Operation CARPETBAGGER: French Resistance No4 Enfield
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During 1944, the US and UK cooperatively ran a major effort to drop arms and equipment to French Resistance forces in preparation for the Allied landings in France. It began as Operation Carpetbagger with night drops from B24 Liberators in January 1944, and escalated into the summer. Eventually a number of massive daytime drops were made, totally more than 800 sorties and dropping 2.7 million pounds of equipment. The single most common firearm dropped was the MkII Sten, but containers also included Brens, handguns, M1 Carbines, bazookas, and No4 Enfields (along with ammunition).
After the country was liberated, the new government tried to collect up as many of the weapons as possible. They didn't get them all (not by a long shot, actually), but many were put into government storage, including this No4 Lee Enfield. It was marked with a "PP" property mark and inventory number, and stashed away until being sold as surplus recently and imported by Navy Arms.
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"I am absolutely going to get one myself". We knew, Mr McCollum. We all knew.
Was half expecting him to say, "Ive already bought one from each factory, so yeah, these are mine".
@@sparkplug1018 What you said
I imagine you will never run out of videos about all the different iterations of the history of the Lee Enfield.
And if yes, there are still the Enfield rifled muskets he can talk about. Since a few months Im a proud owner of a Parker Hale repro 3 band model.
Please explain why the Enfield went with the three piece stock (when including the barrel cover).
100 years of service will do that
@@george2113 Buttstocks came in multiple sizes for proper fitment.
@@george2113 Besides the sizing variance this allowed, when you're building literally millions of rifles and have a heavy demand for wood, it's really nice to be able to use three smaller pieces of hardwood per rifle instead of only a single big one.
So it is Le Enfield now
L'Enfield
Clever
What a disgusting and unfunny joke. Shame's on me though, because I still chuckled and I'm now feeling disgusted with myself.
Oui....
@@alexeysaphonov232 pronounced 'L'Anfeeelduh'
Watching this at work right now, next to a recreation of British small arms drop here in Trondheim, Norway. Always nice to see history behind rifles like this.
What is your profession?
@@TheBananamonger Historian.
My grandmother worked in the Maltby rifle factory during ww2.
A Yorkshire gun will always be the best 🙂 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROF_Maltby
I have a 1945 production Maltby No.4, so thank you very much to your grandmother!
My great uncle was shot down during his first Carpet Bagger Mission. The Germans treated him so poorly, he spent a year or so in hospital recovering from his captivity.
My grandpa was kept in US captivity and most of his friends died there because of cold, hunger and more. He survived only because he was a cook. He filled his pants with just cooked potatoes to have something to eat for his friends and himself. The scars on his legs are never gone.
The Rheinwiesenlager were a symbol of the capability of Humankind to terror since then.
@@hugovonpayns9291 yes, some people think that the US treated the German POV very well, much better than the Germans.
@@hugovonpayns9291 My sympathies to your Grandfather for his treatment.
@@Seven-yg2sr i never understood why he was treated so poorly. Maybe because of the type of Mission (clandestine) he was apart of. Or because he was Italian and by that point the Italians had capitulated to the Allies.
@Peter T what do you mean?
Having recently obtained an Arisaka w/intact mum in good condition - albeit with the selling kid's grandfather's name carved into the stock - I'm especially enjoying this episode.
I've already informed the young man he'll receive it back, free of charge, once he's finally settled down with a wife, kids, and a safe place to keep it - so he can experience the joy of passing it on.
That is amazing, Good for you, glad there are still Gentlemen with standards and traditions, passing them along in the world.
Only for his kid to sell it again for a good price? I can see this being profitable.
If he sold it once he'll sell it again, chances are. Sad story.
Good for you,
@@koolaidblack7697 This is why I made the requirements to include family, stability and security for its return: once he has all three, I am certain he'll come to appreciate the value of his heritage and not be inclined to part with his grandfather's rifle.
My father-in-law had one of these, also a N°4 Mk I, 1944 hanging on the wall of his office, here in Belgium. It seems his own father who was in the Belgian Resistance got it (and kept it 😉) So I guess similar drops were conducted in Belgium.
