Second gun. Made by an armourier in La Fert-Mac, on the river Orne, in the greater Normandy region south of Caen.
There are Duhail's listed in the region's war-dead. I haven't yet found an armourier in the district but surely that gun was assembled by Duhail. Here is a newspaper record of Marcel Duhail, listed as a general repairer (hardware store) in the area in 1933. (I don't feel like paying to read the article:
There is a gold inscription on the trigger guard. Hardware stores across France did this sort of thing...they'd put their name on it when local aristocracy bought enough guns from them. The Customer's initials appear to be "LG". Engraving is pretty nice (and Ted does not like gold on guns). Can't say much else.
For the record I've recorded Duhail's mark in my building data of French marks:
Looks like Marcel Duhail was involved in the French Resistance in the region in the group led by Almire Viel....real Maquisards:
Cherchant par tous les moyens agir- ne l'a-t-on pas inform qu'un gnral franais avait parl la radio britannique ?- il rallie au cours de l'anne 1941 un petit noyau de patriotes form principalement autour d'Almire Viel, de Marcel Duhail, Gilbert Matrejean et Raymond Guillais. En juillet 1943, le groupe de la Fert-Mac adhre l'OCM et ne tarde pas prendre de l'extension. Joseph Ruest participe avec ses camarades la constitution de dpts d'armes, la distribution de faux papiers pour les rfractaires au STO mais aussi au sauvetage de l'aviateur amricain William Howell, survivant d'une forteresse volante.He may still be alive....there's a 2015 telephone number for Marcel Duhail. If you are interested in the history of the gun, I am sure that a letter to the Mayor of La Fert-Mac would yield interesting results.
