SMLE. - - Imjin.

This is coolbert:

"'God and the soldier we adore, In time of danger, not before.'"

"the most testing of all hazards on the battlefield - - attack by overwhelming numbers of the enemy."

From the graphic novel - - 303 - - by Garth Ennis:

"It was a short magazine Lee-Enfield [SMLE], three-oh-three calibre, and its worn brass butt plate and the scars and scratches on its woodwork spoke volumes of the century gone by."

From the introductory page of "303", the SMLE rifle, in the hands of the English infantryman in both World Wars and beyond! A bolt-action rifle of great effectiveness, seeing action in battles such as:

* Mons.
* Somme.
* Alam Halfa.
* Dunkirk.
* Normandy.

Here too, is another little-known episode from history where the SMLE, in the hands of TRAINED, SKILLED and DISCIPLINED riflemen, never fails to impress:

Imjin River. Korea, 1951. British combat brigade, fighting with other United Nations forces. Most specifically, the 1st Battalion of the Gloucestershire regiment. About six hundred Englishmen versus a Chinese army [63rd Army] of 30,000 troops.

English troops, wielding the SMLE with great effectiveness, engaging in a three-day combat action of the most desperate type, faced with an adversary that is able to employ prodigious and overwhelming numbers. “Prodigious and overwhelming numbers” committed to battle by the Chinese commander [Peng] in a profligate manner!!

English troops, still retaining a high degree of marksmanship that would have made Musketry Instructor Sergeant Snoxall proud.

"the standard of musketry had not been lowered since [the First World War]. To drop ten targets at 400 yards in less than a minute was regarded as good but by no means exceptional."

ONLY thirty-nine Britishers emerging unscathed after three days of combat, but in the process rendering the Chinese 63rd Army ineffective as a fighting force.

"no accurate figures exist for its losses, but most estimates suggest that it sustained about 11,000 casualties, approximately 40 percent of its combat strength."

coolbert.