Those drops absolutely took place over Belgium. At the Museum of the Resistance (Anderlecht) we even keep one of those containers, with its original markings.
Excellent stuff! Minor point, it wasn't just Liberators that dropped weapons containers, Stirlings and Halifaxes as well as just about anything else did so too.
The headmaster of the school in Obterre, just up the road from me, was executed for leading a team that set up field markings for the drops, every year in Azay-le-Ferron, we celebrate the Battle of the Pechoire, where the Maquis fought the Germans, losing 8 men, the Germans lost 12. A few neighbours knew the men and boys that were involved. What weapons the Maquis Carol had, I do not know, probably a mixture.
I have asked if any guns were hidden locally and not handed in, no one has given me a straight answer. One neighbour does have a Webley pistol that was given to his grandfather by a British officer in Normandy. He will not allow me to film it, there may be a question of 'legality'.
And even fishing boats .
Delet this
You can be sure there's more than a couple Sten guns still hid away in walls, attics, and under floorboards. And some Brens to keep them company as well. I imagine there are weapon caches that were forgotten about out in the woods somewhere, and will probably never be found...
Every now and then they end up finding an arms cache during a renovation, I've read about at least one being found in Britain and a couple others in Belgium and France.
@@Jreb1865 The Maquis were fairly well organised, a lot of their leaders were 'proper officers' and they were incorporated into the French army. I suspect that the majority of the weapons that they carried were accounted for. Whether all of the cannisters were found is another question, and how many German weapons were grabbed is another. The father of one of my neighbours was in the Maquis Carol, and then the army, I don't know what he carried as a Maquisard, but it was replaced with an 'issue' weapon, with all the normal military accounting that goes with it. There may very well be some hidden guns, I know of one, but unless the owner has a licence for it, he will not be able to buy ammunition.
No.4 Mk I PP fund
Tommy Wiseau
2 hours ago
Speaking of the French Resistance, RIP Robert Clary, Cpl. LeBeau from Hogan's Heroes
Born: 1 March 1926, Paris, France
Died: 16 November 2022, Beverly Hills, California, United States
As I have 2 Royal Tiger rifles,I imagine "Never been anywhere near Ethiopia" is a hell of a sales pitch.
Wow - in storage for 76+ (?) years. What else is hiding in France? Incroyable.
Probably a lot of stuff. Some in the hands of the authorities (like these were), some in the civilian population. I've read somewhere that there are about as much illegal firearms in France as there are legal ones (5 millions each). The vast majority of them simply collecting dust in the attic since the last war, or forgotten after grandpa passed away...
The French government recently announced an amnesty for anyone who relinquish illegal firearms (during a short time). Not sure how much success this operation is going to have...
Well ... I heard that there is a whole Tiger II tank buried under a freeway in France.
There is tons of stuff hidden in barns or abandonned homes in France, lots of things hidden during the war people never were able to come back to. Also lots of guns were returned to the Police, but absolutely not all of them, to this day the French government is still actively trying to get their hands on them, illegal firearms possesions is absolutely a thing considering we went to 0 regulation before the wars to a lot right after, people sometimes have arsenals rotting away in some crate inherited from their parents they never opened. In my grand parents backyard in normandy we once dug around to extend the garden and we immediatly found lots of casings and some with the bullet still in, speaks to how firearms were absolutely everywhere back then.
My wife was fascinated buy the Special Operations Executive, she spent many happy ours in the National Archives in Kew, West London. Another weapon the British supplied to the Resistance was the Italian Carcano rifle. The British had acquired a number of those and their ammunition. The Sten was actually designed with the idea of using captured German 9mm rounds.
The RAF had two Squadrons designed to support the Resistance in western Europe, 138 & 161 Squadrons few mostly Halifax bombers mid/late war with supply and parachute drops of agents. The also flew Lysander and Hudson aircraft for delivering and the exfiltration of agents of the SOE, the SIS and French resistance leaders. These squadrons started work in late 1940.
