The SA
Portuguese Mauser Register
M1904 Bolt Stripping and Assembly - 6.5x58mm Reloading
Info.
Did Bayonets accompany these Rifles to South Africa ?
The History and need for research
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The Union of South Africa was formed on the 31 May 1910, eight years to the day following the peace treaty ending the second Anglo Boer war. Subsequently, the Union Defence Force (UDF) was formed on the lines of the British Regular Army but with a strong irregular, or Commando presence. This was an amalgamation of the two former foe's styles of command. Louis Botha was the prime minister of the Union at the time of the outbreak of World War One. He offered the country's help to Imperial Britain and was tasked with the invasion of neighbouring German South West Africa (today Namibia). This was primarily to silence the radio network established there and thus deny its use as a relay station to German warships and commerce raiders. Since arms were in short supply the British government asked for and received rifles and ammunition from their traditional ally, Portugal, for delivery to the Union. This batch consisted of twenty thousand 6,5 mm Model 1904 Portuguese Mauser rifles, possibly Bayonets, with ammunition. These rifles were considered as a gift by the Portuguese who required no payment. The Union government, however, took great pains to return the favour by sending equipment, including wireless, to the Portuguese authorities in return. The rifles are also known as Mauser-Vergueiros after the Portuguese officer involved in the design of the action. They were all made by the Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken, Berlin and marked Espingardia Portuguese M1904 6,5 over DWM on the left side rail.
The Receiver ring is marked with the crest of King Carlos the First of Portugal who was assassinated in February 1908. This emblem is in the form of an intertwined CI under a crown. As rifles marked with a J-prefix are known it is safe to assume at least 100 000 of these rifles were originally delivered to Portugal. The Union Defence Force received the Mauser-Vergueiros and distributed them to the troops preparing to invade German South West Africa in late 1914. The invasion, however, was delayed until internal strife in the form of an armed rebellion against support for Britain, was crushed. Upon commencement the invasion was successful in capturing all of GSWA by 1915. Upon return to the Union, a number of the troops were permitted to demobilise with their rifles as gifts in recognition of their services. Due to defective ammunition and problems associated with the maintenance of the delicate and complicated bolts, all the remaining Portuguese Mausers were decommissioned by 1922. (The marking: D4.21 "decommissioned April, 1921" is found on some Rifles). Thus it came about that the Mauser-Vergueiro is considered a uniquely South African military weapon. The invasion of GSWA is also probably the only major armed conflict in which these rifles were ever used besides military control in the Portuguese colonies. This makes the "Potlood-Mauser" as it is sometimes called in Afrikaans, (Pencil Mauser from the elongated appearance of the ammunition or a interpretation of "Portuguese") a unique piece of South African militeria. Due to requests by the Portuguese government for support in neighbouring Mozambique, two thousand were eventually returned along with several million rounds of ammunition. These were also discounted against the "debt" of the initial gift. The Union Defence marked their Portuguese Mausers with the letters UDF with a number or the 'broad-arrow in U'. Both markings can also be encountered on the same rifle. The UDF stock number was often added to the receiver ring and some have markings to the butt-plate tang and even on the stock
The serial numbers of the items delivered to SA are not known for certain and the aim of this research is to establish by census those prefixes or serial numbers which came to SA and the UDF for both rifles and bayonets. The UDF marked rifles serial numbers known to-date show the likely delivery of approximately 1,000 serial numbers with a D prefix, all 10,000 of the E prefixes and approximately 9,000 F serial prefixes. The ratio of D and F serials will vary according to the numbers actually delivered. It is noted from the numbers that the lowest UDF marked rifle is D9749, hence the current guess of 1,000 D serial rifles. It is further assumed that the batch of 20,000 consisted of a continuous range of numbers but this cannot be established without research. The Register intends
to establish the range of serial numbers, the number of the original rifles
and bayonets still in existence and also to facilitate the communication between
owners of rifles with mismatched parts with a view to restoring these to the
original rifle Kindly provide
details of any known SA Portuguese Mauser Rifles or Bayonets to the SAAACA Office or make use of the automatic submission form. Note
that for security reasons, the owners details are optional and if provided,
will only be released for purposes of matching parts and with prior consent |
(Rifle images courtesy of Gawie Hatting, Boksburg,
South Africa - Bayonet image courtesy of Brian)
