Another Martini-Henry Cavalry carbine has come to light recently marked to the Nottinghamshire Yeomanry. The butt stamped, Y over NTT.S over 236. Previously recorded was an identical carbine with identical marking, but with the individual number of 166. It is still unclear as to whether the "S" refers to Sherwood, or South for either of the two respective Yeomanry regiments of Nottinghamshire. Some swords with similar markings with the "Y", and "NTT" have also had "SN", and presumably, swords issued to the Sherwood Rangers would be marked "SR", but the observed carbines only carry "S". It may be that both units were supplied with firearms from the same armoury somewhere in Nottinghamshire, and therefore firearms were only marked as belonging to the Notts Yeomanry, rather than one, or the other of the two regiments. Both carbines carry a store's date in the 1880's, one clearly marked 1886, the last digit on the other illegible. This carbine must have been in service with a regular Cavalry regiment first, having been made in 1877, but taken into Yeomanry stores in the 1880's.
The carbine in question is a Martini-Henry I.C.1. cavalry carbine made at Enfield in 1877. I.C.1. refers to, Interchangeable Carbine Mark 1. The interchangeable, referring to, the carbine could be issued to both the Artillery, and the Cavalry. However, when fitted with the leather cover for the rear sight, this was only done for Cavalry issue. These carbines were carried by the Trooper in a saddle bucket, - a long leather holster. Previously, cavalry carbines were carried on the saddle by means of a ring mounted to the side of the carbine, hooked onto the saddle. This made for a very distracting long gun bouncing around when in motion. The saddle bucket firmly fixed leaving the butt of the carbine exposed and ready to hand. The leather cover for the rear sight had two purposes. It allowed the gun to be put in, and pulled out of the bucket without the sight leaf snagging on the bucket edge. Also, if the trooper had set his rear sight leaf at a certain position, the edge of the bucket would not be able to move it when removing, or replacing the carbine. The front sight fitted with a raised rounded cover for the same reason. Unique to the range of Martini-Henry rifles, the I.C.1. has a rounded lower edge to the bottom of the frame, again to allow ease of use with the cavalry saddle bucket.
The Martini-Henry cavalry carbine shown here with its later replacement, the CMLE, - Carbine Magazine Lee-Enfield. The standard Cavalry carbine of the British forces during the Boer-War, including both of Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Regiments in the Imperial Yeomanry. A carbine version of the Infantry Long Lee-Enfield rifle, it was the last firearm designed specifically for the Cavalry. Both the L.L.E. and the C.M.L.E. replaced by the famous SMLE rifle in 1903, a universal rifle for all services, an amalgamation of the long rifle and the carbine with a length in between the two. The CMLE was also fitted with a leather cover to the rear sight for the same reasons as the Martini-Henry carbine. It also had a unique short magazine of just six .303 rounds, again to allow its shape to move easily in and out of the saddle bucket. Made obsolete by its replacement, the SMLE., the CMLE saw little use in WW1 having proved to be inferior in action during the Boer War to its Boer counterpart, the Mauser 1896 carbine. This was due to the superior rate of fire by the Mauser 1896 carbine which was able to load by five round charger clips, whereas the CMLE had to have each round loaded individually to the magazine. Whereas many LLE rifles were converted to the charger loading system for WW1 service, the CMLE was not, the Cavalry Regiments now equipped with the new SMLE rifle.
This CMLE carbine is not connected to the Notts Yeomanry, or is it ? This carbine does not have the standard Crown over V.R. marking as found on carbines issued to the regular Cavalry regiments. Carbines without the Crown are usually regarded as being volunteer, or yeomanry issued. This carbine has marks to the brass marker disc showing it was taken into service with the 3rd Dragoon Guards in April 1902. Why would the 3rd Dragoon Guards have taken in a yeomanry carbine at this date ? Could it be that it was picked up off a battlefield, accidentally swapped over at a rest station, or similar ? Both the 3rd Imperial Yeomanry, and the 3.D.G. were involved in actions against the forces of Christiaan de Wit. Could the units have crossed and at some point some individuals got their carbines mixed up ? maybe not likely - but possibly !
