Martini-Metford/Enfield .45 inch breech-loading artillery carbine, c.1899-1902 (carbine, breechloading, Martini Henry, .45 in)

Martini-Metford/Enfield .45 inch breech-loading artillery carbine, 1899-1902 (c). Commercially produced by British Small Arms Company, Birmingham, 1898 (c). Although souvenir firearms associated with British forces are not common, they do exist, intricately carved with the locations of actions fought by a particular regiment. This carbine is carved with the names of engagements in which the East Lancashire Regiment was involved (Cape Colony; Transvaal; Riet River; Karee Vet River; Zand River; Bloemfontein; Joannesburg and Orange Free State). It belonged to Captain Lancelot Hamber (1862-1926) who served in the regiment during the Boer War (1899-1902). The butt is also carved with Hamber’s initials ‘L.C.B.H’, ‘XXX REGT’ and the date ‘1902’. The origins of this carbine are not known; it is not a service-issue weapon but a privately purchased gun. It may have been carried by Hamber or he may have acquired it from a colonial unit involved in the war.