Webley Mk VI

Those that are fans of the TV series Blackadder, may remember the penultimate scene of the final episode of ‘Blackadder goes Forth’.  Almost all of the cast are lined up in a frontline trench waiting for the whistles that will send them ‘over the top’ and into ‘no-mans land’.   Captain Blackadder is seen loading his break Action pistol bullet by bullet.  That pistol is a Webley Mk VI.  Lt. George and Captain Darling are similarly armed.  The final poignant scene freezes as the cast charge the waiting German machine guns and fades to a field of poppies.  A very powerful ending.

As its name implies the Mk VI was part of a sequence of evolving revolver designs issued by the British Army.  The first Mk I was issued by Enfield in 1880.  The top break action design was an attempt to introduce ‘self extraction’ of the cartridges, but was initially found to be lacking.  As the frame was hinged, it was inherently weaker than the more traditional full frame design.  Also, the cartridge in the ‘number six’ position had a tendency to catch on the frame and jamb.

Further iterations followed, along the same basic pattern until Webley became involved and introduced their own MK I in 1887.  This culminated in the MK VI which saw service from WWI, through WWII and into Korea.

The Mk VI can be seen in many films and TV series.  Any war film which is the least bit historically correct will feature it somewhere.  including classics such as the Longest Day and  Lawrence of Arabia.  

In Godfather II, the gun that a young Vito Corleone kills the local Don and then breaks into pieces on the roof is a Webley Mk VI.