-
"We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst."
--C.S. Lewis -
Ain't that something.
"BOSCOBEL - Services for Pfc. Stephen Ferrel, Boscobel, were held this morning in Immaculate Conception Catholic church" (The Wisconsin State Joural, Madison, WI, Monday, Oct. 18, 1948, p. 3, Col 3-4)
Service was in 1948. That's him.
"A paratrooper, he died Feb. 16, 1945, of wounds received in action in the assault on Corregidor"
Yup. That's definitely him.
Life is a strange string of predictable coincidences. Bought a pair of trousers off of eBay once to go with my uncle's Ike. Trousers were in Virginia. Received them and noticed the name and service number inside. Knew the guy. Classmate of my uncle.
Went to an auction. Deceased was a TBF pilot. One book had flight manuals - his. In another box were some binders. Nothing inside. Except the person who owned them doodled inside them. Cover had a high school so school binders. Inside, those doodles, were names and addresses. Her two brothers were away in the military. One was the TBF pilot. Walked over to the gun table a bit later. Old guy was watching them. "Do you know anything about the history of these guns?" I asked them. "Yes, they were my brothers." "So you're the ParaMarine then?" "How did you know that?" With time travel I could write him as he moved from station to station.
Navy Twining was the uncle of the USAF and USMC Twinings. They were from Monroe. Nice Swiss Colony cheese outlet there.If I'm not mistaken, the "naval ordnance officer" Twining was the father of "Marine" Twining, who served on Guadalcanal and other Pacific islands and retired as a colonel or B/G and the other son was "Air Force Twining" who made it well into the general ranks of the Air Force.
Ok, every place I remember by a food reference. I go to auctions. Wife's price in going is she gets lunch.
12th Commandant of the USMC, George Barnett, was also from Boscobel. Strange they produced so many given the population is 3K more or less.
I'll give you a strange coincidence. That prison in Boscobel. Designed and built as a supermax. One day, one specific day, I was the most feared man in that prison.
Last edited by 5MadFarmers; 03-17-2017, 12:07.Comment
-
Speaking of coincidences:
Met my future wife while working my way through college. After things got serious, I met her parents. Later mentioned to my folks that her Dad was also a former Marine, and mentioned his name. My Dad goes "WHO?" I repeat the name and he says 'Well I'll be a SOB!.....He was my platoon Sgt. at Camp Pendleton in 1949. He kicked me in the ass one day, said I was moving too slow while setting up the 81mm mortar!"
Small world."No man's life, liberty, or property is safe, while Congress is in session." Mark TwainComment
-
Apologies Rick, we've seemed to thoroughly hijacked your topic with small world stories.
Growing up there were four families in my neighborhood with kids about my age. Marty was my age while his sister Patty was a year older. When she was a Senior I was a Junior but had her in English class. At the end of the year we said our goodbyes not expecting to see each other again as she was moving out of town. A couple of years later I joined the line at my credit union in Florida. Tapped the shoulder of the girl standing in front of me. "Hello Patty." A couple of years later I was in Bayeux France. Local real estate place had a case on the side of their building with listings inside. Glass front. Very reflective glass. Saw a couple come up behind me and stand, slightly behind and one to each side, and start looking at the listings. Didn't even turn around. "Hello Patty." The Florida thing was odd. The France thing was beyond odd.
In high school I was at the county fair. Got off a ride and saw the girl standing there. "Hello Kathy." A couple of years later I was at Disneyworld. Saw this girl get off of a ride. "Hello Kathy." A few years later I was in a department store in Champaign Illinois buying a microwave oven. Saw this girl coming towards me. "Hello Kathy." Three decades later I was in Las Vegas. Had tickets to a show. Sat down and looked at the girl in the next seat. "Hello Kathy." Well, I guess that's not really a small world story. She is my wife after all. That Patty thing though - that was weird.Comment
-
Yes, I'm aware of Tony's work. When he passed it was turned over to Mr. Pate to finish. Mr. Hosmer is represented and uncredited.
