Tonight we are looking at the so called ‘fat boy’ stock on the P14 Enfield Rifle. The P14 series of rifles were produced in the USA in the First World War for the British and were produced by three manufacturers; Winchester, Remington and Eddystone (a subsidiary of Remington). We have previously looked at the rifle here, that example having the standard stock. Tonight we have an opportunity to compare the standard stock with the ‘fat boy’:
As far as I can ascertain, the ‘fat boy’ was only used on Eddystone rifles, and then not all of them, both the rifles in the above photograph are Eddystone rifles, but the upper is the ‘fat boy’ and the lower is the standard model. The ‘fat boy’ differs in two ways, firstly the hand grooves in the fore stock have been deleted:
Secondly, this whole area has been thickened:
This is particularly apparent when compared with the standard model:
I have not found a definitive reason for this variation, but one theory is that it strengthened the stock at a weak point that then allowed the rifle to be used for firing rifle grenades with less chance of cracking. Incidentally, the wood used in the stocks is apparently American Black Walnut.
Amongst collectors, the standard rifle is generally regarded as being the more ergonomical of the two patterns, but I cannot find any hard evidence of when the change occurred or why and it may just be a manufacturing variation, although the rifle grenade story is intriguing.
Apart from its length, the pouch conformed to the standard design that had been in use since the start of the war, described in the 37 pattern webbing manual as:
This buckle has a loop at the top which serves for connecting the hook on the shoulder strap. Two double hooks are fitted to the back of each pouch for attachment to the waist belt:
As mentioned earlier, these early MK III pouches retained the brass press studs to secure the lid:
This particular pouch is marked on the underside of the lid as having been manufactured by BG Ltd in 1943:
These pouches saw service after the war and the following instructions for what to carry in them come from a Royal Navy publication of 1950:
The water bottle and its carrier were not originally included in the set, and had to be retrospectively added. This component is not shown above, but we have covered it 
The yoke itself was a major advance for this set of webbing as it was padded and far more comfortable than previous webbing sets and the 58 pattern set was to see service right through until the mid-1990s, with the Falklands campaign being its shining hour. By the fist Gulf War it was partially replaced by PLCE, but was still used by many troops who had not yet received the new PLCE web set.
The first set of fitting instructions gives the following, comprehensive, overview of the set:
Or with the tan side showing:
In order to accommodate this reversible nature, the waist is secured with a pair of buttons, one facing outwards and one inwards, regardless of which way round the trousers are:
A full length zip runs up each leg to allow them to be easily taken our off, even with boots on:
Note also that the cuff is elasticated to help retain air inside the trousers and give the wearer another layer of insulation. A label is sewn into the garment with details of sizing, NSN number etc.:
These trousers are normally issued with a compression or ‘stuff’ sack, much like a sleeping bag which allows the air in them to be squeezed out and their size reduced right down for storage in a rucksack when not needed, sadly my example is missing this, but they are a fairly cheap and common thing to come across so I am sure one will turn up soon enough (I have already gotten lucky and found one for the jacket for £1!).
This image was actually used in at least two series of these cards and can also be found in a black and white version. This example is however colourised. The main focus of the image is of course the gun itself:
I am not actually sure which gun the image illustrates, but it certainly seems to be particularly large and may be something like a breach loading 60 pounder. Shells for the gun can be seen being prepared to the left of the image, the shells and their propellant charges can be seen being prepared for firing:
An officer and a couple of gunners stand to the right watching proceedings:
A curious item sits on the ground in the foreground. I suspect that this is some sort of device for cleaning out the barrel of the gun, but I am not entirely sure so if you recognise it please comment below:
The Daily Mail’s postcard series was hugely popular, as the paper was keen to report at the time: