Alum Ladd's Garden Shed

[Alum Ladd]

It just occurred to me that in my military surplus collection, I have U.S. (naturally), Swiss, Japanese, and German examples, but for some unknown reason, nothing British in either gun safe. I must set about making this right. Doing research now, and the hunt will begin shortly.

You might want to look for a last model Lee Enfield No.4 Mk2, which I believe was the last iteration of the Lee Enfield before the adoption of the FN FAL (SLR) here.

They were used by the Canadian Rangers, a Regiment formed in 1947 to guard and patrol the high Arctic and Alaskan border until as recently as 2011. I think @huck1680 can confirm this.

Here is a beautiful unused surplus 1955 example being unwrapped, de-cosmolime-ised and fired on the range. Maybe check out UK Govt auction and surplus sites ( I saw a similar one go as recently as a year ago to an Australian collector on YT) so I think they are around.

They may be steep in price though.

We can in the UK actually own and shoot these, with the relevant licence.

Avoid badly screwed up US 'sporterised' examples! Good luck in your search!

 

[nemo]

I'm lucky to have inherited an Enfield No.5 Mk1 "jungle carbine" .303 British.
Nice old gun, pretty beat up looking but works great, although I haven't shot it in 40 years.
Nice small size and weight with its original sling. One of my favorite rifles when I was a kid.
It's locked up now but I'll take a pic someday soon.

I remember I was looking for a bayonet, it's an odd one to fit around the flash guard.
Made by Wilkinson Sword of course.

 

[LRod]

Enjoy your trip Simon!!

 

[Alum Ladd]

I'm lucky to have inherited an Enfield No.5 Mk1 "jungle carbine" .303 British.
Nice old gun, pretty beat up looking but works great, although I haven't shot it in 40 years.
Nice size and weight with its original sling. It's locked up now but I'll take a pic someday soon.

I remember I was looking for a bayonet, it's an odd one to fit around the flash guard.
Made by Wilkinson Sword of course.

A rare and innovative full bore carbine. Quite ambitious for a bolt action.

There are I believe some issues with it's loss of zero after a good few rounds, but I read that may be a myth. The muzzle flash is pretty substantial and it has quite a kick, but it's a sub 8 lb .303 carbine to be fair.

Widely used in the 1950's and 1960's in Malaya and Borneo although they were not issued really in number to troops in Burma in 1944-5 for where they were originally designed.

Heres a fascinating British newsreel from 1953 covering a patrol in Malaya during the so called emergency (an anti-communist insurgency campaign which was a win for the West). Mk 5's are the standard weapon though the officer has an M1 carbine and the Australian Owen Gun (maybe the best Allied WW2 SMG) seems standard with this outfit. The squad LMG is the Bren.

Packed with fascinating historical detail.

You should dig yours out soon @nemo

 

[Sweeney_]

Have fun Simon and be safe.

If you are going to vomit, please use the new jumbo sick bags provided. The bin is outside. Only £5 each. Please use vending machine to obtain before vomiting. It accepts £1 and £2 coins.

Ha! That gave me a chuckle. Reminds me of years ago when we would load on a bird for a jump. On each seat was a Manila envelope "barf bag" printed with the words:

Even veteran paratroopers experience occasional motion sickness.

As life and time went on, that sentence became a motto and explanation for when I'd muck something up due to carelessness or stupidity.

 

[Eric_75]

Have a great trip, my friend.

 

[Eric_75]

My parents loved this song, so I thought I'd share it here at the shed, my friends.

Have a blessed Friday, gentlemen.

 

[Quaznoid]

Always wanted a SMLE; also crave a Lend-Lease 38/200 revolver.

 

[Quaznoid]

As I watched the opening game of the NFL season I was thinking of Alum Ladd and how fun it would be to watch the game with him.

 

[Eric_75]

Some Bill Evans on this peaceful Sunday morning, my friends.

Have a blessed Sunday, gentlemen.

 

[Eric_75]

Some John Coltrane for the shed on this fine Wednesday, friends.

Enjoy the rest of the day, gentlemen.

 

[JCinPA]

I mentioned I'm more of a modern razor guy, but one of the things visiting The Shed has done is rekindled my interest in vintage razors. I find using my modern razors is like using any tool, a hammer, a screwdriver, a cordless drill -- I just use it. But when I use a vintage razor, I'm more present in the shave, and I find my mind wandering to what times were like when the razor was manufactured. Today's razor was a 1947/48 Gillette Super Speed, and I found myself ruminating on all sorts of things while I used it.

