Would like my DAD to hold a Lee Enfield No.4Mk1(T) after 70 years

[IanS]

My thanks to Badger for all he has done to help me with this thread. I would also like to thank all the Milsurps members, who said so many nice things about dad. When I used to tell him, he always said that he didn't feel he had done anything to deserve these comments and was always surprised to hear of them.
In the above photos, there is just short of 80 years between. The younger one was taken when he was 16 years old, wearing his uncle's Royal Scots uniform. The other shows him at 95, he would have been 96 in October.
My thanks to all on this forum, especially to Don and Cass.
Ian.

[enfield303t]

With the memorial service on Saturday Ian, his two sons Jon and James and Sandy's great grandson Dan are here from the UK and had a day at the range with Cass and yours truly. Mike, Sandy's other son from Cranbrook BC was also there.

We took my BSA T that Sandy liked and shot it, first time fired since I bought it around 6 or more years ago. Worked well and have to sight it in at 300 yards...YIKES...where are those armourers when you need them...HINT..HINT!

It was a great day and 12 year old Dan did a marvelous job with a CZ .22, DPMS .223 AR and a S&W .22 RF AR. Great grandpa would have been so proud of just how well he did. All had a good time including the adults and shot very well, wonder if it runs in the genes, might from what I could see. Put a few hundred rounds down range and Dan loved the .22 AR but quickly learned the CZ was very accurate so switched for the tough shots.

This outing has been in the works for just over a year, planned it last time when Ian, Jon and James were in Canada.

I know Sandy was watching over us, it was good to have his spirit there! We sure miss him.

Will post a couple pictures later and Ian did lots of video which he will send to Badger when he returns to the UK.

[enfield303t]

Sandy's great grandson with the BSA No4 T. Dan is 12 years old and lives in the UK.






My first shot with the T.

[enfield303t]

Some photos from the Memorial Service for Sniper Sgt. Sandy Scott, 4th Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers.

The first picture shows us singing What a Friend We Have in Jesus, it was a very moving service and Pastor Bill Plant, a friend of Sandy's son Mike, was very eloquent.

Mike piped in the family and played Amazing Grace during the ceremony, I'm sure many will agree with me when I say there is nothing more moving than hearing the bagpipes during a somber ceremony.

Sandy's children Ian, Karina and Mike gave the Eulogy and shared with us how much their father meant to them.

There was an opportunity after the Eulogy to share stories of Sandy and many people, myself included, related touching and hilarious memories of our time with Sandy. There were many laughs shared by those attending. I told the story of the time when Sandy and some of his men found a German paymasters money trunk during the Scheldt Campaign. It was full of Dutch guilders which they thought were worthless because of the wartime situation. They used them to start fires and boil water for tea. One of the guys took a large amount of these "worthless" guilders and later when on a few days leave in Belgium he bought a hotel with his liberated money. Sandy had told us he thought the family might still own that hotel.

One special guest at the service was Geordie Davison, another member of the 4th Battalion, KOSB. Geordie lives on Vancouver Island, and at 93 years old he has an incredibly sharp mind and was happy to spend time talking about his military service. Geordie joined the KOSB in 1941, and amazingly he was also a sniper with Sandy as his Sergeant during the war. With only 8 snipers out of 800 men, given the passage of time, and the distance from Scotland, the odds of meeting both Sandy and Geordie boggle the mind. A privilege I will never forget.

The second photo shows the table with some of Sandy's most important possessions. The third photo shows the Scott family medals that Sandy proudly displayed in his home.

[IanS]

May 2016 .... Shooting Don's "enfield303t" No.4 Mk1(T) ....

What a great experience this was for all of us, the T felt so nice to shoot , such a shame Dan, didn’t fire it,
he seemed perfectly capable of doing so. First to shoot was Don, enfield303t, this was the first time he had
fired the T. Then Mike, my brother, had his turn. Cassidy, Don’s son is in the background and Dan is on the
scope. Next up was my son Jim, Dan’s dad. Then it was the turn of my other son Jon and finally myself.

May 2016 ... Sandy's great grandson (my grandson) Dan (12 years old), firing live rounds for the very first time.

It’s pretty obvious that Dan was enjoying his shooting experience, thanks to Don and his son Cassidy.

His great granddad would have been proud of him, such a shame that Dan never got to meet him.

This has been a wonderful thread which has for me, become a memorial to dad, especially with the
feelings expressed by so many members of this forum. Had it not been for enfield303t and his son
Cassidy volunteering to visit dad with a T in the first place, this thread would not exist.

Special thanks to them and to Badger.

[enfield303t]

That was a fun day and Dan did very well especially considering it was his first time firing with live rounds.The CZ he was shooting is very accurate and worth owning. The DPMS AR has a Timney trigger which makes it a very accurate gun out to 300 ++ yards and he did well with it. The S&W 15/22 is a hoot and probably Dan's favourite that day. Those metal targets were at just under 50 yards and some are very small so Dan was really enjoying knocking them down. We really enjoyed the time at the range with Ian, Dan, Jon and James, hope we can do it again.

The T shoots right and I should adjust the scope however seeing as it is stored with out it will constantly need adjusting. It will become a safe queen again, I know I should shoot it!

We sure miss Sandy and Cass and I can't thank Mike and Ian and his family enough for always making us feel so welcome. They really are great people.

[IanS]

Since my last post, SpikeDD, gifted me a copy of "With British Snipers To The Reich", a gesture that I very much appreciate. I know that dad would have enjoyed reading it and would have agreed with the majority of the author's comments. Although I had a reasonably good understanding of the job of a sniper from dad, the book has opened my eyes to how skilled the sniper was and had to be to survive the war. My thanks to SpikeDD.
Ian.

[enfield303t]

Had a email from Ian today, asked him if it would be OK to put it here. Good the KOSB is getting the cigarette case that Sandy scratched in where he fought during his time in Europe along with his Glengarry and cap badge.

I also think it is important to let all of you know that Sandy is going home.



Hi Don,

Just been speaking to the museum’s archivist and have established that there are no records available that record the serial numbers of rifles allocated to KOSB troops. Apparently, they were destroyed years ago with other obsolete paperwork.

Mike and Karina should be over to UK in July when we will scatter some of dad’s ashes where he used to poach salmon as a boy. We will also visit the KOSB museum and hand over dad’s old cigarette case and probably his Glengarry. He also had his Co Sgt Major’s cap badge, which we should give to the museum too. The Archivist said they had very little exhibits for the 4th Battalion and he asked for a disc of dad’s stories as they have little or nothing in the way of audio/visual records.

Hope both you and Cass are well.

Best wishes,

Ian.

[enfield303t]

In May of this year Sandy's daughter Karina from Barriere, B.C. and son Ian from the U.K. along with his family spread their father's ashes near his birthplace in Scotland. Sandy is back home now and I know he is with his family that has preceded him and his best friend Jimmy Proudfoot.

It has been an incredible journey from the first post to the last. I know myself and my son cherish the time we spent with Sandy. It wasn't just Sandy's incredible stories of service as a Sniper Sergeant during the Second World War that made him such a fascinating man. It was his humanity. His sense of humour, his love of the outdoors, his adventurous heart.

In discussion with Ian we have decided to make this the final 'official' post of the thread. Any final comments you would like to make would be greatly appreciated before the thread is locked. We would like to thank everyone who volunteered their time to make this one of the most special threads on MilSurps.

[browningautorifle]

Sad, we've followed this from the beginning, now to the end...RIP.