Thursday August 29th, 1918
Light duty again but feeling better.
Enemy’s Weapons Training
Today Frank is starting to feel better and the junior officers of the Battalion are being instructed in the use of the enemy’s weapons. This new focus shows the turning tide of the war.
In the early chaotic days of Germany’s Spring Offensive, the Allies lost a significant amount of equipment to the advancing troops. Much of this was redeployed by the enemy and turned on the Allied soldiers. Recent victories over the past couple of months, together with an inexorable advance, have now allowed the Allies to capture significant quantities of German armaments. Enough to warrant training in their use.
The photograph shows men of the 62nd Battalion, Machine Gun Corps returning with captured German Maxim 08/15 (Spandau) machine guns and salvaged rifles from the Battle of Tardenois (22-26 July 1918).*
Another incident was recalled by Burgon Bickersteth in a letter on August 11th, 1918. He wrote, ‘In a wood we reached at the end of the first day we found huts where there had evidently been a Machine-Gun school – everything left by the occupants as it was – and we were able to send back some good maps and papers. We lived in German huts, drank German beer and the men fitted themselves out with any German equipment that came in useful‘.¹
MG 08/15
It is likely that the ‘Light German Machine Gun’ in which the officers are being trained was the MG 08/15.
The MG 08 was a variant of the original 1884 Maxim gun and extensively used at the outbreak of war. The MG 08/15 was a lighter, more portable version developed in 1915 and introduced to the Western Front in 1917. It was designed to be used by four trained infantrymen lying on the ground. While it weighed only 18 kg, it was water-cooled and bulky and quite difficult to use in more than short bursts.
A lighter version was developed for use on aircraft and the MG 08/18, an air-cooled version for the infantry, was introduced in the last months of the war. Despite this the MG 08/15 was the most common German machine gun deployed in WWI.²
The Lewis Gun, by contrast weighed in at almost a third less than the MG 08/15 and was used extensively by all the armed forces.
9th Battalion / Manchester Regiment War Diary – 29th August 1918 – Haudricourt
Bn worked on Bombing Course in C2 Area. Junior Officers Instruction in use of Light German Machine Gun, Map Reading and use of compass, concluding with lecture by CO.2 OR having rejoined from hospital are taken on the strength with effect from 27-8-18. 4 OR are struck off after 7 days in hospital with effect from various dates. 2Lt SE Gwinnell and C Hill MC rejoined from leave to UK. Capt P Darlington MC proceeded on leave to UK.
References & Further Reading
¹ ‘The Bickersteth Diaries, 1914-1918’, edited by John Bickersteth, 1995, Leo Cooper, page 266
² MG 08 on Wikipedia
^ Image licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Attribution: Ziko van Dijk
* Q 11102, copyright Imperial War Museums