Sharing emails is a no no. Unless one party is no longer alive perhaps.
Inspector bingo is an interesting game.
Adams, George H.
Adams, Halsey H.
Adams, J. Sumner
Adams, James H.
Adams, John H.
Aiken, Manley A.
Alden, Adin
Alden, James
Alexander, Henry
Alexander, Philip B.
Some of the fine gentlemen that made your Krag. If it's an early one.
Abell, Anthony
Alexander, Charles L.
Alexander, Henry
Ainsworth, George J.
Alberts, Orven
Alden, Joel M.
Adams, Willard O.
Adams, George H.
Adams, Halsey H.
Adams, J. Sumner
Adams, John H.
Some of the fine gentlemen that made your Krag. If it's a later one.
Abbott, Lester M.
Adams, Charles
Adams, Halsey H.
Adams, John
Adams, John H.
Adams, J. Sumner
Adams, Leonard H.
Adams, William
Addison, William
Adriance, Edward E.
Adriance, Herbert K.
Some of the fine gentlemen that made your M-1903. Assuming WW1.
Abair, Edward L.
Abare, John
Abbe, Earl H.
Abendroth, Henry J.
Abrahamson, Arthur F.
Adam, John
Adamczyk, Wanda Mrs
Adams, George B.
Adams, Herbert J.
Adams, Joseph D. Jr.
Adriance, Earl E.
Some of the fine people that made your M1 rifle. Assuming it's an early WW2 SA rifle.
Abbot, Harry C.
Ackerly, Calvin
Adam, Walter G.
Adams, J.Sumner
Ahearn, Charles J.
Ainslie, Percy
Albert, B.C.
Alexander, Everett
Alvord, Edward B.
Ammonsen, John F.
Anderson, Andrew F.
Some of the fine people who inspected your ordnance gear in WW1. Guns, gun parts, holsters, scabbards, etc. Find the company. Find the inspector for that location. Play bingo.
1918 was a mighty fine year. Carr was being paid $5 per day. Ole' J. Sumner was at $4.80. Carroll (TCC on RIA stuff) was making $6.40. Chambers at Eddystone was paid a yearly salary instead. William Dinsmoor up in Boston was pulling in $3K per year. That's good money.
"Earl house." Where Mssrs Thompson and Hobbs boarded as they inspected the guns made in Providence in 1864.
"Ellis, Goffe, Griffith." Among the many wonderful inspectors in New Haven in 1864.
Yes, I know how Inspector Bingo is played.Last edited by 5MadFarmers; 03-17-2017, 06:27.Comment
-
Sorry for the hijack Rick but I'm going to finish that.
There is an arm, circa 1861-1865 war, with a cartouche. Every reference lists the same person for that cartouche. Which is a problem.
Three decades later there was a court case. The contract inspectors who had been at that factory testified. They handily provided the complete names of all the inspectors that had been there.
One of those listed was a direct hit for the initials on that cartouche.
It wasn't the man listed in the standard references.
Who wasn't listed by them as having been there.
I was given a free lesson in inspector bingo.
When I put out the "people" volume it'll have the games pieces for people to play bingo. I suspect I'm not going to play bingo myself - just let others do it.
Entire workforce. Year after year after year. With jobs and such. One sheet per last name letter. Follow them through their working career.
That, by the way, was a lot of work. There's an understatement. Other places were done differently. Format needs to fit data.
Keeps me amused.
Butlerdude? You've stated a few times that Porter was the last master armorer at SA.
In that list is the last Master Armorer at Springfield Armory. Note that Porter isn't in the list.
It's called Bingo.
Except on that one I didn't have to play bingo. Page 101 in the good book. On page 101 it looks so effortless. Sometimes there is quite a bit behind that effortlessness.Last edited by 5MadFarmers; 03-17-2017, 07:21.Comment
-
Sorry Rick, one more.
