Lucky escape.

[PhilHannah]

In 1916, William Napier of the Black Watch was firing his machine gun towards German positions when his gun jammed. When he inspected it he found a German Rifle bullet had pierced one of the bullets in his ammo belt.. hence the stoppage.

1D Mk2 28-135mm Is

[AV Mode]

Is this for real ??? or a real good setup ;)
Did William Napier survive to tell the story, any witnesses?
Was the glove also found on the site?

Lots of questions, waiting for your answers.

Cheers

[98photo]

even if the story is false, the image is really cool!

[Titus213]

Cool shot and amazing story.

Since he inspected the gun to see why it failed I would expect he survived (at least this incident). I would also assume the round is on display somewhere and the gloves are used to protect it from the oils on the hand so it doesn't corrode more.

[AV Mode]

Cool shot and amazing story.

Since he inspected the gun to see why it failed I would expect he survived (at least this incident). I would also assume the round is on display somewhere and the gloves are used to protect it from the oils on the hand so it doesn't corrode more.

Dave,

You got the logic alright, I'm still wondering if it's a true story though.
The bullet must had been at the end of its velocity ??? if this is true that is.

Cheers

[Pete]

Pretty amazing how the machine gun shell didn't explode after being pierced by that bullet...

[MrsKitty]

Damn neat story and pic!

[speedy_2]

Awesome. I bet no one could do that even if they tried!

[PhilHannah]

Is this for real ??? or a real good setup ;)
Did William Napier survive to tell the story, any witnesses?
Was the glove also found on the site?

Lots of questions, waiting for your answers.

Cheers

No this is for real. It was in collection recently handed into a museum

I was covering this for an article.

Even better (or maybe not better) William Napier was also hit in his steel helmet -The bullet put a hole in hit, richochet down his back grazing him slightly.

I will start a new thread with this.

(the gloves are worn by museum assistants with all exhibits.)

The story goes that at the dressing station Napier he took off his boot and the bullet fell out.. whether that bit is true I dont know but all the other stuff has been documented.

It was not uncommon for a soldier to be saved by a bullet hitting a Cigarette case or his bible, so he is not unique. There was so much lead flying about strange things did happen.

William Napier was later severely wounded, but he survived the war, passing away in 1976.

[AccidentalArt]

Brass doesn't spark is part of the reason it didn't ignite. If the temp had been right it might have, but apparently wasn't.

[ctymom]

Very cool! Great story!

[storeman]

I'm no firearms expert but I do know that bullets can take a lot of misuse and rough handling without danger as long as the percussion cap is not hit. I don't think the velocity of the round would have made a lot of difference except if it hit immediately after being fired when the temperature of the round may have ignited the cordite.

[beachgirl]

That is a great story. Cool picture too. Thanks for sharing