Like what might I have flown on back then (I'm flying tomorrow, so it was top of mind). It might have been this DC-6

What telephone might I have used? I actually remember this exact model from my grandmother's apartment when I was very young. Very early memory.

What might I have been listening to music on in 1948?

And what might I have been listening to on it?

I think I'll play that on the iPhone during tomorrow's shave. Yes, I will do that.

 

[Eric_75]

Some Eric Dolphy for the shed, my friends.

Have a blessed weekend, gentlemen.

 

[JCinPA]

Well, I finally finished all pages on a flight from Philly to Chicago today. Enjoyed a really fine meal as I might have on that 1948 United DC-6. Not.

Listened to the wonderful Paul Fussell talk … have mixed emotions about it, being an old cold warrior (never shot at, full disclosure), but it’s worth a second listen I think. Some of the talk of old bombers put me in mind of my first assignment (posting to the Brits?) at the now defunct Griffiss Air Force Base in upstate New York. They did something with the B-52s and the KC-135s called a Minimum Interval Takeoff (MITO) exercise every now and then. We did not have the BUFFs flying, armed with nukes, 24/7 any longer, but we practiced MITOs to test how fast we could get the alert birds off in the event of a first strike by the Russians.

They’d get us on higher alert footing, having crews sleep in alert shacks near the birds to simulate increasing tensions, then the klaxon would sound and off everyone went to their bird and they’d take off 3 BUFFs at 10 second intervals, wait 30 seconds, then 3 KC-135s at 10 second intervals, 30 second wait and repeat to see how fast they get them all off the ground. With the old engines it would quickly get like dusk with all the black smoke (much cleaner engined nowadays). And the noise! The glorious noise! Anyone not working would be lining the flight line to witness it, and it was a glorious spectacle. Here’s a video of one from back in the day. I can hear and smell it now and it was 40 years ago.

EDIT: Shoot, this was from 2016, and without the tankers. These are the newer, cleaner engines, you don’t get the sense of dusk descending on the flight line like you did in the 1980s, but you get the idea. I’m a little nostalgic. It’s still definitely smoky, though!

 

[LRod]

Well, I finally finished all pages on a flight from Philly to Chicago today. Enjoyed a really fine meal as I might have on that 1948 United DC-6. Not.

View attachment 1911391

Listened to the wonderful Paul Fussell talk … have mixed emotions about it, being an old cold warrior (never shot at, full disclosure), but it’s worth a second listen I think. Some of the talk of old bombers put me in mind of my first assignment (posting to the Brits?) at the now defunct Griffiss Air Force Base in upstate New York. They did something with the B-52s and the KC-135s called a Minimum Interval Takeoff (MITO) exercise every now and then. We did not have the BUFFs flying, armed with nukes, 24/7 any longer, but we practiced MITOs to test how fast we could get the alert birds off in the event of a first strike by the Russians.

They’d get us on higher alert footing, having crews sleep in alert shacks near the birds to simulate increasing tensions, then the klaxon would sound and off everyone went to their bird and they’d take off 3 BUFFs at 10 second intervals, wait 30 seconds, then 3 KC-135s at 10 second intervals, 30 second wait and repeat to see how fast they get them all off the ground. With the old engines it would quickly get like dusk with all the black smoke (much cleaner engined nowadays). And the noise! The glorious noise! Anyone not working would be lining the flight line to witness it, and it was a glorious spectacle. Here’s a video of one from back in the day. I can hear and smell it now and it was 40 years ago.

EDIT: Shoot, this was from 2016, and without the tankers. These are the newer, cleaner engines, you don’t get the sense of dusk descending on the flight line like you did in the 1980s, but you get the idea. I’m a little nostalgic. It’s still definitely smoky, though!

Awesome!
The B-52 has to be one of the most ominous sounding and looking aircraft ever built.
And I'll add the AH-64 & A-10 to that list!

 

[Guido75]

Simon!! @Alum Ladd - happy birthday!!!!

I wish you a very enjoyable day and many more to come. Godspeed and health chap!!

Cheers,

Guido

 

[Phoenixkh]

Happy Birthday, Simon....

 

[Sweeney_]

Indeed, Happy Birthday my friend.

 

[thombrogan]

Happy Birthday, Simon!

 

[LRod]

Happy Birthday Simon!!