Vol. IX No. 2

Provisioning the Requirement: Machine Gun Needs of the British Expeditionary Force in France, 1914–1916

Richard Fisher

Abstract

At the outbreak of the First World War, the British Army was in the process of replacing its Maxim machine guns with the Vickers machine gun it had adopted in 1912. Although both weapons were of the same calibre and shared some common accessories, they were not wholly compatible. Furthermore, with the expansion of the British Expeditionary Force and the concomitant need to increase its automatic firepower, the introduction of more machine guns had to be managed with increased demand and complexity, with additional new models introduced as the war progressed. By analysing the war diaries of the lines of communication, this article evaluates the rollout of the Vickers and later models, and the implications their introduction had on logistics, personnel, and organisation across the Force. It is hoped this approach will offer an insight into the prioritisation and decision-making of this critical period, as well as an opportunity to understand the growing importance of the machine gun ahead of the formation of the Machine Gun Corps in October 1915.

Issue: Vol. IX No. 2
Published: 31 December, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52357/armax02039
Peer-reviewed?: Yes

Keywords: Great Britain, Maxim, Lewis, Vickers, machine guns, First World War, Machine Gun Corps

Bibliographic Information

Richard Fisher, ‘Provisioning the Requirement: Machine Gun Needs of the British Expeditionary Force in France, 1914–1916’, Armax: The Journal of Contemporary Arms, Vol. IX № 2 (2023), pp. 21–42, <https://doi.org/10.52357/armax02039>.

About the Author

Richard Fisher is a Research Fellow in the Cranfield Defence and Security Centre for Systems, Simulation and Analytics, where he delivers education to members of the UK’s Ministry of Defence and the wider defence industry. Mr Fisher is also the Founder and Director of the Vickers MG Collection & Research Association, a not-for-profit organisation based in the UK that researches all aspects of military history relating to the Vickers machine gun. This includes regularly firing the Vickers and associated firearms, being one of the few UK organisations that can do so, and in 2022 they conducted a 16-gun ‘company strength’ demonstration of the Vickers to commemorate the centenary of the disbandment of the Machine Gun Corps.