Enfield Oiler Markings List is now mobile-friendly

[Enfield-Stuff]

Nice WEC with unrusted steel cap! A rare find.

BTW: here is a three-step "cheat sheet' to ID Enfield oiler types/models.

https://enfield-stuff.com/Pages/3-oi...hree_step.html

Enfield-Stuff

[Enfield-Stuff]

Nigel Utting (Bailiwick of Jersey, Channel Islands, British Isles) has been busy. First, he picked up an ultra-rare, never-before-reported, Nobel Explosives Company marked oiler (SEE Oilers: England https://enfield-stuff.com/Pages/3-oi...ers_ENG-2.html ); shortly thereafter he unearthed some rare South African Small Arms Committee minutes of Jan 1942 and June 1942 that outline orders placed and received for oilers from AECO – a documented link to “Associated Engs” – as well as several other previously unknown South African manufacturers of oilers. (see Oilers: South Africa https://enfield-stuff.com/Pages/3-oi...akers_ZAR.html) Thank you, Nigel!!

Thank you, FlightRN/GunBoards (USA) for the picture of the previously unreported Afghan Type 04 oiler. (SEE Oilers: Afghanistan https://enfield-stuff.com/Pages/3-oi...akers_AFG.html).

If you have an oiler with markings that are not listed, I would very much like to hear from you.

Enfield-Stuff

[Lance]

Nigel Utting (Bailiwick of Jersey, Channel Islands, British Isles) has been busy. First, he picked up an ultra-rare, never-before-reported, Nobel Explosives Company marked oiler (SEE Oilers: England https://enfield-stuff.com/Pages/3-oi...ers_ENG-2.html ); shortly thereafter he unearthed some rare South African Small Arms Committee minutes of Jan 1942 and June 1942 that outline orders placed and received for oilers from AECO – a documented link to “Associated Engs” – as well as several other previously unknown South African manufacturers of oilers. (see Oilers: South Africa https://enfield-stuff.com/Pages/3-oi...akers_ZAR.html) Thank you, Nigel!!

Thank you, FlightRN/GunBoards (USA) for the picture of the previously unreported Afghan Type 04 oiler. (SEE Oilers: Afghanistan https://enfield-stuff.com/Pages/3-oi...akers_AFG.html).

If you have an oiler with markings that are not listed, I would very much like to hear from you.

Enfield-Stuff

Many thanks in advance, always learning!! No picture of Nigel's Nobel Explosives Co. so I do not know how large the "N" is. Here is an example I have that might be a Nobel?

Lance

[Enfield-Stuff]

Many thanks in advance, always learning!! No picture of Nigel's Nobel Explosives Co. so I do not know how large the "N" is. Here is an example I have that might be a Nobel?

Lance

Thank you for the note, Lance. I should have included a link. The picture is posted on the Fast Mark Finder index. https://enfield-stuff.com/Pages/3-oi...er_oilers.html Scroll down the alphabet and it's adjacent the the Naval N for comparison.

Alternately, one could simply admire the very nice picture you sent and admire the Nobel Explosives N therein.

Enfield-Stuff

[Enfield-Stuff]

NEW INFORMATION – Canada – Great War (1914-1919) Mk IV Oil bottle makers

For many years the manufacturers of most Canadian marked MK IV oilers remained a mystery.

Recently Michael Skriletx, ( YouTube @waroffice3791 ) pointed us to the Report of War Purchasing Commission, 1915-1916, as well as the Sessional Papers of the Seventy Session of the Twelfth Parliament, Dominion of Canada, 1917, both of which contained a trove of information on suppliers and purchases during the Great War, including “Brass Oil Bottles”.

Thank you, Mr. Skriletx. We are much in your debt for this information. Until now, the manufacturers of these Unknown Soldiers was a mystery.

We now know that “E14” is the Empire Manufacturing Company, London, Ontario, Canada. (See picture 01.) Our example is C-Broad Arrow marked. Mk IV brass oiler. "14" presumed to be "1914". No other marks.

We can now document that 18,874 oil bottles at 9 cents each were purchased purchased in 1917. Founded 1906, renamed Empire Brass Manufacturing Company 1920, but retained EMCO as a brand name. The company is still in business today (2024).

Nitty gritty details:

The Report of War Purchasing Commission, Volumes 1 & 2, (1916) can be found on Google Books, an invaluable resource of out-of-print materials in the public domain. (See picture 02)

Starting with the Report of War Purchasing Commission, we searched for “brass oil bottles” and on Page 434, section 3510, found a list of suppliers approved to submit tenders for “Brass Goods (such as Bottles, Oil, Mark IV.; Weights for Pull-throughs, etc.). (See picture 03.)

We then turned to the Sessional Papers of the Seventy Session of the Twelfth Parliament, Dominion of Canada, 1917, Volume 1 - Part 3; Volume 52. Again, this was found on Google Books (See picture 04)

We searched for “Empire Manufacturing”, and on page ZZ-56, found “Empire Manufacturing Company, London (Ontario, Canada), 18,874 oil bottles at 9c. ….1,698 66.” (see Picture 05)

We point out that although the report is dated 1917, there may have been purchases prior to that disbursement. Additionally, the document is silent as to when those 18,874 oil bottles were actually manufactured. The available record is simply a payment ledger for that fiscal year.