The USAAF assigned two the 788th and 850th Bombardment Squadrons which began support for the Resistance in late 1943.
There is an interesting movie, made during the war in 1945 called either "School for Danger" or "Now It Can Be Told" that is worth watching. It actually started some of the SOE agents in France and the work of the RAF:
th-cam.com/video/dlZ15_KoKQc/w-d-xo.html
Another day that ends in Y and Ian finds another Enfield.
Can't wait for cyber Ian to review the enfields used by the resistance on Rigel-XII.
I filled my Deer Tag two weeks ago with a .303 Enfield. Shooting a PPU 180 grain softpoint, even the biggest deer doesn't stand a chance. Meat in the freezer.
How do we know this is a French gun? Ian’s heart does a little pitter patter while in its presence.
He is currently writing the second edition. CHASSEPOT TO FAMAS VIA LE LEE ENFIELD.
As would mine being of French and German decent oddly enough
On august 1st 1944, My grand father's resistance group benefited from one of these weapons droppings, code-named "Opération Ébonite", which happened on the plateau of Les Saisies, in Savoie. 864 containers were dropped, mainly Sten, Enfields, Brens, and a few PIATs. During the operation, a US Marine instructor, parachuted alongside the weapons named Charles Perry, died when his parachute failed to open. There still is a monument to his sacrifice, flying the french and american flags on the plateau, which is now a ski resort, as well as a small museum recalling the event in the nearby village of Hauteluce. fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachutage_du_col_des_Saisies
That is amazing, and to the that American Marine risky his life, and literally giving it to ensure that the weapon's made it safely to the French soldiers.... I would love to see that sky resort and the memorial statue of that brave American lone soldier flying the French & American flags in honor of his sacrifice.
@@ThePatriotParadox I'm betting he was probably dropping in as an instructor and liaison more so than ensuring the guns made it into the right hands. A lone soldier isn't going to be able to do much to defend, hide or transport 864 crates of weapons if the Germans found them. Especially given the drop accuracy of things in those days. I bet those containers were spread over a rather wide area. Still sad that his parachute failed. Sad way to go for such a brave guy.
@@alexsis1778 Alexsis Correct. he was among several instructors parachuted alongside the weapons.
@@ThePatriotParadox If you want to see pictures, try these keywords with your navigator: "col des saisies monument parachutage". The stone is mostly dedicated to those KIA from the local resistance groups, and most notably to their leader Capitaine Jean Bulle (fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Bulle) but there's also a plaque on the pedestal stating "in remembrance of american seargent Ch Perry, fallen in the line of duty during the paradropping". So this US Marine wasn't forgotten either.
My grand-father was in one of the maquis. Family history says he had a number of US M1 carbines and a Beretta pistol. The resistance was armed with a wide range of stuff, from dropped weapons to captured weapons. I just would like to imagine if Ian's ancestor was in the French resistance and got super excited when discovering an erroneously marked 1* rifle in the dropped container...
I live just up the road from what used to be the BSA Shirley plant that manufactured the rifle seen at 7:40. Now it's a retail park. This is the first example I've seen from that factory, which is a fascinating piece of history mostly forgotten by locals.
The majority of No4 MK.I dropped to the resistance in France were of Canadian manufacture. This is why the resistance erroneously called all No4's 'Canadian Rifles.' This is mentioned in the book Secret Warfare, The arms and techniques of the Resistance by Pierre Lorain.
Most of them made at longbranch, they also made Stens there.
I love the Lee Enfield. We had them in the school Combined Cadet Force. I have also begun to be fond of the SLR even though I ripped my finger to shreds trying to strip it in a timed competition.
Thank you , Ian .
🐺
As a resistance fighter I’m not sure id be happily parting with my rifle
Facts
If the war is over you're not a resistance fighter any more.
Probably from my cold dead hands
There were probably quite a few who didn't give these up.
@@mblake0420 Seriously dude... What is wrong with you?
The Maquis were mostly perfectly ordinary people with perfectly ordinary lives they wanted to get back to and live in peace. They weren't gun fetishists like you.
