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Short Magazine Lee Enfield
Mark III* Rifle (SMLE3) |
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Short Magazine Lee Enfield Rifle
No4 (SMLE4)
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^^ images
by
Alan Blank
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The SMLE No. 1 Mk III* rifle and
SMLE4 was the
standard personal weapon of Australian troops in Korea. Reliable and
accurate, the Lee Enfield had first entered service with the Australian
Army in 1908 as the Mk III, and had been carried by Australian soldiers in
both world wars.
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The SMLE was a
manually operated, bolt-action weapon. It fired .303-inch calibre
ammunition that was fed from a ten-round detachable magazine. This
magazine could be quickly reloaded while still on the weapon by the
use of five round charger clips. see
photo |
A well-trained soldier could fire up
to 15 aimed shots per minute, which included reloading the magazine. It's
effective range was approximately 3,000 metres; however, it was rarely
used for distances over 1,000 metres. The SMLE could also be fitted with a
bayonet with a 43 cm blade. Note the grooves
down the bayonet. They had two tasks. 1.
To stop the bayonet clinging to the flesh of
the enemy and to make withdrawal easier and 2.
to allow air into the wound. The onset of pain, and therefore the loss of
will to resist, is heightened by pain. Soldiers were trained to "have
one up the spout", that is a live round in the chamber, so that if
the bayonet proved difficult to extract you could fire a round,
effectively blowing the body off the weapon. Some wording
by AWM |
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The weapons of the Korean war were
almost the same as those of WW2 |
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| Owen
machine carbine |
BREN gun |
Mills
bomb |
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3.5-inch M20 rocket launcher Bazooka |
Invented for WW2. Improved for
Korea. The inventor was a US Army officer called Skinner who had been known for experimenting with mortars and rockets.
He had modified a mortar tube he had developed into a device to fire the
unused shape-charge warheads with a little rocket stage. He was allowed
to demonstrate his little idea as a sideshow to an official display of
the tank rifle program that was still stumbling on at that time. His unofficial
device outclassed all the official weapons, all of the fired munitions
hit the target with a great display of destructive force. The spectators
were more than impressed: the weapon was accepted on the spot for mass
production as the new standard infantry AT weapon. A month later the
first 5,000 weapons with the designation Rocket Launcher M1 were
available. Soon, however, the weapon was only known under the name Bazooka
because of the resemblance of the rocket launcher with the Bazooka, a
musical instrument of the very popular radio comedian Bob Burns.
All Bazookas are preferably served by a two-man team, gunner
(aiming and firing) and loader (preparing of ammunition and loading it
into the weapon). The weapon basically consists of a steel tube of
2.36in / 60mm diameter that is open at both ends. The ammunition, a
small fin-stabilized rocket-propelled grenade, is inserted into the rear
by the loader while the gunner has the weapon resting on his shoulders.
The pull of the trigger releases an electric current that will ignite
the ammunition's rocket stage. http://www.geocities.com/Augusta/8172/panzerfaust13.htm |
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The M20 could be used against both tanks and stationary targets,
such as bunkers. Against tanks it had a maximum effective range of 110
metres but it could be used against stationary targets up to 1,200
metres away.
Australian infantry companies used the M20 to good effect
against North Korean T-34 tanks in the fighting in late October 1950.
At
Chongju a bazooka team from 3 Platoon, A Company, 3 RAR destroyed three
T-34s.AWM P02498.016
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| Private Wallace "Wally" Hoare, A Company, 3 RAR,
carries an M20 bazooka. The bazooka was broken down into two parts for
ease of carriage. These parts were reassembled to form a tube before
firing. Wally Hoare was killed in action at Kapyong on 24 April 1951. |
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Korea 1950
Two 3 RAR 17-pounder guns stand on a snow
covered plain in Korea, 1950.
AWMP02201.018 |
| The 17-pounder gun was the heaviest
weapon used by 3 RAR in Korea. Designed during the Second World War
for use against tanks, the gun was used as a general-purpose support
weapon in Korea and proved particularly useful against enemy bunkers. It
had a maximum range of 10,500 metres and could fire several types of
ammunition, including high-explosive and armour-piercing ammunition. The
17-pounder was manned by a detachment of seven soldiers from the
anti-tank platoon. This platoon was equipped with six 17-pounders. |
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