The Lee-Enfield Rifle
World War I was an extremely bloody war that engulfed Europe from 1914 until 1919. Although the conflict began in Europe, the war ultimately involved countries as far away as the United States and Japan. Originally, the war was referred to as the “Great War.” The title “World War I” was applied some decades later. The war produced mass casualties of both soldiers and civilians around the world. Fought mostly by soldiers in trenches, World War I saw an estimated ten million military deaths and another twenty million wounded in battle. Many of the casualties came as a result of defending entrenched front lines that were so stalemated, that they rarely ever repositioned even a few yards in either direction. Influenza and other diseases caused countless deaths in the war, but the majority of the casualties came as a result of battle. World War I introduced many new war tactics and strategies such as gas and chemical attacks. All in all, firearms were still a primary feature of the battleground and as a result, many soldiers were killed from gun shot wounds. One of the primary weapons that were used during the war was a rifle, more specifically the Lee-Enfield rifle.
The Lee-Enfield rifle is a bolt-action, magazine-fed rifle. The name of the rifle derives from the designer of the weapon, James Paris Lee, and the factory in which it was manufactured, the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield, London. James Paris Lee, a Scottish-Canadian and also American firearms designer invented this unique firearm in 1895. It derived its design from a predeceasing model, the Lee-Metford rifle. The Lee-Enfield rifle combined Lee’s rear locking bolt system with William Ellis Metford’s barrel design. A bolt-action system is a br...
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...ate of fire for any non-automatic rifle. The standard issue bayonet for the Lee-Enfield rifle was made of steel or cast-iron, was about half a meter long. Despite being removed from frontline service in 1957, the Lee-Enfield saw extensive use as a secondary infantry rifle with reserve forces as well as use as a sniper rifle by the British military.
All in all, the Lee-Enfield rifle saw extensive use in many military conflicts from the late 19th century to the present day (easily outstripping the length of service the Mosin-Nagant rifle has achieved) with Lee-Enfield being used in conflicts like the First World War, the Second Boer War, the Korean War, the Second World War, the Suez Canal Crisis, the Malayan Emergency, and the Mau Mau Uprising. The Mujahedeen also extensively used the Lee-Enfield during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1970s and 1980s.
“War is unorganized murder, and nothing else” (Harry Patch). In World War 1, which was first called the Great War, there were many causes of the war breaking out. The Great War started August 1st 1914, days after the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia, when they visited Bosnia. Many soldiers went to war for no reason but to fight for their country. The Great War was not only affected by the soldiers, but also by the civilians as well.
World War I, also known as the Great War, lasted from the summer of 1914 until the late fall of 1918. The war was fought between the Allies, which consisted mainly of the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire, and the Central Powers, which consisted mainly of the German Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria (Alliances - Entente and Central Powers). In total, it is estimated that twelve million civilians and nine million combatants died during this horrific and devastating war (DeGroot 1). When the war first began in 1914, many people thought that it would be a war of movement that would quickly be over. However, that changed when the Germans, who were trying to reach and capture the city of Paris in France, were forced to retreat during the Battle of the Marne in September 1914 (Ellis 10). German General von Falkenhayn, who felt that his troops must at all cost hold onto the parts of France and Belgium that they had overtaken, ordered his men to dig in and form defensive trench lines (Ellis 10). The Allies could not break through the enemies lines and were forced to create trenches of their own (Ellis 10). This was only the beginning of trench warfare. A war of movement had quickly come to a standstill on the Western Front. A massive trench line, 475 miles long, quickly spread and extended from the North Sea to the Swiss Frontier (Ellis 10). With neither side budging, soldiers were forced to live in the most miserable of conditions. Simply put, life in the trenches was a living hell. A lieutenant of the 2nd Scottish rifles wrote, “No one who was not there can fully appreciate the excruciating agonies and misery through which the men had to go [through] in those da...
In 1914, with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife from Austro-Hungarian Empire caused an enormous war called World War I, that killed and injured about thirty million lives. It also destroyed the economy later on. World War I changed combat tactics in a whole new way, where people would die in a blink of an eye. Commanders and soldiers did not know about the capabilities of their new arsenals. The new industrialized developed weapons devastated the battlefield with blood, mountain of corpses, and small craters. Some of the weapons that were used were machine guns, poison gas, mortars, and tanks. Soldiers described the battlefield as a nightmare. This was the start of a new era arising through warfare. A very dangerous way to bring great change to the world but was not intended. World War I brought great changes to the world but, considering the countless deaths, it was the worst war ever, an inhumane war.
