Pictured above is the Vickers .303 inch Machine Gun Mk 1 on a .303 inch Machine Gun Mk IV 'B' Mounting Tripod in its 1914-1918 configuration. Note the Mk 1 muzzle attachment and the emergency mount below the water-jacket. The riveted belt is in position, and is being fed from the No.8 belt box.
The Gun weight is approximately 42.5 lbs with 7.5 pints of cooling water to prevent overheating. The actual mounting weight is 48 lbs. Not only did they have to carry the gun and tripod, the poor soldiers also had to carry the belt boxes, which weighed 22 lbs with 250 rounds of ammunition in each belt.
The Gun weight could vary, according to the type of barrel casing and whether 'lightening' had been carried out. The overall length of the gun was 3 feet 8 inches and it's cyclic rate of fire was between 450 and 600 rounds of ammunition per minute. Therefore, while one member of the eight man gun team carried the gun, another would carry the tripod and the other six would have laden themselves down with belt boxes to be sure they would be able to carry out an effective performance once the gun was set up.
The operation of the gun was recoil and fuzee spring.
The Vickers MK1 belt-fed machine gun, a favorite of the British military, played a crucial role in World War I and World War II. The gun is cooled with a special water-filled jacket. As the water boils, the steam flows out to a collection can, where it condenses back into a liquid for re-use.
The Vickers Gun
The Vickers gun is perhaps the longest serving weapon the Canadian Army has ever fielded. The gun was retired in 1968 - 85 years after the first patents had been taken out. The Vickers was adopted in 1912, named after the company that manufactured it, and replaced the Maxim gun, the standard machinegun of the British Army at that time. The Maxim, like any prototype, had much room for improvement, and Vickers used high grade steels and aluminum to reduce the weight considerably - by almost 25% in fact. The simple act of turning the toggle action upside down reduced the depth of the receiver by nearly half. Though stronger and lighter than the Maxim, the watercooled jacket and heavy tripod still made the Vickers a heavy weapon. Aircooled versions were used in aircraft, and some variants fired .50 calibre and 11mm rounds. The standard gun in Canadian service fired the standard .303 calibre round used in the Lee Enfield rifle and, later, the Bren Gun.
In 1915 and 1916, Canadian infantry battalions were entitled to four machine guns, either the Vickers or the Colt. In August 1916, the battalion MG detachments were reorganized into brigade machinegun companies, armed with 16 Vickers guns. One such company was assigned to every infantry brigade in the Canadian Corps. The battalion machinegun units were increased to 14 Lewis guns and 2 Colt machineguns. In early 1918 the brigade machine gun companies became battalions, and were assigned one MG battalion per division. At first the battalions had three companies, and in May 1918 this increased to four, with a total complement of 96 Vickers Guns.
In fact, the first machinegun units has been developed upon mobilization when Raymond Brutinel, a reservist officer, proposed the creation of a motorized machinegun unit. The Canadian Minister of Defence concurred, and the Canadian Machine Gun Corps was formed. Four batteries were equipped with Colt machine guns and sent to England, where British authorities objected to their use and did not send them to France until June of 1915. In August 1916, these motor machine gun troops became Corps Troops.
During the Second World War, machinegun support was again provided by specialist units. Upon mobilization, one machine gun battalion was assigned to each brigade of infantry; by the time the units went into action, only one machine gun battalion was assigned to each Division. Three machine gun companies, with three machine gun platoons of four Vickers guns each, as well as a heavy mortar company, made up the MG battalion.
In Korea, Vickers Guns were assigned directly to the infantry battalions, in a specialist Vickers platoon.
In addition to direct fire, Vickers Guns were often used indirectly; this type of fire was first used in the First World War. During Operation Veritable in February 1945, Vickers Guns added their fire to the "pepperpot" supporting fire that was used during the largest artillery operation of the Second World War. Vickers Guns had also "thickened" the barrages leading up to the assault on Vimy Ridge in April 1917.
Chipyong-ni, Korea, February 1951. A Vickers .303 machine-gun in action against the Chinese, manned by Sergeant Chaperlin, 3 RAR.
