T

he rifle S.M.L.E mentioned previously had a major failing in that it was designed and made before mass production. It was hand assembled by skilled craftsmen who went through years of training before being allowed anywhere near assembling firearms. The dreadful losses of the Great War was a major stumbling block for those tasked with the job of replacing not only soldiers, but the kit which they were issued with and a major problem was that of rifle manufacture. So between the wars, the Lee Enfield was re-designed with the view towards being mass produced, even by people who had no previous experience of rifle manufacture.

Hence was born the No. 4 Lee Enfield. This had to come because the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield was turned over to manufacture the Bren Light Machine Gun and had no ability to make anything else, especially after the tremendous losses of the B.E.F at Dunkirk. For the first time, the manufacture of British rifles for the services was not to be equipt with Enfield manufactured arms. New factories were set up at Maltby, Fazerkerley, and Shirley near Birmingham to manufacture the No. 4. Many shortcuts were made during production, resulting in a rifle that would have shocked previous generations. However, during the early part of W.W.2., it was considered more important to produce an arm that would kill the enemy rather than how it looked.

A modified, simplified design was known as the No.4 Mk. 1* and was produced in Canada at the long branch Ontario factory near Toronto who were, by January 1943 making 25,000 per month and as lend lease, by Stevens Arms Co. Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts in America who made over 1,000,000 during the war.

Although the No.4 rifle lacked the hand made, hand assembled feel of the earlier S.M.L.E., it was a very serviceable arm and continued in use by the British Army until finally replaced by the Self Loading Rifle in the 1960’s.