laststandonzombieisland

80 years ago today, Rosyth, Scotland, 25 May 1944: “Leading WREN Bertha Brokliss, of London and WREN Mary Baptiste, of St Annes-on-Sea, Lancashire, being instructed in firing .22 rifles by Chief Gunnery Instructor J Jones, of Irvine, Ayrshire.”

Photo by LT EA Zimmerman, IWM Collection A 23655

Same as above IWM A 23654

The very curious rifles are Mossberg 42M-Bs, of which the British Government ordered some 46,000 between June 1941 (when the U.S. was the “Great Neutral”) and March 1943.

Mossberg 42M-B

Equipped in British service with Parker Hale PH 16 D rear sights, they served in basic marksmanship roles– and some were even passed on to the Home Army Auxillary units and SOE teams with a Parker-Hale small-bore moderator (suppressor) attached, because, why bloody not?