"Correct" accessories for 1914 issued SMLE?

[Heatseeker]

Well my "Gallipoli" Gurkha rifle - a 1913 BSA No1 MkIII with all matching components and still sighted and proved for MkVI ammunition - it as home, and what a treasure it is!

Alas, it is without accessories, and there is not even a pull through and oil bottle in the butt trap.

According to the stock disc - and seeing that all components right down to the numbered cocking piece match so I am confident it is the original - the rifle was issued to the 1/5th Gurkha Rifles from the Rawalpindi Arsenal, now in Pakistan, in April, 1914.

My questions are:

1. Which bayonet would have been issued with this rifle? Australian rifles of the same era, which were also sighted for MkVI ammunition, had the hooked quillon, but I believe the British manufactured the bayonets without the quillon from 1910, although I have seen an undoubtedly genuine hooked quillon example dated 1913.

To date I have been unable to source any photographs of Gurkhas at Gallipoli which show what type of 1907 bayonets they were issued with.

2. What type of sling would this rifle have been fitted with? A 1903 or 1914 leather, or standard webbing? ? It appears the Gurkhas were issued with Pattern 1903 equipment at Gallipoli, but the rifle was issued in 1914 in what was then the British Colony of India.

3. The rifle has a Type 4 magazine, which is incorrect for the rifle (this really doesn't fuss me in the slightest, as this item is one of the few steel bit which was not serialled) ... there are quite a few Type 3 magazines with Type 2 followers around which will fit the bill, but my question is were these items manufactured by specific factories - ie Enfield, BSA, LSA etc - or were they generically marked with designation and Broad Arrow?

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

[RMAMarshall]

What a find!

In answer to your questions:

1. Bayonet - There are a number of likely bayonets that could have been issued with your rifle, the P03, P07 with quillion and P07 without quillion. The Indian government was always unhappy with the longer 17" P07 and continued to issue the P03 in some numbers until the outbreak of war. The quillion of the P07 was ordered to be ground off in 1913, but many escaped the armourer and saw service at the front. The P07 without quillion is of course by far the most common type found today. I would suggest the P03 (In the absence of photographic evidence) is most likely to have been issued with a rifle from an Indian arsenal in early 1914, but whether it was replaced on route to the front I cannot say.

2. Sling - Given that nearly all Indian army equipment was still leather in 1914, and that the Long Lees and various carbines had been issued with a leather sling, I suggest you look out for an example longer than (but in all other respects the same as) the standard P14 variety - these were issued back into the 19th c. The P14 slings (which your rifle could not have been issued with given they were only introduced after the outbreak of war) are roughly 46" in length; the earlier variety c.54".

3. Magazines - From memory (I cannot check my collection at the moment), magazine cases and plates are stamped with manufacturer's details, but remember, they may well have been swapped round by an armourer for tighter fitting or just by accident in the course of cleaning.

As for oil bottles and pull-throughs, ideally you want the former (a Mk IV with flat bottom - by far the most commonly encoutered type) to have been made by a rifle factory (not one of the sub-contractors who were called in during the war - BSA made a lot of them), the latter to be brass tipped.

Other accessories - some 4" x 2" and that about does it (excepting gun-oil).

Regards,

Richard Marshall

PS. Now you just need the P03 equipment, kukri, boots...

[Heatseeker]

What a find!

In answer to your questions:

1. Bayonet - There are a number of likely bayonets that could have been issued with your rifle, the P03, P07 with quillion and P07 without quillion. The Indian government was always unhappy with the longer 17" P07 and continued to issue the P03 in some numbers until the outbreak of war. The quillion of the P07 was ordered to be ground off in 1913, but many escaped the armourer and saw service at the front. The P07 without quillion is of course by far the most common type found today. I would suggest the P03 (In the absence of photographic evidence) is most likely to have been issued with a rifle from an Indian arsenal in early 1914, but whether it was replaced on route to the front I cannot say.

2. Sling - Given that nearly all Indian army equipment was still leather in 1914, and that the Long Lees and various carbines had been issued with a leather sling, I suggest you look out for an example longer than (but in all other respects the same as) the standard P14 variety - these were issued back into the 19th c. The P14 slings (which your rifle could not have been issued with given they were only introduced after the outbreak of war) are roughly 46" in length; the earlier variety c.54".

3. Magazines - From memory (I cannot check my collection at the moment), magazine cases and plates are stamped with manufacturer's details, but remember, they may well have been swapped round by an armourer for tighter fitting or just by accident in the course of cleaning.

As for oil bottles and pull-throughs, ideally you want the former (a Mk IV with flat bottom - by far the most commonly encoutered type) to have been made by a  rifle factory (not one of the sub-contractors who were called in during the war - BSA made a lot of them), the latter to be brass tipped.

Other accessories - some 4" x 2" and that about does it (excepting gun-oil).

Regards,

Richard Marshall

PS. Now you just need the P03 equipment, kukri, boots...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thank you Mr Marshall ... I am presently reading a very comprehensive history of the 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles, and apparently the 1/5 Battalion did not deploy from Abbottabad to the Suez until November, 1914, and landed at Gallipoli in June, 1915, so it's a case of which era in an ever-evolving period I wish to depict the rifle.

Thankfully, considering the price of hooked quillon examples, it appears a standard British Pattern 07 bayonet in 1914-15 configuration would not be wildly out of place, as would be the case with a Pattern 1915 leather sling.

And, yes, I am already investigating acquiring other Gurkha accessories of the era to accompany this remarkable relic ... damn!

PS Couldn't resist but add another snap of the rifle ... it is indeed a lovely example:

[squirrel]

IIRC, when you get your bush hat, the Vth GR's wore the chinstrap just under the top lip not under the chin.