...aid the groundwork for the invention of more modern repeating arms, and their mechanisms are in fact still in use in many modern civilian arms. Modern versions of the Gatling gun, such as the .30 cal. Dillon Aero mini gun and the 30mm GAU-8 on the Air Force’s A-10 Warthog, are still in common use in the military today.
...waste ammunition.” During the war colonel Hiram Berdan formed a regiment of sharpshooter for the union army called Berdans sharpshooters. These new soldiers would be better shooters against their enemy and would be save great amounts of ammunition and money. Contests were held across the country to find these elite sharpshooters. To make the cut you had put 10 consecutive shots into a target at two hundred yards. Each shot couldn’t be more than to inches from the center of the bull’s eye. At the end of these contests 1,000 winners were enlisted in the 1st United States sharper shooters. The next generation of breechloaders called magazine rifles would prove ever more deadly to confederate opponents. “Guns such as Spencer and Henry repeating rifles were deigned to carry preloaded magazine of seven to fifteen bullets which could be inserted into the rear of the gun.”3
A popular weapon used by both sides was the rifle. Rifles were invented before the Civil War and were greatly used in the War of 1812. However, more types were built and a larger amount was used during the Civil War. Rifles added a spin to bullets for a greater accuracy at longer ranges. Using this weapon, soldiers could fire 400 yards away, as opposed to the average 80 yards (Robertson 50). Rifles were the fastest and hardest weapon of the time. Rifles allowed their bullets to be shot harder and faster towards its target. New inventions, used by the Union more than the Confederate, included Parrott rifles. They were composed of iron. Robert Parker Parrott, an American soldier and inventor, created these weapons, hence the name Parrott rifles. Despite its name, the Parrott rifle was actually a cannon. Its size ranged from 10 to 300 pounders. It was not favored by most because it was considered unsafe (“Civil War Artillery”). Because of its bulkiness and heaviness, it seldom led soldiers to inaccuratel...
A majority of weapons used in World War II were improved weapons from World War II. Most guns increased in power and abilities. In World War II people thought that pistols were useless but this was proved wrong due to the fact that the U.S. Mi...
World War I, also known as “The Great War”, was a global war that revolved mainly around Europe. It took place from 1914 to 1918. This was a very brutal war that caused many casualties. The soldiers who survived experienced severe trauma and mental discomfort. This trauma was a direct result of the violence and agony they experienced during the war.
Lucknow 1857: this bloody siege during the Indian Mutiny saw the use of two cavalry carbines--the British Pattern 1855 Sharps breechloader and the muzzleloading Victoria." Guns & Ammo, Sept. 2012: 78+. General OneFile. Web. The Web.
Now to talk about the technology for infantry; There are five main rifles that are used for infantry. The SCAR-light, XM-25, SAR 21, Corner shot launcher, and the FMG9 Folding Machine Gun. The S...
The first guns used in America were a simple machine where the person did most of the work. The user measured and put the powder down the barrel of the gun. Next some shotgun pellets were put in the same way. This was then all compacted and the gun was ready to fire. This reloading took over a minute before each shot could be fired and the guns weren't very accurate by today's standards. If too much powder was used then the gun could explode or if the powder were wet then the gun wouldn't fire. One of inventions during the Revolutionary War was a way to reload faster. The powder was already pre-measured and kept in little sacks. This made reloading faster because the user no longer had to measure the powder between each reloading. These guns were crude but in that day was a powerful modern invention that was considered very useful. The American Revolution was a political war to obtain what the people of that era wanted. By today's standards the destruction of gun was minimal so war was used to obtain political objectives.
World War I is known as a war that occurred on extremely cruel terms; there were not many restrictions on what and when certain weapons could be used. Unfortunately, the Industrial Age brought with it many new ways to kill; the soldiers of World War I came in contact with many new weapons that they had never seen in combat.
Starting out in 1872, the .45 Colt hit the market. A joint development between Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing company, and Union Metallic Cartridge Company created a black powder revolver round that captured the eyes of many. This round was soon introduced into the army. Progressing steadily, it soon became a complete bullet rather than a black powder round. Sadly, the wars the army was facing became more grueling and advanced which is why the .45 Colt was replaced by a stronger bullet to satisfy the needs of the Army. Even with this replacement, the .45 Colt still continued claiming popularity. Serving it’s time for our county helped gain fame for this bullet. The desire...
No other weapon in my opinion has changed the face of the battlefield as has the machine gun. It's design and and association with mass death makes it a great and powerful weapon. Two men, Hiram Maxim and Richard Gatling, made huge impacts in the development of the Machine Gun and bringing it to use in the military. These two brilliant men designed capable and reliable versions of Machine guns in a time when everyone was making unreliable models. However before we get into discussion about the inventions of Hiram Maxim and Richard Gatling, it's important to understand how machine guns were developed.