THE PATTERN ROOM
COLLECTION
By
Rod Woods
Every arms collector has their own
‘mecca’ to which they aspire to visit before they shuffle off.
It could be the QE II Army Museum, the Australian War Memorial, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian, Springfield Armory, the
Cody Firearms Museum, the Royal Armouries, the Imperial War Museum,
the Liege Arms Museum, the Tojhusmuseet, or any one of a number of
other outstanding collections in the World, each with their own
speciality. For collectors of military small arms of the last 200
years, that ‘mecca’ is the Pattern Room collection.
Rod Woods with PEDERSON DEVICE equiped SPRINGFIELDOriginally, the Pattern Room housed the collection of approved models of military firearms which were manufactured for the British Military, and was located at the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield, in north London. These approved models had a wax seal affixed to them and were known as ‘sealed patterns’, their purpose being to ensure that a uniform and interchangeable supply of parts and weapons were manufactured. The collection was also augmented by the ongoing addition of foreign weapons and designs, so the British designers could keep abreast of foreign developments.
The late Herbert J Woodend, MBE,
became the custodian of the collection in 1967 and embarked on his
crusade to make the collection the most complete ‘library’ of
military firearms in the World. Herb established a large number of
contacts and proceeded to buy and trade with auction houses, museums,
collectors and manufacturers from all corners of the globe. His
assistance and knowledge was legendary, and his name can be found in
the credits of almost all of the authoritative gun books. I never
had the pleasure of meeting him, but he was always prompt and
courteous in replying to my research enquiries. Herb was born in
1943 in the village of Kilrea, Northern Ireland, and had a love of
firearms from an early age. Curiously, Kilrea was home to my own
paternal ancestors – there must be something in the water! Sadly,
Herb passed away in 2003 but his legacy lives on.
In the late 1980’s, the fate of the
Pattern Room collection hung in the balance during the time of the
closure of the RSAF Enfield and the transfer of assets to British
Aerospace, the subsequent manufacturing contractors for UK small
arms. There was even a call from some zealots within Parliament to
have the entire collection de-activated by cutting, grinding, and
welding! Fortunately, sanity prevailed and, after a brief period
with British Aerospace in Nottingham, the entire collection was
transported to Leeds under the auspices of the Royal Armouries which
have been re-established there in modern purpose-built surroundings.
Unlike the fabulous and truly comprehensive Royal Armouries
collection which is open to the public, the Pattern Room collection
is now part of the National Firearms Centre which exists for Military
and Police research purposes only. Luckily, when the charter for the
NFC was established, provision was made for study visits by suitably
recognized individuals.
Entry to the collection can be applied
for by contacting the Royal Armouries in Leeds and advising them of
your background and collecting interests (giving references where
possible) and the date of your proposed visit. If they are
agreeable, you will receive confirmation and contact details for your
arrival. Without going into detail, I can confirm that the security
requirements are very thorough and multi-layered, a perfectly
understandable precaution when you are going into a ‘hands-on’
situation with 17,000 fully-operational military small arms!
My wife, April, and I were met at
reception by Richard Jones, originally Herb Woodend’s successor and
now employed by the NFC. Richard, a very knowledgeable and helpful
gentleman with an acerbic wit, hidden behind a slightly dour
countenance, escorted us through the security procedures. I should
mention that I had to obtain special permission to take my camera as
photos are not normally permitted, and special conditions apply when
that permission is granted. We were issued with a set of white
cotton gloves each and taken into the collection room.
What a room! It is about 25 metres
wide and 50 metres long with the front part of the floor taken up
with row after row of tripod-mounted machine guns, then large tables
covered in LMG’s, steel plan cabinets laden with handguns, and
finally rows of double-height, back to back rifle racks. One whole
long wall was covered in SMG’s, and an adjoining board room was
lined with sectioned weapons of all types. Before we looked at the
specific weapons that I was researching, Richard took us for a 2 hour
familiarization tour, stopping every few feet to examine particularly
rare or interesting pieces. One such example was as we were
strolling through the myriad of plan cabinets that housed the pistol
collection. Richard stopped and opened a drawer that was laden with
Lugers of many models and variations (the entire cabinet was devoted
to the Luger). He said “This might interest you” and handed me,
an otherwise ordinary, WW1 4 inch barreled Erfurt Luger, serial
number 1 !
As our tour continued, Richard warmed to his task and went
out of his way to dazzle us with example after example of
unbelievably rare firearms, which we were able to handle and examine.
For the benefit of April he produced a magnificent cased set, in
near new condition, of a pair of 1860 Colt Army revolvers that were
presented by Samuel Colt to his Sheffield steel supplier for Colt’s
London factory.
After a pleasant lunch in the Royal
Armouries cafeteria, we returned to the NFC to examine the specific
firearms that I had requested. The first of these was the famous De
Lisle silenced Commando carbine, and the example I handled and
photographed was the same gun that is pictured in Ian Skennerton’s
two books on the subject. The second gun was the mysterious Welrod
pistol, a fully silenced assassination weapon that was developed by
the SOE in WW2 and dropped into occupied countries for resistance
use. The Welrod has the dubious distinction of having killed more
Nazi officers in WW2 than any other issue handgun! Not only did I
examine the .32 ACP Mk IIA model (the one most commonly used) but I
also examined the prototypes, the 9mm Mk I, and the US Hand Firing
Device which is more commonly known as the sleeve gun. The Welrods
were fitted with radium-painted luminous sights (the same as your
wristwatch) and, despite the fact that they were more than 60 years
old, the health & safety freaks had them labeled with “Warning,
radioactive substance”!
The Besal LMG was a WW2 development of
a simplified Bren-style gun, specifically designed for low-cost,
high-speed production in the event of bomb damage to the existing
Bren production facilities. Fortunately, the Bren production
continued without damage and the Besal design was never needed. Only
two Besals were made, and very little has been published about their
design. My interest in this gun was to do with a future article on
WW2 emergency designs, and I was interested in the simplified
internal mechanism. Richard told me, during my external examination
of the gun, that the Pattern Room had no photographs of the internal
parts. I was given the honour of stripping the gun and examining the
parts in detail before laying them out for photography, Richard
taking the official photos and me snapping away with my camera.
We spent the rest of the day carefully
handling a great many very rare firearms, including a Springfield
M1903 rifle fitted with a Pedersen Device, Gatling, Gardner, and
Nordenfelt guns, early and experimental SMG’s including a Mk I
Sten, and a number of prototype semi-automatic rifles from the
1890’s. We were privileged to have had the opportunity to visit
the collection, which was made all the more enjoyable by the courtesy
extended to us by Richard Jones and other staff members.
If you are contemplating a visit to
the UK, a visit to the Royal Armouries at Leeds is a must, even for
the non-collecting members of the family. The quality of the
displays and the history portrayed is of interest to young and old,
and will not soon be forgotten. If you have a specific interest and
wish to visit the Pattern Room collection, then make application in
plenty of time (two or three months) before you leave New Zealand.
Membership of the NZ Antique & Historical Arms Association is a
definite advantage in establishing your credibility and ‘bona
fides’ as a person who may qualify for admission. You can arrange
everything by e-mail if you visit the Royal Armouries website:
www.royalarmouries.org.
NFC Jonathon Freguson Interview
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