OUR DEADLIEST WEAPON

Evening Star, Issue 16777, 4 July 1918, Page 8

OUR DEADLIEST WEAPON

;I:if!EHIB;'^MAN-STOPPER" GUNS. g!i j f ; iiffp:l : Mi3al weapons tho machine gun the most efficient " manJsjSo|iW..*.-; .Probably" the greater proportion jsf 'the enonnous losses recently suffered by *:Qiel!Qetnians'.'wsre' caused by this weapon: |Sir»Vityps of niachine gun "in the hands of operator has the 'same destructive ;.effec* upon men moving in massed forma--'.ticat 1 aa.'.a keen-edged.scythe has in a Held of iripened corn. It cute broad swathes. /■Ncihing can stand against it. The fttne>tw>i& of heavy artillery is to put up long':d.iataoce barrages and'hammer back areas. -Mostlv the targets upon which this eort ■'c-£ .ordnance is laid are out of the sight of all except aerial observers. But when ■the'■attack rolls on to close quarters the "heavies" fall back, and the 18-pounders ■ and'th* machine guns get their chanceOf the'latter there" are many types, such as the' Lewis, the .Maxim, the Ylckt>r.s and'the Botch-kiss. All are wry mobile. •They can be moved from one place to another'expeditiously, advantage being taken of any cover that offers, Each class <n machine gun. has with it a squad ot about 1(1 men. Should these find themseivos pressed too close!y, they pick up the:r Weapon, fall back with it, and reopen lire upon.'the enemy from the next favorat>:e position. One often hears it said in the field that one well-handled machine gun is worth a '. whole battalion, of men armed with titles. And there is some truth in the assertion. Porwhila comparatively few soldiers can. keep', up their 15 rounds 'per minute rapid fire.with a rifle, a machine gun can discharge 600 rounds in this brief period, nod the ""Tickers can get off 1.600 without stopping. Bullets pour from the nm zr.os of ' these guns in a rapid, devastate.: 'stream, and as they use the same kind a: ammunition as rifles'there exists no cliflicultv in keeping them' fed. The Lewis sun is the most mob i.e. <>f all.' One man fires it. loosinz 47 rounds 'in succession. Beside him is another man, who puts on fresh travs of ammunition'as required, the change being made ,n a couple of seconds. .Meanwhile otaer men ■are hard at work rilling trays and. passing them on for use. has an ehe>--tive ''range of about 1.2C0 yards, and can be fired either from a stand or a pari'.pW, .the gunner putting the piece to his shoulder as he pulls the trigger.

Maxims and Tickers are fired from a tripod, the gunner squatting, with legs straddled, on the around behind them and pressing a key. So long as lie does this the gun continues streaming out dentil with a "r-r-r-ripping' sound, as the belts, each of which holds 250 cartridges, fly : through it. Clipping tho handles with ; both hands, the pinner moves his weapon ~ backwards and forwards, playing on the . advancing troops as a fireman plays a hoso" , upon a burning building, and yio men thus ( attacked go down in heaps. j, A well-served machine gun is the most - formidable thing attacking battalions have ; to face, for it is not the front ranks alone ( that srffer. At anything approaching close , ratijea the bullets -will so through the ( front-rank men, after*, through the second ( rank too. and will kill or wound those ini- • mediatelv behind them. Guns of this kind ; cm bo tised for putting up barrages, wild \ it is possible to attack with them targets ( one cannot see. The Hotchkiss differs , from some, other machine guns in that it i ti-es .'ingle shots at the rate of 100 per ( minute,, "and can keep this up almost in- . (Wini'dy. while the movement of a lever . converts it instantly for repetition fire. ] As is generally "known, machine guns j p:-n h:i*i.'elv used in aeroplanes, particularly i"'e Lev.-:3 and the Tickers type. The nnm" ; her of them emploved by cavalry and in- . f ntrv grows rapidlv. . When" the war began wo had two r'lt.hine gms to each infantry battalion. . A ;.v.v r.-e have mnnv more. In addition, a . r-ocinl odarhine " Gun Corps has been • f-i-rmd, and will henceforth take perma- . ;>■■"!t nheo amccig our Army units. In ■ ; •{, the part which tho machine gun plays ; ;•- all theatres of war, more particnlarly i. • the western front, is one of continually :•■ TOiising importance. Already it has pat . ■ ■■' nf action more men than probably ■ ■ v oWcr kind of artillery in use there. : 1 ■ a fille- of trraveayrds and hospital'-, , 'i ]\ri\'U ;i wp-e'mineni position on both j - : .<- of lue'liue-"-—" G.L.." in the 'Daily