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Question: What happened to Kitcheners 2million rifles ordered from US in 1914 !?
Kitchener, former soldier and General, was appointed Secretary of State for War in the Summer of 1914 just as war started!.
Unlike his Cabinet colleagues, who thought the war wouldn't last long, he believed the War would last for 3 years or more!.
He had the foresight to order 2 million rifles from USA companies in 1914!.
But by May 1916 only 400 had arrived!.
He was called to account by Parliament in June 1916, and it seems he was able to clear his name but unfortunately the ship on which he was travelling the following week hit a mine and he died!.
But what happened to those 2 million rifles he ordered!.!? And why did it take so long for America to send them - when it was clear we were desperate for them!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Remington and Winchester agreed to produce the M1914 in !.303!. Contracts were let and from 1915 to 1917, 1,233,075 Pattern 14 Enfields at an average cost of $37!.46 were produced in America!. Winchester production was undertaken at New Haven, Conn!., and Remington production at Ilion, NY and Remington of the Delaware at the Eddystone, Penn!., plant!. These plants had to be retooled to produce these weapons!.
The irony is by the time American P14 production was in high gear, the rifle was no longer needed by the British who now had ample supplies of SMLEs!. !. However, the American Enfield was to be a saving grace when the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917!. As of April 1917, the United States had on hand just more than 600,000 M1903 Springfields and 140,000 Krags!. Springfield Armory had a production capacity of only 1,000 rifles a day and Rock Island Arsenal, 400!. It was a crisis!. Overnight, the US needed the production capacity of the Winchester, Remington and Remington of Delaware (Eddystone) facilities!.
It was the sale of the century!. What had cost Britain $20,000,000, the United States bought for $900,000!. The sale included all the machinery, equipment, tools, fixtures, dies, cutters, gauges and raw materials being used at the three US plants!. America was in the Enfield business--the "United States Rifle, Caliber !.30, Model of 1917" business!.
Production of the M1917 was prodigious!. In a little over a year, from August 1917 to November 1918, Eddystone had produced 1,181,908 rifles, Ilion, 545,541 and Winchester, 465,980!. Production of M1903 Springfields paled by comparison with 250,641 being completed at Springfield and 45,571 at Rock Island!. Total 1917 Enfield production over the 15-month period was 2,193,429 while only 296,212 M1903 Springfields were completed!.
It is estimated that 2/3 of the US Forces were equipped with the 1917 Enfield in !.30-06!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Don't tell me right, Lord Kitchener (hero of the Boer War) had shares in the rifle company!.!.!.!.!
Mons 1914—Extract from Sir John French's Despatch of September 7th 1914, to Lord Kitchener!. On Saturday, August 22nd, amid the wooded slopes and watered valleys of !.!.!.
http://www!.greatwardifferent!.com/Great_W!.!.!.
Western Front Association Contributed Articles In August 1914 the Germans seized an initiative which they did not lose until !.!.!. showed the Head of the French Mission at GHQ his order; from Kitchener: !.!.!.
http://www!.westernfrontassociation!.com/t!.!.!.
Winston Churchill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaHe returned as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War and !.!.!.!.!. On 5 October 1914 Churchill went to Antwerp which the Belgian government proposed !.!.!.
http://www!.en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Winston!.!.!.
LHCMA Hamilton catalogue: 7/8/1-23 Official despatches, 1914-1919 !.!.!.HAMILTON: 7/8/1 1914!. Naval and military despatches relating to operations in the !.!.!. 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and Broome, Secretary of State for War, !.!.!.
http://www!.kcl!.ac!.uk/lhcma/cats/hamilton!.!.!.
Right - although I have not delved into the above docs and sites yet, seems likely that Winston was made Secretary of State for War following the death of Lord Kitchener!. !. !. !.hmmm!
Lord Kitchener (Kitch) remembered by the WW-One West Indian heros of WW-One
http://www!.youtube!.com/watch!?v=48qkAy256!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com