Australian Gun Culture Part 13: Maxim Memorial, Ben Hall Wall

Ammoland ^ | 17 August, 2017 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Driving south from Quirindi in the Gunnedah Shire in New South Wales, Australia, there is a war memorial.

It started as a war memorial for the Great War of 1914 to 1918, World War II and Vietnam were added later. The names of the dead and those who served are reverently listed.

On top is a Maxim machine gun. A few parts are missing. I could not determine if it was a captured gun or one used on the side of the British and Australians.

It struck me as being remarkably complete, though there were layers of thick paint and I could not see the internals.

I seldom see machine guns in memorials in the United States, though artillery pieces and tanks are common.  There were several variants of the Maxim. It was a very successful machine gun, used for many wars, with improved versions in the Vickers and the German MG08.

The Australians are a patriotic folk who admire their servicemen and women.

The memorial likely contains a number of useful Maxim parts. The Australians have a very low crime rate, especially in the country. It is nice to see this memorial remain unmolested.

On the same road, next to the war memorial is a memorial to one of Australia's great bush rangers, Ben Hall. An Australian bush ranger is rather like an American Jesse James, without the Civil War. In Australia, Jesse James is considered an American bush ranger.

[marktwain]

Maxim machine guns changed the face of warfare.

[naturalman1975]

I’m thinking that under the paint that is a Vickers machine gun which would make sense. The smooth jacket would make it a late model gun in World War I terms (smooth jackets also appeared on some of the World War II era Vickers).