303 rimmed cartridge, originally a black powder cartridge, was ill-suited for feeding in magazine or belt-fed weapons and the SMLE was less accurate than its competition at longer ranges. 3) developed and manufactured during the period 1917-1918.īefore World War I developed, the British had as their main rifle, the Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE). 303 caliber P14 rifle (listed in British Service as Rifle No. 30, Model of 1917" was an American modification and production of the British. The M1917 Enfield, the "American Enfield" (frequently misidentified or mislabeled as the "P17", "P1917", or "Pattern 1917"), formally named "United States Rifle, cal. M1917 rifle at Kalamazoo, Michigan Air Zoo Museum 30 M1 Ball cartridge Ħ-round magazine, 5-round clip fed reloading World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War (limited)ĩ lb. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland M1917 Enfield rifle from the collections of Armémuseum, Stockholm, Sweden
Remember that on the paper work, the company was trained, hut the companies that were in fact best trained were most at risk for losing those trained personnel to plus up new units. There was continual personnel turmoil even after the Division reached France, with some trained men being transferred out of the division entirely. At some point, it appears there was a second round of rifle training nut that was it. Their replacements had not gone through rifle training, BUT the company had.
Then, as the division filled out some of the original soldiers were transferred to new companies as junior NCOs. A draftee came in and on a set date they did rifle training.
Rather than having a separate basic training, apparently the new divisions were trained as units. They did a study after the war and found that there was a serious flaw in the training. The division did rather poorly in its first battle., worse than units around it.
My grandfather was in the Engineers in the 79th Division. Or go further and support our channel at Music provided by Melissa Hyman of The Moon and YouĪdditional photos thanks to Rock Island Auction When buying through this link we receive a small commission that goes on to help with production. You can now find these and other books through our A-store.
Complete with history, function, and live fire demonstration.Ĭ&Rsenal presents its WWI Primer series covering the firearms of this historic conflict one at a time in honor of the centennial anniversary. Othais and Mae delve into the story of this WWI classic.