South African WW2 Enfield Sniper Rifles?

[C. Stockwell]

Does anyone have any knowledge about WW2-era South African sniper rifles? Did such a rifle even exist? If they did, were these No. 4s or No. 1 MkIIIs? Scope and mount?

Ian Skennerton appears to have covered the topic, but in less than three pages, in a now-out of print book from 1984:

http://www.skennerton.com/brsniper.html

That being said, because his book also covers post-WW2 rifles, he may have been referring to R1 (FAL) snipers, rather than Enfields. What I'm curious about is the possibility of South African Enfield sniper rifles.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

The South Africans fought as part of the Commonwealth, so likely used rifles made in UK and Australia (and Canada.)

I have seen Liverpool (Fazarkeley) arsenal Enfields that are South Africa Stamped. So I suspect that their rifles were made there under contract to the SA government. But that is a guess. Liverpool arsenal was set up to move production to Western England during the Blitz... it was safer there. So it would make sense that a Commonwealth unit, getting equipped before D-Day (or even while in the Deserts of Tobruk, etc.) might have been supplied from there. Sniper variants? Interesting question.

But keep in mind, South Africa had a huge collection of Mausers in their nation... and a lot of Boer-descendents who knew exactly how to shoot them. Were the ZA Snipers equipped with Enfield variants or Mausers? It's an interesting question. I would not discount more than a few 'civilian' or German rifles finding their way into South African service. Along with game rifles, etc. Commonwealth troops had their own way of doing things.

It's an interesting question and some research on South African Snipers in WW2 would be interesting. The Canadians are well accounted-for. South Africans and Aussies and NZlanders... interesting question!

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[Darayavaus]

The South Africans fought as part of the Commonwealth, so likely used rifles made in UK and Australia (and Canada.)

I have seen Liverpool (Fazarkeley) arsenal Enfields that are South Africa Stamped. So I suspect that their rifles were made there under contract to the SA government. But that is a guess. Liverpool arsenal was set up to move production to Western England during the Blitz... it was safer there. So it would make sense that a Commonwealth unit, getting equipped before D-Day (or even while in the Deserts of Tobruk, etc.) might have been supplied from there. Sniper variants? Interesting question.

But keep in mind, South Africa had a huge collection of Mausers in their nation... and a lot of Boer-descendents who knew exactly how to shoot them. Were the ZA Snipers equipped with Enfield variants or Mausers? It's an interesting question. I would not discount more than a few 'civilian' or German rifles finding their way into South African service. Along with game rifles, etc. Commonwealth troops had their own way of doing things.

It's an interesting question and some research on South African Snipers in WW2 would be interesting. The Canadians are well accounted-for. South Africans and Aussies and NZlanders... interesting question!

Cheers,

Sirhr

I can't find anything on SA snipers, but it was interesting that South African Airways bought a number of Ju86's in the 30's to use as transport aircraft; when SA was forced to go to war for the commonwealth, these were converted into light bombers and used to bomb the Italians.

to confuse things on the possibility of SA snipers using mauser rifles, it's possible to find pictures like this from a Highland unit. Probable hunting rifle "looting acquisition" from a private civilian.

personally, I think that early on, anything might have been possible, but by the second half of '40 into '41, logic dictates the issuance of standard equipment in order to facilitate supply and repair.

 

[C. Stockwell]

The South Africans fought as part of the Commonwealth, so likely used rifles made in UK and Australia (and Canada.)

I have seen Liverpool (Fazarkeley) arsenal Enfields that are South Africa Stamped. So I suspect that their rifles were made there under contract to the SA government. But that is a guess. Liverpool arsenal was set up to move production to Western England during the Blitz... it was safer there. So it would make sense that a Commonwealth unit, getting equipped before D-Day (or even while in the Deserts of Tobruk, etc.) might have been supplied from there. Sniper variants? Interesting question.

But keep in mind, South Africa had a huge collection of Mausers in their nation... and a lot of Boer-descendents who knew exactly how to shoot them. Were the ZA Snipers equipped with Enfield variants or Mausers? It's an interesting question. I would not discount more than a few 'civilian' or German rifles finding their way into South African service. Along with game rifles, etc. Commonwealth troops had their own way of doing things.

It's an interesting question and some research on South African Snipers in WW2 would be interesting. The Canadians are well accounted-for. South Africans and Aussies and NZlanders... interesting question!

Cheers,

Sirhr

My bet is that any official SA sniper rifles during WW2 would've been Enfields for logistic ease. I have a book on Cold War era SA firearms production, which briefly discusses the SA arms industry's whole history. Leading up to WW2, SA had no arms manufacturing capabilities beyond local gunsmiths and some ammo manufacturing, thus, most of their WW2 equipment came from the UK. Side note: this dependence on the UK caused SA to tool up to become self-dependent after the war. Issuing guys Second Boer War era Mausers in 7x57 wouldn't have likely been feasible once those troops deployed into North Africa, Asia, or Europe, especially once guys got mixed in with Indian, Aussie/NZ, and British troops.

If, and the if is the key question, there was any official issuing of "snipers", my bet's on Enfields specifically modified for the purpose. Private guns getting into the military supply chain? Likely did happen, especially with the South Africans who found their way into specialized units.