Machine Gun Pamphlet Compendium

Issued by the General Staff in 1916-18, and reprinted in a single facsimile volume by the Naval and Military Press, these four booklets give instructions on the use of machine guns in various different wartime situations. ‘Notes on the Employment of Machine Guns in Desert Warfare in Egypt’ issued in December 1916 is self explanatory, dealing as it does with the obvious difficulties of maintaining and firing firearms in hostile desert terrain. There are notes on protecting the mechanism of the guns from sand, as well as on such subjects as dealing with serious stoppages, transport and supply, and building machine gun emplacements. ‘Notes and Rules for Barrage Fire with Machine Guns was issued in May 1917, and, with the assistance of diagrams, shows how to deny ground to the enemy by sweeping the area with a machine gun barrage. ‘Infantry machine-gun Company Training’ gives complete instructions for the organisation and structure of a Machine Gun company, with chapters on drill, fire direction, and machine guns in battle `and appendices on such subjects as trajectory, and wind directions, ‘machine-gun Squadron Drill’, issued in February 1918 is an addendum to ‘machine-gun Training’ dealing specifically with drilling a squadron of three sections, each manning four guns. Clear and to the point, these booklets provide fascinating reading for anyone interested in the evolution of the machine-gun in the Great War.