MACHINE GUNS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2853, 18 August 1916, Page 6

MACHINE GUNS

SIXTEENTHS AT BATTLE PRACTICE

USING THE LEWIS GUN

(By Will Lawson.)

Tho battle practice of the machinegun sections of infantry in training is hold on tho banks of tho Ruamahanga River, which flows at the baso of tho. hills about two miles from Papawai Cauip. The Ruamahanga is an eartheating river. It rises in its wratlf on slight provocation and sweeps its low banks, like those on the Papawai side; and when it subsides there is nothing left of any earthworks the machinegunners or Engineers may have made. It was owing to a flood of this kind that tho battle practice of the. machineguns of the Sixteenth Reinforcements was not as elaborato as had becu planned. • All their earuiworks emplacements, and redoubts Wire, washed away." As tho day of the mimic battle had been fixed, hastily-made earthworks had to be used, and this was good training for men who will often, in real warfare, see their fine ,earthworks blown to the skies. , Scene,cf Action. It was a still, sunny day, with a feeling of.spring in the air. The Hills beyond the rivor looked warm with- sunshine, and on the Wei land at Papawai the warmth was drying the wet turf. Rare boughs were still to be seen, but there - was greenery in plenty. Above the green of the' grass near the river, scores of red flags, on. short staves, floated in tho clear air. Somewhere in that flagged area was a machinegun section of 50 men and five machineguns. But except lor a few men in groups about field telephones, there was little of this force to be seen. And, for purposes (if training, 'tliese groups at the tejophovies were supposed to bo underground, too. The red flags marked definite pathways' from telephones to gun emplacements, and these pathways represented trenches. . Tlioy did not run straight tc the guns, cither, but zig-zagged about a good deal, so that tho supposed trenches could not be swept by the eiiwnyV fire. Several hundred yards back from these trenches was Brigade Headquarters, ' from which the whole of tho operations'were controlled. From there to Regimental Headquarters ran telephono wires,- and from Regimental Headquarters tlio orders were carried to the guns by messengers in khaki. The Hidden Cuns. The machine guns—Maxim, Vickers, and Lewis guns—were well hidden. Each emplacement consisted of a trench running parallel with tho rivor, and deep enough for a man to stand upright in without being seen by tno enemy, whoso trenches, represented by sheep tracks on the lower slope of tho Mils, were across the rivor. Branching off from this trench was the underground emplacement of the gun. _■ It ran towards the river, and 1 was just big enough to allow two men to crouch, or lie behind the-gun. 'The gun's muzzle was thrust through a- small hole, and outside the hole a canvas blind was hung, with a string leading into the emplacement, so that tho gunners could raise the blind when they opened fire. The one Lewis gun used l in the battle practice was not in an emplacement, as this-type of gun is used somewhat as a riflo is used. It has two short legs to its barrel, to rest on a ledge in the trench, and a stock, like that of a rifle. Its trigger, too, is like a rifle trigger. When the Lewis opens fire it is worked hy one gunner, who sights it like a rifle and holds the trigger firmly for as long as he wishes the rapid fire to continue. The Field of Fire. f Each guii has a field of fire. At Brigade and Regimental Headquarters a sketch of the whole field l of fire is kept, with the, positions of the-guns and their zones of fire shown by radiating linos, with tho' gun muzzles as the points where the radiating lijies converge. The points where the lines touch the enemy's trenches were all named. For example, those that could be raked hy the fire of No. 2 gun were callcd Willow Wood, An/.ac, Lone Tree, ! Hohenzollern Redoubt, and Berlin Gorge. And, in addition to their names, each had> a letter, in this instance, A, B, C, D, E. An order came from Brigade Headquarters which ran, "G.O.C. brigade wishes enemy prevented from completing new line of trenches from AVillow Wood to Bluff, as far as possible." At Regimental Headquarters this order was split into four parts, and cach part was condensed. So that the message carried by a fleet-footedi messenger, who ran between the ,red flags to No. 2 gun, was, -"No. 2 ghn engage D." In an instant the. order was repeated by a man in the trench to gunners in the emplacement. Then the heavy, throbbing stutter of a Maxim beat on the stillness, to bo echoed from the three other emplacements. D was the Hohenzollorn Redoubt, and if the decision had rested with No. 2 gun's crew, that would have been the end of the Hohenzollerns. Dust rose from the redoubt across tho river, showing where the bullets had) found their mark. Rapid Fire. When the throbbing clatter of the guns had made one realise a little of what tho din of battle must be like, the order came to cease fire. It must Da mentioned that in' actual practice there are always two or more guns in each emplacement. In No. 3 gun position there were two guns,' in the battle practice of tho Sixteenths. One was a Lewis gun. Presently the order came, "All guns engage D; rapid fire!" Then tho uproar became deafening, and through it tho car could detect a high, light note, more rapid and penetrating than the major sound. This was tho Lewis gun's addition to . the din. Across tho rivor the effects of the bullots could bo seen, and the empty cartridges were pumped out by tho guns in a steady stream. But messengers were running towards the' guns again, nnd in a few moments silence roigned. The Lewis Cun. "Does she kick much?" an onlooker asked the sturdy, calm, young soldier who was working the Lewis. It had been noticed that during the Tapid firo the lad's .shoulder had been shaking and throbbing at each discharge.' But ho answered: ' "Kick? Not a bit. Sho's as sweet as a nut." Ho removed an empty, circular, flat pan, in which the cartridges had been held, and Kited another in place, ready for tho next round. Tliore was not- a long delay. It was rapid fire again. Tho gunner pulled his trigger. There was no discharge. He had not pulled back the slide which gives the compression for tho first discharge. With a rapid movement it was done, and tlfo light, swift sound began, wliilo cartridge cases streamed out of tho breach.

Tlio principle of the Lewis _ is one wliich was used in tlio Hotchkiss and Colt machine-guns. A portion of the gases fronu.the discharge is diverted, and, rushing back through a tube, works the mechanism of the gun. Tho barrel proper is %side a wide, bell-

mouthed outer barrel,-which gives tho gun tho appearance of an old Brown Bess or arquebus. The Lewis gun is air-cooled, instead of having a waterjackot, like other types of machineguns, and the air circulates botweeu the two barrels. Its mobility and the fact that it is a one-maa weapon are features that have caused it to bo widely used by the. Allied armies.