Anthony Daum. I'm somewhat aware of the amount of work Tony put into that work. That cannot be diminished. It was an incredible amount of work. Sadly he passed on before finishing it. I noticed when his collection hit the block and it was a nice collection. So R.I.P. Tony. I'm sure he was very aware of the number of people that would benefit from his work. People buying ancient guns with barely readable cartouches could in fact not have to guess at what the initials were.
I understand that. I've encountered sellers frequently claiming there is very faded writing on an item and, as it's so faded, it's not worth including a picture. What they're failing to grasp is there are people who have seen those markings so many times that they can tell you what it is. Like a faded JSA right? Tony's work will be invaluable in that.
Inspector Bingo is a fun game. Tony enjoyed it. He also dug and didn't just play bingo. We lost a valuable researcher in Mr. Daum.
====
Sorry for the hijacks Rick. Here, some guys with gloves made in Germany. Forgot where that came from.
From same place. Book or SA's photo collection. Forget which.Last edited by 5MadFarmers; 03-17-2017, 07:48.Comment
-
In addition to being a very good researcher, Tony was fun to talk to, a really nice guy. He was kind enough to vet the Marksman's Rifle chapter in my upcoming book - Tony had probably forgotten more about that model than most people ever knew. I was flattered that he changed very little, but certainly fleshed out the narrative. I miss him.Comment
-
No apologies necessary, 5Mad, I've enjoyed reading them, especially Dan's - now THAT was interesting! And for you to run into your classmate!!In FRANCE!! I've had a few of those happen to me, although I admit both of you have me beat!!
"We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst."
--C.S. LewisComment
-
...and thanks, gentlemen for the "rabbit trail" on inspectors! I find, I often learn more from rabbit trails than from the original discussion of the topic!
However, back to the "matter at hand". I did what I should have done and read the section in Myszkowski's book on bayonets. One interesting fact is that the early bayonets were numbered and were supposed to be numbered to the rifles. I wonder what bureaucrat came up with that??
He mentioned that some later bayonets made by Remington had inspection stamps, some had serial numbers and some had both (in addition, of course, to the "Remington" stamp in the fuller). I found out exactly where to look for the serial on my bayonet (the back of the pommel) and took a look - sure enough there was a serial number - 18794 (see photo), indicating that this was a later bayonet. The author mentions that some bayonets with a serial number over 15,000 have appeared. It appears this bayonet was one of the last group manufactured by Remington, considerably after April, 1898.
It is interesting to me that, while not an obvious "match" to my rifle, it appears to have been manufactured in the same general time period (My rifle's serial number is 19099)
IMG_4987 (1024x686).jpg"We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst."
--C.S. LewisComment
-
RTL - Thanks for sharing details and pictures of your very nice Winchester - Lee rifle and Remington made W-L bayonet.
Your contributions are always interesting, gentlemanly, and make for an interesting read and discussion.Comment
-
My pleasure ...a Navy Winchester Lee was a dream of mine doing back a number of years. A friend sold it to me at a very good price. I'll never shoot it, but a fascinating rifle to look at the study."We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst."
--C.S. LewisComment
-
I'll never shoot it
Good idea, considering no one makes the ammo anymore. Interesting article about the safety of the Win-Lee Navy, and modifying 30-40 Krag cartridge cases.
https://www.forgottenweapons.com/win...e-navy-safety/"No man's life, liberty, or property is safe, while Congress is in session." Mark TwainComment
-
Makes sense.
That did get me curious. Looked for my bayonet. Couldn't find it. Found my tape dispenser though. I need to lose something else and look for it to find the bayonet. I have a second Winchester-Lee, incomplete, but can't find that either. I was going to see what the serial was.
Middle gun is missing some pieces. If it starts bugging me I'd be more inclined to buy another gun. Cheaper than what people get for parts.
Navy, Navy, Army, "Military", Prototype for "Military". Unless I confused the early army and navy but I don't think I did as the army is the harder to find and that one is missing pieces.
Winchester-Lee is low 3K range with Twining's mark.
Remington-Lee .30 is Michigan range.Last edited by 5MadFarmers; 03-18-2017, 08:44.Comment
Tweet
Comment