Editing Webley Revolver (section)

===First World War===
The standard-issue Webley revolver at the outbreak of the First World War was the Webley Mk V (adopted 9 December 1913<ref name=Dowell87_p115>{{harvnb|Dowell|1987|p=115}}</ref>), but there were considerably more Mk IV revolvers in service in 1914,<ref>{{harvnb|Dowell|1987|p=114}}</ref> as the initial order for 20,000 Mk V revolvers had not been completed when hostilities began.<ref name=Dowell87_p115/> They were issued first to officers, pipers and range takers, and later to airmen, naval crews, boarding parties, [[Trench raiding|trench raiders]], machine-gun teams, and [[tank]] crews. They were then issued to many Allied soldiers as a sidearm. The Mk VI proved to be a very reliable and hardy weapon, well suited to the mud and adverse conditions of trench warfare, and several accessories were developed for the Mk VI, including a [[bayonet]] (made from a converted French Gras bayonet),<ref>{{harvnb|Dowell|1987|p=116}}</ref> [[speedloader]] devices (the "Prideaux Device" and the Watson design),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.classic-arms.com/webley/Webley%201915.pdf |title=Webley 1890 |access-date=2011-08-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215222125/http://www.classic-arms.com/webley/Webley%201915.pdf |archive-date=2011-02-15 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=Nigel |last=Utting |url=http://www.utting.org/writing/nvtu/shooting/prideaux-loader.pdf |title=Magazine Loader for Rapidly Loading Revolvers: A historical review |access-date=2011-08-19 |archive-date=2016-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303215034/http://www.utting.org/writing/nvtu/shooting/prideaux-loader.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Dowell|1987|p=178}}</ref> and a stock allowing for the revolver to be converted into a [[carbine]].<ref>{{harvnb|Maze|2002|p=49}}</ref>

Demand exceeded production, which was already behind as the war began. This forced the British
government to buy substitute weapons chambered in .455 Webley from neutral countries. America provided the [[Smith & Wesson Triple Lock|Smith & Wesson 2nd Model "Hand Ejector"]] and [[Colt New Service|Colt New Service Revolvers]]. Spanish gunsmiths in [[Eibar]] made acceptable copies of popular guns and were chosen to close the gap cheaply by making a .455 variant of their 11mm ''M1884'' or ''"S&W Model 7 ONÁ"'' revolver, a copy of the [[Smith & Wesson Model 3|Smith & Wesson ''.44 Double Action First Model'']]. The ''Pistol, Revolver, Old Pattern, No. 1 Mk. 1'' was by [[Garate, Anitua y Cia.]] and the ''Pistol, Revolver, Old Pattern, No.2 Mk.1'' was by [[Trocaola, Aranzabal y Cia.]] [[Orbea|Orbea Hermanos y Cia.]] made 10,000 pistols. [[Rexach & Urgoite]] was tapped for an initial order of 500 revolvers, but they were rejected due to defects.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}