Grow up FFS.
They look like they are in really nice shape. Lovely combination of historical significance and utility in that package.
I'm almost surprised Ian didn't track down one of these French resistance Enfields and put up a video on them before he did the regular Lee-Enfield, lol.
I was on the range with one of these in the Pyrenees in May this year. Beautiful to shoot. Really accurate. It was dropped in the Pyrenees, used in the mountains and lived in an attic for many years.
"All the sampling that I've seen these are in, really excellent condition because, well, they were treated really well." So glad we are not subjected to the "dropped once" BS you will hear from other channels... Noted and appreciated from one Francophile to another. These would make a nice addition and pal to my 1954 Fazakerley No4 Mk2 I unwrapped brand new from the factory.
But they actually were "dropped once"... from a bomber!
I am shocked, shocked I tell you, that Ian has managed to find yet another Lee Enfield to do a video about.
Very cool video with Knowledge of Guns that I thought I knew something about but I had no idea of the markings on this one and of the use that it went through.
Thanks again Ian for sharing another really good video with great content, sound, video, focus and quality.
Very good job keep up the great work.
I'm a big fan of the No 4 because that's what we used in the RCAF in the 60s when I was in uniform.
French transitionnal authority were REALLY smart on this one, because they solved 2 problems in once. They officialy INTEGRATED the resistance group inside military unit or inside the local police force, as France was short on small arms they were very logically told to take their guns with them. They became official police forces, and their guns thus...became registered as official municipal or state property. So when they went back to civilian life, they had to left the gun.
I really appreciate the Enfield rifles, an endless variety of Marks and stars. I’m gonna have to look at these babies.
I live in Sheffield and sometimes travel through Maltby and have often wondered where the arms factory was. As a WW2 buff, I had no idea about this little piece of history until the legend that is Mr McCollum did a previous video about this ages ago.
Speaking of the French Resistance, RIP Robert Clary, Cpl. LeBeau from Hogan's Heroes.
A survivor of the Holocaust, a brilliant singer and dancer, and a great actor. Hope he's finally at rest.
"PP" might specifically refer to the Prefecture de Police de Paris, it's the traditional acronym and shortname ("La PP"), so it might be possible to figure out exactly where the gun was turned over and by whom in the archive. Not available online though, someone would have to go in person.
I remember that intro fom.. lord of war? with nik cage where you follow the live of a bullet being produced until its fired ... i just had in my brain such a scene for that rifle, being assembled and such and then getting transported to an airfield and being dropped in france and then ends up in the us...
This was my fathers hunting rifle. Seeing this brings back some memories.
Even sooner than this, these para-drop pods of equipment were also used during the Warsaw Uprising, of which there's a fantastic museum in the city with examples of all the gear dropped (even the foldable mopeds)!
It was General Eiseinhower, I believe, who said that the French resistance represented at least 15 divisions during the landing on June 6, 1944 and that without these divisions the affair would have been a failure.
But I might be wrong and it's not him.
I sure like these old Enfields. I own a No. 1. Thanks Ian.
I love it when you share with us the history that goes with the guns Ian!
(sorry to hear that doing this video doesn't get you your own. Drat!)
Such a neat piece of history with all its quirks
Ian, actually with the mark 1* they just setup a cut out in bolt rail and omitted the catch at the rear of the receiver all together
WOW!! Super awesome info and amazing rifle👍👍
Those are really pretty good SMLE retrofit magazines, too. Most of the retrofit mags are very basic and have all sharp corners and angles with none of the rounding of the originals.
Lee Enfield rifles are always fascinating and amazing guns!
Thats an interesting one. Cheers Ian.
I love the fact the slings still have the broad-arrow mark.
Ian, the rear sight is a Mk III. The two position flip sight is the Mk II.
Yes it’s a Mk III rear sight. The leaf and slider are marked MkII on the Mk III sight for extra confusion.
Aside: got Pistols of the Warlords, after paying some additional tax. Absolutely amazing detail, almost like having one to hold and examine. Great binding etc. F
What an episode! This is an amazing story and deserves a History Guy spinoff!
