Military firearms in colonial Western Australia 
85 
Figure 13 The ownership marks of the W.A. Defence Force, 1893 - 1903. The initials "W A" are stamped with 
individual punches on the right side of the butt of a Martini-Metford Mark I rifle, W.A. Pattern. (Photo D. 
Elford). 
the Colonial Secretary regarding his inspection of 
the new Fremantle corps which mustered 53 NCOs 
and men (not counting 19 unavoidably absent from 
parade). They were imperfectly equipped, being 
short of about 40 pouches and some belts which 
could not be made at the Prison due to shortage of 
material. Regarding arms Harvest wrote: 
"They have at present 50 Enfield Rifles and some old 
smooth-bore muskets I lent them from the Pensioner 
Store - they ought to be armed with rifles of one 
uniform pattern - I recommend that 72 Stand of 
Martini-Henry long Rifle / steel barrel / complete 
with Bayonets etc., be procured for them as speedily 
as possible".” 
In a marginal note, Harvest clarifies the "72 
Stand" as "68 Long for the Rank and File and 4 
Short for Sergeants", which, since the Martini- 
Henry did not have a short model, betrays 
Harvests unfamiliarity with the new arm. He 
continues with an order for "12,000 ball and 3000 
Blank Rds" of ammunition for the Martini-Henrys. 
Included with this order is a discussion of the 
Figure 14 The ownership marks of the W.A. Defence Force, 1900 - 1903. This mark is stamped on the right side of 
the butt of a Magazine Lee-Speed rifle. Note the mismatched letter punches used. (Photo D. Stein). 
