It was possible that relatively significant stocks of Model 1874 Gras rifles were seized from Belgian gun dealers at the time of the German invasion to prevent the German troops of capturing them. These Gras rifles and bayonets were coming from a reserve of arms from the Ministry of Belgian Colonies. At the time he wrote this text, he could only put forward three working-hypotheses: 1. All are armed with the Model 1874 French Gras rifle.Īfter these two interesting passages the author asked himself the following question: From where did these Model 1874 French Gras rifles come? The author had no answer to this question. Taken at the beginning of the period when the Belgian Army used the French camp Auvours, this photograph shows a group of Belgian soldiers characterized by a large variety of head-gear representing units such as line regiments, carabineers, chasseurs à pied, and carabineers-cyclists. It is noteworthy that both of them are equipped with two ammunition pouches (full of cartridges, some are even lying on the ground at their feet) whereas a Belgian soldier who was armed with the Mauser rifle model 1889 had only one ammunition pouch.įigure 3. Both of them are armed with a Gras rifle, Model 1874 with bayonets affixed.
His companion is equipped with a coat and a cap, both of which are proper for the line infantry. This identifies him as belonging to the 5th Line regiment. The soldier in Figure 1 isn’t wearing an overcoat but one can clearly see the number “5” on his shako. Note that they are equipped with two ammunition pouches (probably French) whereas a Belgian infantryman was normally equipped with only one. Both are armed with the Model 1874 French Gras rifle with the bayonet fitted to the barrel. This picture is an exceptional historical document because it shows two Belgian volunteers of the 5th Line Regiment as they were when they joined their unit on October 15, 1914. The passage in the book follows:įigure 1.
In the afternoon of that day, the 5th and the 25th Line Regiments received the order to encamp near the town of Ramscapelle (Western Flanders).
The first is to be found on page 89 where the (unknown) author narrates the events of the regiment on October 15, 1914. In it, there are two traces of the use of the Gras rifle by the Belgium Army. This book tells the story of the 5th Line Regiment. The earliest written evidence of the use of this rifle (and its bayonet of course) by the Belgium Army that the author has found is recorded in a book entitled Geschiedkundig Overzicht der 5de, 15de en 25ste Linieregimenten (“A Historical Summary of the 5th, the 15th and 25th Line Regiments”). It was developed from 1872 to 1874 as a response to the German adoption of the Mauser Model 1871undefined metallic cartridge rifle.Modified in 1880 as the M80 with an improved breechblock and in 1914 as the M14 to accommodate the 8×50mmR Lebel smokeless powder cartridge, the Gras was replaced as the standard-issue service rifle by the Lebel in 1886.įew WWI collectors and historians know that the French Gras rifle was used in the Belgian frontline during the first battles at the river Yser against the German troops. Designed by Colonel Basile Gras, the Gras was a metallic cartridge adaptation of the single-shot, breech-loading, black powder Chassepot rifle. The Fusil Modèle 1874 or Gras was the French Army's primary service rifle from 1874 to 1886.
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