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The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, 'AUGUST 11, 1915. THE MACHINE GUN

TnE advantage held by the Germans in gun' power so far as land fighting is concerned is now generally admitted. That superiority _ is a diminishing quantity, _ but it' has existed from the beginning of the war, and still exists. The whole war machinery of Germany prior to tho war had been brought to an un-. rivalled state of perfection, and the utmost use was made of mechanical appliances for purposes of attack and defence. A good deal has been said recently about the great advantage which thfl possession pI mi iWost unlimited sufiflix ot fflftcjua®

guns has given the German- armies over the British troops. In defensive work- one man with a machine gun can probably do as much damage to tho enemy as a scorc of men armed with rifles, and it is estimated that the Germans have no fewer than 40,000 machine guns from the sea to -the Swiss frontier, which means one of theso deadly weapons for every twenty-five yards. If we are to beat the Germans, our war machinery must be at least equal to theirs in quantity as well as quality- It is not fair to ask our soldiers to fight with inferior weapons. Before the war commenced German military experts had come to tho conclusion that the rifle would not be able to hold its own against the machine gun. Having satisfied themselves that this theory was sound, they proceeded to put it into practice by getting ma- ! chine guns manufactured by the thousand, and when the present struggle began they were far better equipped with them than either Britain, France, or Russia. Men who are able to speak with first-hand knowledge tell us that theso weapons are. being employed with terrible effect. They are convinced that much greater use must be made of them by our troops, and strenuous.efforts arc now being put forth to make up for existing deficiencies in this respect. In an article in tho Daily Mail, Mr. James Dunn records an interesting conversation which he recently had while in Holland with a German of military experience. The German remarked: —

You English are highly elated because the war has proved your men can shoot strai(;hter and quicker than ours. Ob, yes, I admit the fact, but I see little cause for the triumph. A large percentage of the tim.o occupied in training your troops is spont. in teaching them the construction and uso of the rifle, while our men aro boing taught how to handle and serve a machine-gun." "You do not seriously suggest that tho present war will see ail end of the rifle?" asked Mr. Dunm "The present war will see the end of many things as it has seen the birth of many things," he replied, "and although the rifle may not disappear before pence is signed, its doom as the principal arm of infantry is sounded. You may smilo: that is One of tho faults of you English. You invariably fee an absurdity \n a novelty until tlie novelty has become an institution. Oh, yes, I know you will say that j r ou havo boon first in the field with many military inventions, but these inventions wore more on tho lines of inevitable developments -thaji incomplete revolutions. But you will go on improving tho automatic rifle when it ought to be scrapped."

There is a good deal of truth in all this. "Britain is equal i£ riot superior to Germany in science and invention, but the British military authorities have not been so thorough as the Germans in making tho best use of the scientific and .inventive powers of the country, for : military purposes. The result is that we have a lot of lost ground to make up. Our shortage of machine guns is a striking illustration of this fact. Me. Dunn tells us that machine guns aro cheap, the parts are easily duplicated, and thoy take-up little more room than a rifle.' "In modern warfare, and particularly in trench warfare, with its accompaniment of short, swift rushes against barbedwire entanglements, tlio soldier who can firo a hundred shot-3 to his opponent's five has ninety-five chances of coming out of tho struggle unscathed." This may overstate the case for the.machine gun, but the tremendous effect of machine-gun firo has been too fully demonstrated to leavo any room for doubt as to the important part it is playing in tho war. It is satisfactory' to. know that Me. Lloyd George realises tho urgency of the need of depriving the enemy of his superiority in the matter of machine guns with all possible speed. In a recent speech in Parliament lie admitted that there was a shortage, and declared that if he could secure an adequate supply of skilled workmen tho number of these weapons could bo doubled in a few days. He went on to say that most of the slaughter is done by tiese terrible little machiips, and pointed out ffiat it was a vital matter that our troops should have plenty of them without delay, in view of tho fact that the Germans might at any moment swing round from the East and concentrate on our forces. Tho machinery required to make theso guns is available, but it is difficult to find skilled labour to man the workshops. Theso facts, show how important it is that tho industrial forces of the nation should be more completely and thoroughly organised. The strict adherence to labour rules and regulations framed for normal conditions in times of peace may have disastrous consequences if insisted on in tho abnormal circumstances created by war. We can only hope that the Minister of Munitions has now overcome the difficulties which have hitherto prevented tho manufacture of as many machine guns as are needed by our troops. When the supremo crash comes our forces must be equal to the enemy in gun power of every kind. Inferior machinery will result in unnecessary sacrifico of life, and may mean actual defeat.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19150811.2.21

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2537, 11 August 1915, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,008

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, 'AUGUST 11, 1915. THE MACHINE GUN Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2537, 11 August 1915, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, 'AUGUST 11, 1915. THE MACHINE GUN Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2537, 11 August 1915, Page 4

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