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The Lee Enfield rifle was the standard issue rifle to the British Army during World War One and World War Two. The Lee Enfield was seen as so reliable and robust that it was issued to the Home Guard.
The Lee Enfield was first produced in 1907; it had been designed by an American called James Lee and built at the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield - hence the rifle's name. The Lee Enfield enjoyed a good reputation with those who were issued with it. It had a ten-bullet magazine and its rate of fire in the hands of well-trained men was high. At the Battle of Mons, the advancing Germans believed that they were under fire from British machine guns. In fact, it was the well drilled infantry of the BEF using their standard issue Lee Enfield. A good infantryman would expect to shoot off about twelve well-aimed bullets in a minute.
If the Lee Enfield had one weakness, it was that the firing mechanism was susceptible to dirt and grit. Therefore, keeping your rifle clean in the muddy environment of the trenches was of paramount importance. When not in battle, many men simply covered the firing mechanism with cloth in an effort to keep out dirt which would clog up the rifle. The butt of the Lee Enfield had a space inside it where cleaning material could be kept.
The Lee Enfield was so highly thought of that it was the standard issue rifle to infantrymen in the British Army in World War Two, some twenty years after World War One. Its robust nature meant that it was issued to the Home Guard. The Home Guard manual had a 28-page section on the Lee Enfield that covered how to fire it, how to keep the rifle clean, how to load the rifle, judging distance and overall rifle maintenance.
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