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Discussions related to the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879
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Peter Quantrill
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Paul: Did your father serve in the Gurkhas? If so, perhaps you may like to contact me privately.
As ever,
Peter
Paul Bryant-Quinn


Joined: 14 Oct 2007
Posts: 551
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Peter

Many thanks for the message; sadly my father passed away a short while back. I am fairly sure that he did not serve in the Gurkhas, but beyond anecdotes about his wartime experiences he was quite reticent about his time in the Army. I intend at some point researching his army records at Kew, if they be still extant.

Kind regards,

Paul

PS - Family history is endlessly fascinating. I discovered recently that my paternal grandfather and I share the same birthday; he was born in 1879.
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Adrian Whiting


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 76
Location: Dorset, England
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When the Martini Henry Rifle MkI was introduced (List of Changes 2659 of 17-7-1874), it was simply named "Rifle, Breech-Loading, Martini-Henry". The attendant ammunition however was listed as "Cartridge, Small Arm, Boxer Henry, for 0.45 inch Martini Henry Short Chamber 85 grain, Mark I".

I would thus concur with the above assertion by Sawubona that C/Sgt Bourne is effectively referring to the ammunition, at least that is from where I anticipate the script writer drew the text.

The Henry barrel was indeed 0.450", save for the first 4" of the barrel ahead of the chamber. On introduction I anticipate that defining the calibre to 1/1000th of an inch was not considered necessary since it was to be used in one arm, however as the round was swiftly adopted for other types of rifle the 1/1000" designation was necessary, and again as Sawubona indicates, the cartridge was properly named as 577/450".

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Hope this assists,
Adrian
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Neil Aspinshaw


Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 290
Location: Loughborough
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Adrian
Interestingly to back up your post about the Martini being a .450" calibre, the .577" bit doesn't appear to be a military listing, but a commerical designation of the calibre.

As with the .402 E-M round and the Gatling they did not follow on with the secondary wider case designation either.
Just worth a note.

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Neil
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The Boxer Henry rifle ?
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