC01656.JPG.7cce35de59ef070af6445f8f03ee93f7.JPG

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8 minutes ago, OLD ROBIN HOOD said:

So, if any of you good folk have any other ideas I would be interested to hear.

Cigar or cigarette case???

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Surely the officer would carry as many 5-round chargers as it was convenient to stick in his pockets? Who'd willingly faff about with single rounds in battle if he needed to use the rifle?

 

I'm wondering if it was a private purchase by a 'senior' sniper of the Hesketh-Prichard class, for keeping carefully-selected ammunition of accurately-known performance?

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10 minutes ago, MikB said:

Surely the officer would carry as many 5-round chargers as it was convenient to stick in his pockets? Who'd willingly faff about with single rounds in battle if he needed to use the rifle?

 

I'm wondering if it was a private purchase by a 'senior' sniper of the Hesketh-Prichard class, for keeping carefully-selected ammunition of accurately-known performance?

 

I bet a .333 Jeffreys fits in like a hand in a glove!

Edited by ServiceRumDiluted
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22 minutes ago, ServiceRumDiluted said:

 

I bet a .333 Jeffreys fits in like a hand in a glove!

If it does, 303s'll be a bit of a rattling good fit - 333's base diameter's a couple of mm up on 303's, and its OAL's about 10 mm more. 

 

Have you tried a 303 in there, Robin?  333 round's a bit hard to find these days - I might've seen one about 50 years ago...

(Afternote: although it doesn't seem to be on the UK Obsolete Calibre list.)

Edited by MikB
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Hi

far more like to be a cigarette case   

purchased by an officer, most cases for ammunition as on the link are of bovine leather and not pig skin and used by modern shooters.

Certainly not practical for any type of reloading during combat

Dave

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23 hours ago, Matlock1418 said:

Cigar or cigarette case???

Revisiting my earlier idea

Looks too small for King Edward cigars and too big for Woodbine cigarettes

But what about a case for cigarillos or cheroots???

 

Edit: As others have commented - I certainly wouldn't like it as a carrier for my spare rifle ammunition as far too limited a quantity and too slow for reloading

Edited by Matlock1418
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Just a guess, but maybe some sort of flare cartridge case? you'd want they safe and dry, but you wouldn't need a huge quantity I know Very pistols were much bigger, but maybe something smaller calibre?

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Greetings from Sherwood.

                         Hi All

                        Very many thanks for all your opinions , I do very much appreciate them. 

                         MikB  I have tried a .303 case and it fits like a glove.

 

                                                             Robin

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2 hours ago, OLD ROBIN HOOD said:

Greetings from Sherwood.

                         Hi All

                        Very many thanks for all your opinions , I do very much appreciate them. 

                         MikB  I have tried a .303 case and it fits like a glove.

 

                                                             Robin

Well, if it was for 303, the only reason I can think of for carrying small numbers of single rounds would be for some special work, possibly as I suggested for snipers. Selected ball rounds for accuracy, tracers to point out elusive targets, AP for breaking MG breechblocks may all be candidates. I think only relatively few snipers got 333s - they may've worked well, but supplying the armies must've been enough of a logistical headache already, and I'd think multiplying the ammunition calibres in the supply chain would've been resisted.

 

Otherwise there might've been cheroots etc. of similar diameter as Matlock suggested.

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I’m wondering it this is a cartridge case for a keen wealthy huntsman pre WW1, that someone took with them, or had sent to them later to act as an extra back up whilst he was on active service....cigarettes or cheroots would just get squashed, and would be difficult to get out.

There is also the possibility that it has mo military connection, but was owned by an ex officer and grouped together with his effects as gun related.

 

Dave.

Edited by Dave66
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