From: Norman Bassett, [EMAIL PROTECTED] I discovered this item in the Daily Telegraph (microfilm in the local reference library) for May 28 1940 p. 5: "Revolvers May Be Carried: The War Office has given permission to officers on leave and on duties at home to carry their revolvers as part of their dress equipment. Many officers have taken advantage of this concession. The reason for it is understood to be that in the war of movement now taking place officers preferred to carry their revolvers with them, since there were few places where they could be safely left when temporarily free of duty." What was happening at the time was that troops had returned home from the Norwegian withdrawal on 2 May, 28 May was about halfway through Operation Dynamo so troops were coming back from Dunkerque, and Winston Churchill had just become Prime Minister on 20 May 1940. I recall my uncle's comment that officers tired from the fighting overseas were being stripped of their sidearms at the British ports by MPs and Customs Officers carrying sidearms - who had of course NOT just been risking their necks for their country. It smacked - or rather stank - of the kind of government they were supposed to be fighting against. Churchill was a regular pistol-carrier himself and saw no reason why everyone shouldn't do it. Does anyone know what part of all the pistols that the British government issued during WW2 was accounted for at the end of WW2? Regards Norman Bassett drakenfels.org Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
