British Army

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“The New Rifle”

August 18, 2022 by 3 Comments

I came across this British newsreel from 1954. It talks about the replacement of the SMLE bolt action rifle used by the British Army in the Great War (WWI), World War II, and the Korean Way. The replacement was the British variant (L1A1) of the Belgian FAL and obviously it was big news if it made the newsreels of the day.

You do have to wonder if the US Army had adopted the FAL or its British variant, would they have kept it in service longer than the M14. As it was, the “not invented here” syndrome was still strong in the Army’s Ordnance branch in the late 1940s and early 50s.

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Still Dangerous In His Old Age

October 14, 2013 by 2 Comments

I came across this interview with Trooper Stan W Scott, No. 3 Army Commando, in which he demonstrates the proper use of a Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife. He was giving a lecture at the National Army Museum in London in connection with a 2011-2012 exhibition. The exhibition was entitled “Draw Your Weapons: The Art of Commando Comics”.  Commando Comics are a military oriented series of comic books dating from the 1960s that are still being published in the UK.

These old WWII veterans fought in a brutal war where both strength and cunning were prized. It shows in his demonstration on how to fight with a knife.