Well done Ian!
PS:We're still waiting for the original intro music!
Magnificent in its intricacy, and remarkable in its service.
Just added one to my collection. Great addition to my collection
Buy it Ian! and we want to see that in the range!
I own a 1943 No4Mk1 that was dropped to the resistance as part of the Jedburgh missions in Deux Sevre, before D Day. To enable it to be kept legally after the war it was re-chambered for .303 Sporting - the round being a .303 British one but necked down by 4mm and then shortened by 4mm. This meant that any .303 British rounds kept after the war would not chamber in it. I know someone who's Uncle was responsible for moving the Arms cach where it was held just before the Germans arrived at the farm to search it!
Good to see that the sling was set up correctly. I've seen many British slings of that era where the hooks facing inward toward the rifle instead of outward.
Sorry for the cynicism but I can picture that after Ian's glowing review, someone at Navy arms is busy adding 20% to all of their prices....I'm kind of joking, in reality I have no problem with them making whatever profit they can, that's what makes the world go around. In recent years Ian and the Bloke have kindled an interst of Lee Enfields in me that exceeds my discretionary funds and I'm sure this fine example will also.
Ian, thanks again for what you do!
Respectfully, Mr. Elliott, our prices have not changed, not with the publication of our guns in American Rifleman, the December Guns & Ammo, or Ian's videos. Guns are worth what the market dictates they are worth. As we are nearly sold out, we are confident that those customers who did buy guns from us will see an increase in the value of their guns over the coming years.
I just bought one of these! The one I have is from BAS - Shirley and is in phenomenal condition.
"retrieve what? yeah.. a german took mine."
I think he lost in in a U-boat accident...
@ 2:51 and don't ever call me Shirley again!!!
The fact that this MkI* is marked “BS” is just perfect.
I have a 1942 Maltby. Came out of the Ethiopia cache.
As a cadet at school we had No4 rifles of various Mk's in the armoury but one in particular was a problem. When out in the field in the Otterburn training area, one cadet carrying his rifle slung, without safety applied, lost the bolt. We scoured the hillside and never found it; its probably still there. I presume it was a Mk1* US made. Were other mks prone to this problem? Don
Good to see they sent the French a real rifle (gazing fondly at my four No. 4s) 😀
I don't think Ian is correct in his description of the Mk 1* bolt release mechanism. The Mk1* deleted the spring-loaded latch entirely and extended the rail the bolt head runs in slightly so it could NOT be rotated out at that location. Instead, a notch wide enough to remove the bolt head was cut in the rail near the front of the receiver and that worked well enough. However, after much use that notch's edges could become worn/damaged and the bolt head would not cycle properly.
Thanks for that interesting bit of history.
After all these years you'd think Ian would've gotten a mic that doesn't saturat but here we are...
*hon hon hon intensifies*
I'll say I did purchase one a month ago or so and the condition was excellent, although the stock was slightly warped and the magazine didn't work well, I would truly get another, fortunately if you have an original magazine they will work well, I was saddened to get a slightly warped stock and Navy Arms offered an exchange I declined as I had already fired and cleaned it and didn't really want to go through the process, Navy Arms is a stand up company and if I was able I would purchase another for sure
I bought one of these from the first batch. It looks just like you would expect. Dusty but wonderful:))))
Matching with a hang tag, just beautiful. I have no idea why these aren't priced higher
British people be like: “This operation lit. Call it Carpetbagger”
Fazakerly has to be one of my favourite words, it just sounds so good.
OMG the price tag. Sucks being old enough to remember better times.
Thanks Ian.
BS and PP on one single proofing stamp?? Comedy gold!! 😂
I couldn’t help but think of French resistance members excitedly checking their “loot drops” hoping for good RNG.
I have an Enfield SMLE, almost impossible to find ammo for it.
Thank you for the video.
