With the recent release of Christopher Nolans 'Dunkirk' we thought we'd pull an item from the collection with an association to that infamous evacuation in 1940 for a closer look.
This No1 Mk3 Lee Enfield is dated 1940 and known as a 'dispersal' rifle. Following the evacuation the British military left behind vast amounts of arms, supplies and munitions meaning that there was considerable effort made to produce replacement weapons quickly as the treat of invasion following the defeat of France was a real possibility.
This rifle was essentially cobbled together from various parts and years of Lee Enfield production with some WW1 parts and even featuring a magazine cut off, a feature obsolete by mid WW1 but introduced again in this rifle to curtail and regulate the amount of ammunition being used.
Manufacturing and supply for parts of these rifles was spread out over a number of factories/suppliers unlike previous times where all manufacturing was carried out in one plant, the downside to this being if that particular plant were hit in a bombing raid all production at that plant would cease, hence the manufacturing was 'dispersed' to lessen the damage.
It's an interesting piece from a very interesting and pivotal period of the second world war.
