American Commitee for Defense of British Homes

m-1911

m-1911

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Here is an interesting piece of history. Today, at an auction, I picked up this Model 1905, sn 288809. It came with the box and has a return address from "The American Commitee for the Defense of British Homes"
The date on the box is 3/16/48 showing that it was returned to Mrs. Chas Myers in St Davids, PA. I recall that in the early days of WW II Americans donated guns to be shipped to England to defend the country when a German invasion appeared imminent. The revolver is in excellent condition and appears unfired, this insides still are packed with cosmoline. Somewhere along the way a butt swivel was added, but there are no British proof marks on the gun. I will probably send for a letter on the gun. Link to G&A article in 1959 http://jeffersonian.name/g1959/G1259.pdf
 
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Interesting. I had understood that all guns sent to the Brits were one-way deals, all being destroyed after the war. It appears at least one was returned.
 
I also had thought that none of the guns were returned, but with the absence of British proofs, is it possible that this one never made it to England? Maybe it stayed at the Commitee HQ's in NYC and was eventually returned to the owner. It is strange that they kept accurate records so as to be able to return it to the original owner.
 
By 1948 British Homes had not needed defending from the original threat for over three years. I join Gary in wondering if this was a belated shipment that languished in the NY office, and was then returned to the contributor without ever seeing a British dawn. Or perhaps Ms. Myers didn't send it until 1948 for whatever reason, and it was immediately repackaged and shipped back to her.
 
Interesting mystery. I've never heard of a gun being returned from the Guns for Britain program. I lean towards David's guess that it neve left the US. The Brits did not proof very many of the guns they received, as the extengenies of wartime put proofing on the back burner, just like the Victory Models. Friends in Britain told me these guns were a problem in that no ammo. came with then, and non-metric American calibers, like 32-20, 45-70, 30-30, 44-40, etc. were unheard of in England, so most of these guns just sat in storage until they were scrapped or tossed in the channel. Ed.
 
We were pretty awesome back then. It might take a strong arm twisting for me to send someone one of my Smith's...

I would do it, but I would grind some enamel off my teeth as I let go of the box...
 
That British style butt swivel intrigues me. I think the gun may have left the US.

What exact caliber is this: .38 Special or .38 S&W? The large ejector rod head and the gold medllions in the grips suggest the gun is about a WWI era product.
 
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m-1911 said:
100_7949.jpg


100_7950.jpg


100_7951.jpg


Here is an interesting piece of history. Today, at an auction, I picked up this Model 1905, sn 288809. It came with the box and has a return address from "The American Commitee for the Defense of British Homes"
The date on the box is 3/16/48 showing that it was returned to Mrs. Chas Myers in St Davids, PA. I recall that in the early days of WW II Americans donated guns to be shipped to England to defend the country when a German invasion appeared imminent. The revolver is in excellent condition and appears unfired, this insides still are packed with cosmoline. Somewhere along the way a butt swivel was added, but there are no British proof marks on the gun. I will probably send for a letter on the gun. Link to G&A article in 1959 http://jeffersonian.name/g1959/G1259.pdf
Click to expand...


That link is not to a G&A article. It is to a whole issue of Guns! And it is well worth reading! Thanks for the link.
 
gary, that is an amazing find. thanks for sharing and thanks for the link to the 1959 magazine. i'm ordering a bunch of stuff out of it monday morning LOL. lee
 
IIRC , the NRA did a similar "Guns for Britain" program. I first learned of this in an American Rifleman article many years ago. They had pics of a Winchester 94 that was sent over with a handscribed brass "PLEASE RETURN TO" tag affixed to the stock with the American owners name and address.
 
Gary, what a COOL find!

Thanks so much for sharing and please keep us posted on any new developments, letter, etc.
 
Maximumbob54 said:
We were pretty awesome back then. It might take a strong arm twisting for me to send someone one of my Smith's...

I would do it, but I would grind some enamel off my teeth as I let go of the box...
Click to expand...
For me, it would depend on the recipient. Knowing the fate of the guns and the British subjects last time we did that, I don't think I'd lose guns or enamel, either one.
 
Great piece of history!! Finds like yours are few and far between and warrant an article for the S&WCA Journal.

Bill
 
Gary, How about backtracking Mrs. Chas Myers to see if you can find her descendents and maybe get "The Rest of the Story?" Ed.
 
When Jack First owned "The Gunshop" in lancaster california he had gone over to england and bought a ton of guns for resale. All of them had a lot of ugly proof marks. Most them were made here, sent there and back here. What was ugly was many fine 22 winchesters were threaded for silencers.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I have a friend with contacts in the PO that serves this area and trying to find some info on Mrs Myers, no luck yet

I will send off for a letter to see if it was sent to a gun shop in the Philadelphia area

It is just a neat old gun. It will be intereting to see if the lanyard loop is mentioned in the letter
 
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