This is a French medal awarded to all participants in recognised formations, fitted with a range of bars depending on the type and theatre of service. In this case the bars are “Allemagne” for all regular forces involved in the German campaign of 1944-1945, the “Liberation” bar for the French Campaign of 1944 and the “Engage Voluntaire” bar to indicate a voluntary enlistment.
This modest little group belonged to John James Burchall-Ward, 997361, 114 Squadron. John was a Sergeant-Observer in the RAF Volunteer Reserve. He was killed in action on the 27th December 1941 when the Blenheim he was helping to crew was shot down into the sea at the island of Vaagso in Norway during Operation Archery. He is buried in the Møllendal Church Cemetery in Bergen.
The Luger pistol is a prohibited firearm up here north of the border, due to its barrel length of 100mm. Because I came to Canada so late I was unable to be grandfathered into the pistol license required to own one. As a substitute I own a WW1 & WW2 “cock and click” dewat as well as the long barrelled LP-08 Artillery Luger. But I always wanted the real deal. So I went the long route of sourcing a 105mm barrel from the US and then locating a Luger up here to get re-barrelled and reclassified as restricted.
This is it, a 1937 Mauser made S/42 marked Luger P-08. It came with a spare magazine, a takedown tool marked WaA63 (correct for Mauser) and a period holster from 1937.
I have always had a wee hard-on for the Enfield No1 Mk3. It was the first rifle I owned as a child and I have always wanted to own one again. A friend of mine is a nut for Enfields and owns far too many. I asked him to sell me a no-issues wartime rifle to go with the No4 & No5 I already had. He came up with this one. Battle issued, made in 1941/42 by Lithgow in Australia. Sighted for high velocity MkVII ammun ition, this rifle went into New Guinea with the Australian Forces. It was returned to Lithgow in June 1945.
A fair while back I found a single front ammunition pouch for the Arisaka battle rifle. The standard issue was two front pouches and one rear one. The front pouches held 30 rounds and the rear one 60, for a full load of 120 rounds.
The rear pouch also houses a small oil bottle. Both of these came stinking of mothballs. I sat them outside for a couple of months and then soaked them in vinegar & water overnight. They still stink but not so much as to drive me out of my own house.
Two things are driving me nuts lately. One, the lack of German guns falling into my lap. Two, my need to complete sets. I had a No4 Mk 1* Enfield and a No5 Mk 1. So since no Jerry guns were showing up I decided to get a No1 Mk3 SMLE Enfield. I like to put bayonet with rifle so here is a Lithgow made P1907 Enfield bayonet. MA stamped for Lithgow Small Arms Factory. The broad arrow for military acceptance. An X for a hardness test mark and a couple of inspector stamps.
A few posts ago I found a Walther SLD U-Boat flare gun in an auction out east. No-one much bid on it as it was missing the selector switch for the L-R barrel select. Of course I am an idiot who didn’t understand just how unobtainium these things are. Needless to say it’s take me six months and the kindness of Martin from Austria to supply this missing bit.
