The .300 Lewis, an updated version of a weapon well-known to the British Army in the Great War, was designed to pack a punch in firepower with economy of operating personnel. With an effective range of 1,000 yards, the gun was air-cooled and susceptible to over-heating, a defect that the manual advises can be avoided by firing in short, five-second bursts. An advantage of the gun is that that its cartridges are continuously under mechanical control, and it can therefore be fired at any angle of elevation or depression, and can even be tilted sideways or upside down. With chapters on stripping, assembling, adjustment of return spring tension, firing, care and cleaning, stoppages and replacing parts this is the complete guide to the .300 Lewis for instructors and students alike.

BL Reveals for the first time the real political importance of the Home Guard BL Based on original research, particularly among recently available War Office files Today we laugh at `Dad's Army', but in 1940 the threat of a German invasion of Britain was a very real one. S. P. MacKenzie's detailed and readable history of the Home Guard offers a new perspective on the men who took up the challenge. The book shows how the Home Guard, often aslarge as the wartime army, became an astonishingly strong political force in its own right.

Missouri was one of many states that established a defense organization to take over the duties of the National Guard that had been federalized for military service when the United States declared war on Germany in 1917. The tasks of this volunteer Home Guard included traditional National Guard responsibilities such as providing introductory military training for draftable men, protecting crucial infrastructure from potential enemy activities, and maintaining law and order during labor activism. The Home Guard also functioned to preserve patriotism and reduce opposition to the war. Service in the Guard was a way to show loyalty to one’s country, particularly for German Americans, who were frequently under suspicion as untrustworthy. Many German Americans in Missouri enthusiastically signed up to dispel any whispers of treason, while others found themselves torn between the motherland and their new homeland. Men too old or exempt from the draft for other reasons found meaning in helping with the war effort through the Home Guard while also garnering respect from the community. For similar reasons, women attempted to join the organization as did African Americans, some of whom formed units of a “Negro Home Guard.” Informed by the dynamics of race, gender, and ethnicity, DeWitt’s consideration of this understudied but important organization examines the fluctuating definition of patriotism and the very real question of who did and who did not have the privilege of citizenship and acceptance in society.

Since colonial times Americans have used the militia to maintain local order during both war and peacetime. States have intermittently created, maintained, deployed, and disbanded countless militia organizations outside the scope of the better-known National Guard. Barry M. Stentiford tells the story of these militia units--variously called home guards, State Guard, National Guard Reserve, and State Defense Forces. Stentiford traces the evolution of the militia over the past century, demonstrating its transformation from an amalgamation of state militia units into the National Guard, a reserve of the army. Ironically, the very existence of the National Guard made the creation of other militia forces necessary during periods of war. The home guards or State Guard were organized to fill the vacuum left when the National Guard was called up, depriving states of an organized militia that could be mobilized for repelling invasions, suppressing riots, controlling strikes, or guarding the waterfront. Stentiford carefully analyzes the challenges that faced the State Guards as states sought to build their new militia with leftover men and material. He also examines the role of the State Guard: providing relief during and after natural disasters, providing military training for future draftees, and broadening participation in military units during wartime by giving a role to men who, because of their age or occupation, could not join the federal forces. The State Guard gained a new significance in the Cold War, especially as the political unpalatability of a draft and reductions in the size of the full-time military expanded the functions of the National Guard in military policy. Today modern state militias, born to an ancient tradition, must define a role for themselves in a society that increasingly views them as anachronistic. They mut also compete ideologically with so-called unorganized militias for the title of true heir to the American militia tradition.

History forgets. Files are lost and mislaid. But this book seeks to shine a light, offering a collection of cutting edge pieces of historical research detailing some of the most fascinating arms and armament projects from the 1920s to the end of the 1940s, nearly all of which had previously been lost to history.Included here are records from the UKs MI10 (the forerunner of GCHQ) which tell the story of the mighty Japanese heavy tanks and their service during the Second World War. Other chapters expand on the development of British armour, including the story of infantry tanks from the 1920s right through to the end of the Second World War and beyond.Other items placed beneath the microscope in this fascinating history include a wide variety of guns, rocket launchers, super heavy tanks and countless pieces of specialised armour. Previously overlooked, hidden under layers of dust in archives up and down the country, the histories of these objects has finally been uncovered.

The growing concern over the number of accidental firearm shootings, especially those involving children, prompted passage of the initial handgun safety law which went into effect in 1994. The stated intent of the California Legislature in enacting the current FSC law is for persons who obtain firearms to have a basic familiarity with those firearms, including, but not limited to, the safe handling and storage of those firearms. The statutory authority for this program is contained in Penal Code sections 26840 and 31610 through 31700. These statutes mandate DOJ to develop, implement and maintain the FSC Program. Pursuant to Penal Code section 26840, a firearms dealer cannot deliver a firearm unless the person receiving the firearm presents a valid FSC, which is obtained by passing a written test on firearm safety. Prior to taking delivery of a firearm from a licensed firearms dealer, the purchaser/recipient must also successfully perform a safe handling demonstration with that firearm..