I have a no.4 from the "Irish Contract." I'm not the biggest fan of it but I can pretty much account for every shot it has fired. The wood is in great condition but its black paint on all the metal is chipping and I'm honestly a little afraid of reapplying it. There's no rust under it, but it isn't the most pretty. All that being said, its kinda interesting to own one of the last no.4's. My grandpa also left me an Ishapore jungle carbine in .308 which perplexed me for many years and that one is in near perfect condition
They had an intern stamping serial numbers that day.
Thanks
Those ops names never fail to crack me up
They were specifically made up to mislead...
Remember the crossword puzzle in a national newspaper in UK the month before D Day where the answers to clues were Juno, Omaha etc....?
There was a national panic in the Intelligence community...breach of war plans????
Found to be complete coincidence....
"molested"? that's kind of a strong word for refurbished to working condition. As a collector and an avid shooter, FTR No4 rifles are great as they allow collectors to both get a rifle in full military stock and in safe shooting condition as they have gone through an armoury refurbishment process that includes replacing worn out barrels, thusgiving them factory accuracy.
An awful lot of the dropped arms remained in the hands of members of the groups who did not approve of de Gaulle and many are still stored away and emerge from time to time as that generation passes away. There were good reasons why the French government bAnned military ammunition types from sale until just a few years ago. Hence ,303 Sporting, being one for Lee Enfields with the barrel set deeper into the chamber and a millimetre or two taken off the ,303 case. Thus it could not chamber an actual ,303 round so was legal. The French governments of 1945 well into the 1960s had good reason to fear these ex resistance arms coming out in a civil war.
The communists held on to a lot of weapons. One of the reasons Operation Carpetbagger remained secret for so long is that SOE and the OSS deliberately dosed supplies to Resistance groups, reducing the overall effectiveness of the Resistance but ensuring that De Gaulle didn't face a communist insurgency after the war
I have a 1942 No4 Mk1* made by Savage, it's one of my favorite shooters.
Ian i see by some of your vids you are located in Az, i too live in AZ and would be very willing to meet up sometime and have you take a look at my Enfield, and shoot of course!
Thnx again!!
I have a m47 marked number 4 it’s a great shooter
Some of the ☆ marked guns have the trigger hinged on the base of the receiver ,not on the trigger plate ..
Thanks for helping to liberate the country! Now we are gonna need those guns back...
I have a matching numbers no4 from 42 it's in mint condition. It has taken years to find one this good.
That'd be really nice. I really like that.
Always wanted a Lee-Enfield.
Ian I see you are not trying to drool there! But I don't blame you!
So do you think the reason the original magazines were never found for these rifles could've been because they were ordered to destroy them so in the case of them being stolen they were effectively turned into single shots?
No.
A large proportion of the French resistance who were active before the Normandy landings were Communists groups who were not loyal to either of the the French governments but to Stalin. These were hardly the heroes Hollywood shows them to be. Many of these groups were terrorists who spent more time using their allied provided weapons to murder conservatives, driving many of them into the arms of the Germans for reasons of mere self-preservation, than they did doing anything useful. Rounding up the arms in their hands while Stalin was still encouraging them to cooperate with the western allies probably prevented a bloody civil war in France of the sort that happened in Greece. Stalin, of course, had to choose. In the end Stalin opted to ensure that the allies were not bogged down in France killing his French communists instead of marching into Germany. That said, France had plenty of issues dealing with Communist groups after the war and it was only in 1947 that the influence of the communists began to wain.
If I could start a collection.
About 15 years ago my dad got a Savage No4 Mk1*. I didn’t know there was a stamped version of the micrometer sight. His just has the two apertures. Is that a feature of the * version? Or maybe a feature of the savage specifically? I always thought the * meant the bolt removal and dual aperture sight, for wartime production but now I’m thinking I might’ve been wrong. Great video!
You just know Ian's going after one of the mismarked ones... LUCKY Guy
I can't afford .45 ACP, much less a rare rifle...
Would love one of those!
Many of this Enfield No4 was used by the Milice and some german's troops in 1944, the guns was catch in fights or during parachuting !
I think I just read this in my most recent NRA magazine. Love your videos. Thank you. You are a treasure.