A cancelled order
June 15th 1914, London.
Two men looked down at the telegram, their faces showed a mixture of apprehension and concern. “that’s it then, we are dished” said the first, “not dished but perhaps significantly discommoded” said the second.
The two men were the managing partners of the Farquhar-Hill rifle company, the telegram they had received was the cancellation of an order placed by the kingdom of Siam for 5,000 of their new rifles. These rifles had been ordered by the King Rama VI to equip the Wild Tiger Corps, but with the fluctuations of palace politics the order was cancelled.
“What are we to do Moubray” said the first man, “we have finished the first 2,000 rifles and Birmingam Metals have made 250,000 rounds for the rifles, they can’t expect to sell the ammunition, it is a rimless .28 as you know”. “Arthur, let me think for a moment” the second man’s face had already taken on a thoughtful appearance, he managed the finances of the fledgling company and it was his relationship with the King of Siam which had allowed for the contract to be signed in the first place. It was a good contract 5000 rifles, spare parts, gunsmiths’ tools, training cadre and 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition in the first shipment with another 5,000,000 rounds of ammunition to follow over the next 5 years. Farquhar was also aware of the risks they had taken in accepting such a large contract for a small kingdom on the other side of the world. He had ensured that the contract was tightly written and enforceable in Britain, in addition he had insisted that a significant deposit be placed prior to commencing manufacture, likewise their costs for the start of ammunition manufacture had already been covered by deposits paid by the Government of Siam.
As for the rifles themselves when first contacted by the king’s agents in 1911 they had been unable to interest the British Army in the rifles, they had managed to make several different prototypes and had slowly worked out some of the problems. The magazine had been seen as a problem, resolving that had taxed all of Hills considerable capabilities, in the end it was a conventional 12 round magazine but one which by locking open the bolt could be reloaded with 6 round stripper clips.
The Farquhar-Hill Mark IV Semi-Automatic rifle which had been ordered was nothing like the SMLE which was now equipping the British Army. It was in almost every regard a better weapon, a gas operated rifle with an intermediate spring it was smooth to shoot and with the higher velocity .28 calibre round it had better ballistics as well. To cap it all off the rifle was equipped with a sophisticated sight system which would allow the trained rifleman to extract the best performance from the system. Overall length was slightly longer than the SMLE but as Wild Tigers were an infantry only force this was not seen as a hinderance.
Farquhar and Hill both knew the rifle was excellent, everyone who had used it agreed, but the British Army was not interested, they had no need for and were in the midst of planning to re-equip themselves with a new rifle which had learnt the lessons of the Boer War.
Britain was not interested, who had the money to take over the order? The substantial deposit was of course forfeit but Hill and Farquhar still needed to sell the rifles to someone.
Two men looked down at the telegram, their faces showed a mixture of apprehension and concern. “that’s it then, we are dished” said the first, “not dished but perhaps significantly discommoded” said the second.
The two men were the managing partners of the Farquhar-Hill rifle company, the telegram they had received was the cancellation of an order placed by the kingdom of Siam for 5,000 of their new rifles. These rifles had been ordered by the King Rama VI to equip the Wild Tiger Corps, but with the fluctuations of palace politics the order was cancelled.
“What are we to do Moubray” said the first man, “we have finished the first 2,000 rifles and Birmingam Metals have made 250,000 rounds for the rifles, they can’t expect to sell the ammunition, it is a rimless .28 as you know”. “Arthur, let me think for a moment” the second man’s face had already taken on a thoughtful appearance, he managed the finances of the fledgling company and it was his relationship with the King of Siam which had allowed for the contract to be signed in the first place. It was a good contract 5000 rifles, spare parts, gunsmiths’ tools, training cadre and 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition in the first shipment with another 5,000,000 rounds of ammunition to follow over the next 5 years. Farquhar was also aware of the risks they had taken in accepting such a large contract for a small kingdom on the other side of the world. He had ensured that the contract was tightly written and enforceable in Britain, in addition he had insisted that a significant deposit be placed prior to commencing manufacture, likewise their costs for the start of ammunition manufacture had already been covered by deposits paid by the Government of Siam.
As for the rifles themselves when first contacted by the king’s agents in 1911 they had been unable to interest the British Army in the rifles, they had managed to make several different prototypes and had slowly worked out some of the problems. The magazine had been seen as a problem, resolving that had taxed all of Hills considerable capabilities, in the end it was a conventional 12 round magazine but one which by locking open the bolt could be reloaded with 6 round stripper clips.
The Farquhar-Hill Mark IV Semi-Automatic rifle which had been ordered was nothing like the SMLE which was now equipping the British Army. It was in almost every regard a better weapon, a gas operated rifle with an intermediate spring it was smooth to shoot and with the higher velocity .28 calibre round it had better ballistics as well. To cap it all off the rifle was equipped with a sophisticated sight system which would allow the trained rifleman to extract the best performance from the system. Overall length was slightly longer than the SMLE but as Wild Tigers were an infantry only force this was not seen as a hinderance.
Farquhar and Hill both knew the rifle was excellent, everyone who had used it agreed, but the British Army was not interested, they had no need for and were in the midst of planning to re-equip themselves with a new rifle which had learnt the lessons of the Boer War.
Britain was not interested, who had the money to take over the order? The substantial deposit was of course forfeit but Hill and Farquhar still needed to sell the rifles to someone.