P14 Enfield

[John Peeff]

I can't ever remember seeing a picture of British soldiers armed with P14's during the First World War. We made probably a million of them for the Brits and it was supposed to replace the SMLE. What was the actual usage?

[kcw]

I can't ever remember seeing a picture of British soldiers armed with P14's during the First World War. We made probably a million of them for the Brits and it was supposed to replace the SMLE. What was the actual usage?

In during WWI the standard P-14 was issued to what were known as "Home Services" units. Additionally they were made into sniper rifles with the installation of either the Addis or Pattern 1918 scope. Between the wars a number of them were sold to British NRA members for target shooting. During WWII the remaining stocks were used by the "Home Guard" (aka "Dad's army) and again as sniper rifles. It wasn't the 303 P-14 that the British planned as the replacement for the SMLE, but rather the Pattern 13 in .276 cal., of which only 1,000 were made and placed into experimental trials. Some P-14's ended up as military aid, the bulk of them scraped after WWII and some sold off as surplus. I have a Winchester which appears to be original including the volley sights, PATT14/WRA stamped stock. Additionally it bears an RAF stamp on the buttstock and on the brass disc. During the darkest days of WWII some P-14's were issued to several Army units, but there were complaints of burst barrels, the result of getting small (supposedly) amounts of junk in the barrels.

[Hal O'Peridol]

There are a few pictures around showing them issued to the SBS during WWII.

[John Sukey]

I have seen two photos of P14's
One in North Africa
The other of commandos in a landing craft where half were using smle's and the other half had P14's
The LDV (Look Duck, and Vanish), renamed the Homeguard originaly got M1917's since there was no problem supplying them with 30-06 ammo (likely just a magazine full, if that)
After Dunkirk, anything that would chamber 303 ammo went to the Army until production caught up.
One home Guard officer was asked what he would do if the germans landed, He replied I would tell my men"don't fire until you can see the whites of their eyes." When asked why, he replied, "I have one Lewis gun with a broken return spring and two rifles with three rounds each!"

To show how bads things were at the start, some home guard units were issued with PIKES! A steel pole with a P07 bayonet welded to the end

[JB White]

Here's one of the pics you described John.

Royal Marines in the early 40's:

[Hal O'Peridol]

That's also the one I was referring to....... thought they were SBS.

Note how none of them are looking at the camera, some are makin a concerted effort NOT to.

[JB White]

Mark, it's from a Royal Marines book John sent me back in the 90's when we were all still on the old G&K boards.