Jungle Carbine was an informal term used for the Rifle No. 5 Mk I which was a derivative of the British Lee Enfield No. 4 Mk I, designed not for jungle fighting but in response to a requirement for a "Shortened, Lightened" version of the No.4 rifle for airborne forces in the European theatre of operations. The end of the war in Europe overtook widespread issue of the No.5 and most of the operational use of this rifle occurred in post-war colonial campaigns such as the Malayan emergency, where engagement ranges tended to be shorter and its handier size and reduced weight were an advantage. This is where the "Jungle Carbine" nickname comes from. Production began in March 1944, and finished in December 1947.
Read more about Jungle Carbine: Military Service, Post-war Non-military Conversions
Famous quotes containing the word jungle:
“We’re headed for collapse, if you want my opinion, Missy. I can see it in the fallin’ off of the quality of vagrants. There was a time you could find real good company in almost any jungle you’d pick, men who could talk, men who’d read a book now and then; and now, what do you find, a lot of dirty little guttersnipes no decent tramp would want to associate with.
Well, it’s been that way all through history.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)