From the VINTAGE MACHINERY website we learned that the Empire Manufacturing Company (EMCO)(founded 1906) became the Empire Brass Manufacturing Company in 1920. EMCO is still in business today.

We’re very excited to have found these source documents. We expect to have additional updates on other Canadian Unknown Soldiers very soon. Bonus!!! The papers include approved vendors for “Reflectors, .303 inch” (aka ‘bore viewers’). Stay tuned for further developments.

Photo-01 https://enfield-stuff.com/images/3_o...2024-07-10.jpg

Photo-02 https://enfield-stuff.com/Pages/3-oi...ASE_COVER.html

Photo-03 https://enfield-stuff.com/Pages/3-oi...SS_BOTTLE.html

Photo-04 https://enfield-stuff.com/Pages/3-oi...14_EMPIRE.html

[Enfield-Stuff]

UPDATE #2 – Canada – Great War (1914-1919) Mk IV Oil bottle makers

We next turned our attention to the oilers marked “HB-15”.

We now know that “HB-15” is almost certainly the Hamilton Brass Manufacturing Company Ltd., Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. (See picture 01.) Our example is C-Broad Arrow marked. Mk IV brass oiler. "15" presumed to be "1915". No other marks.

We followed the same pattern outlined in our previous post (above).

The list of approved suppliers (see picture 02) whose name began with “H” yielded two candidates, Hahn Brass Company Ltd. (Galt, Ontario) and Hamilton Brass Manufacturing Company Ltd. (Hamilton, Ontario). Happily, both names turned up in the Sessional Papers).

Our search for “Hahn Brass” turned up one result (Page ZZ-60) for (identity) “discs, 95,000 @ $1.40 per 100; 138,653 @ $15.50 per 1000; express $9.64; 3488.66”. We found no other listings. It is quite possible that Hahn Brass produced oil bottles at some time during the Great War; but at the moment the documentation we have supports Hamilton Brass as our candidate for “HB-15”.

We moved on to search for “Hamilton Brass” and on Page ZZ-60, not far below “Hahn” found “Hamiliton Brass Mfg. Co., Hamilton: oil bottles, 14,468 at 9c. 1302.12”. (See picture 03).

As with our previous research, we point out that although the report is dated 1917, there may have been purchases prior to that disbursement. Additionally, the document is silent as to when those 14,468 oil bottles were actually manufactured. The available record is simply a payment ledger for that fiscal year.

The Hamilton Brass Manufacturing Company, founded in 1885, was a prominent manufacturer located near the heart of downtown Hamilton, Ontario, and known as the manufacturer of “cash register, office, bank and church fittings”, employing 140 people circa 1900. Although the Company is listed in the 1915 City Directory, we did not find the company listed in the 1920 Edition of Vernon’s City of Hamilton (Forty-Seventh Annual Street, Alphabetical, Business and Miscellaneous) Directory. The Company may have moved outside of the city – or simply gone out of business.

Stay tuned for additional updates on Canadian Great War oilers.

[Enfield-Stuff]

UPDATE #3 – Canada – Great War (1914-1919) Mk IV Oil bottle makers

We continued to work our way down the list of Canadian Unknown Soldiers, turning now to the oilers marked “McA-15”.

“McA-15” matches up nicely with T. McAvity and Sons, Ltd., St. John, New Brunswick, Canada on the list of approved venders. (See picture 01.) Our example is C-Broad Arrow marked. Mk IV brass oiler. "15" presumed to be "1915". No other marks.

Our search for “McAvity” turned up eleven (11) results, including general foundry work and repairs; work on dredges and pumps, parts and supplies for vessels and railroads, including H.M.C.S. Florence, the Hudson Bay Railway, the Intercolonial Railway, and finally, on page ZZ-67, buried amid pumps and gauges, we get to “…bottles, 12,206 at 9c…” (See picture 02.)

The record does not say "oil bottles", but given that (A) McAvity is an approved supplier of “oil bottles” and (B) that 09 cents seems to be the accepted government rate (see the previous citations of other suppliers), I think it reasonable to conclude the 12,206 “bottles” mentioned are MK IV oil bottles.

Founded in 1834, incorporated in 1907, the family firm of Thomas McAvity and Sons, Ltd., had five family members on active duty in France during the Great War (1914-1919), as well as 159 employees serving in combat units overseas, 26 of whom never returned. The McAvity company was sold in 1960 and the successor company is still in business today (2024) as Clow Canada, a manufacturer of hydrants and brass works. The official and approved company history is an interesting read: Company History | Clow Canada

An even better read is an unofficial/unauthorized history in McAvity's Munitions Girls - Saint John in 1918, part of a history blog on the history of St. John, New Brunswick. The blog post includes several period photographs. McAvity's Munitions Girls - Saint John in 1918