help needed, british fork
 

Hello

can you tell me more about this item ?
probably BEF 1940

but, the number does not match with RAOC.... ??

thanks for answers
cordially
Didier
http://img1.imagilive.com/0118/afork_OK.jpg

I cannot read the number clearly from your photographs. Is it 10148173?

Hello High Wood

Yes: 10148173

Didier

There is no particular reason that this number should match the RAOC.

Soldiers in every unit put their number on their equipment.

The number 10148173 shows that the original owner was in the Militia. The Militia being those soldiers who were conscripted in 1939, but before the war began. So, it is very likely that the owner was in the BEF. As far as I know "Militiamen" were in most units.

The Militia number "block" ran from 10,000,001 to 10,350,000.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia_(United_Kingdom) - scroll down to 1939.

I have just checked that link and found it faulty. In case it is not just a problem with my computer, here is what it says about the 1939 Militia:

"The militiamen

The name was briefly revived in the Military Training Act 1939, in the aftermath of the Munich Crisis. Leslie Hore-Belisha, Secretary of State for War, wished to introduce a limited form of conscription, not known in peacetime Britain since the militia of the early 19th century and previously. It was thought that calling the conscripts 'militiamen' would make this more acceptable, as it would render them distinct from the rest of the army. Only single men aged 20 up to the day before their 22nd birthday were to be conscripted, for six months full-time training before discharge into the reserve (with a free suit of civilian clothing). Although the first intake was called up in late July 1939, the declaration of war on 3 September entailed implementation of full-time conscription for all men aged 18–41, superseding the militia, never to be revived."

Hello

many thanks for explanations !!

cordially
Didier