Cannot find any stand alone post on these two historical weapons so to add some colour....
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...27b88aad-1.jpg[COLOR="black"]
---------- Post added at 11:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:40 PM ----------
Printable View
Cannot find any stand alone post on these two historical weapons so to add some colour....
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...27b88aad-1.jpg[COLOR="black"]
---------- Post added at 11:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:40 PM ----------
Captured Eng guns 12.6.1914...
Neat little stack of No.23 Mills grenades. Very artistic!
Hadn't thought of the different date-time groupings. Good point!
Would another way of dating the picture be the absence of front volley sight on the SMLE in the centre right of the photo (the most proment rifle in the picture stacked to the right wth the wire cutters)? If my eyesight is correct and the front volley sight is missing then it would be unlikely to be a 1914 dated photo and more like a 1917? Regardless of date, the end result is still the same though, which ever soldiers were issued the kit most likely didn't come to a good end if the other side displays them as a trophy. Thanks for the translation.
Another point could be the inclusion of the Lewis guns. Although they actually existed and were in production in 1914, they may not have trickled down to the mudroller in the field until a bit later (1915?). The RAF had them and they were out there but not in great contract. Weapons appearing suddenly and without a contract or actual possession by a military doesn't mean the world, but it could be an indicator.
Helmets and respirators in December 1914? I think not... I read the year in the date as 1917.
First of all, Germans write dates using day month year format. Secondly, the Brodie helmets, Mills bombs, wire cutters and respirators tell us the picture was taken much later than 1914. Finally, the trees in the background are in bloom which tells us it isn't Winter, and therefore not December 1914.
The date is 12 June 1917. Odds are the weapons were captured during the Battle of Arras, 9 April to 16 May 1917. The Battle of Arras: An Overview | World War I Centenary or, the subsequent flanking operation during June '17 The Battle of Arras: An Overview | World War I Centenary
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...24df1f96-1.jpg
---------- Post added at 11:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:23 PM ----------
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...128e5313-1.jpg
---------- Post added at 11:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:24 PM ----------
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...2c93b3f2-1.jpg
Attachment 60299Attachment 60300
Nice image of the Navy operators and an armourer unit with an ac lewis.
Various imagery of MG crews in posn until the end.
MG1918,
What is that stapped onto the barrel above?
Skirmisher
Auxilary tripod
yes as Brit Plumber says - Sangster auxiliary tripod of which there were 3 patterns. Have a look at the German MG08 thread!! :thup:
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...4isub0j8-1.jpg
---------- Post added at 12:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:11 AM ----------
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...9e3c51be-1.jpg[COLOR="black"]
The second photo is quite well known. It shows Vickers guns fitted to the Colt potato digger tripod.
Brit Plumber Not sure I agree with the potato digger tripod observation. These look to me like vehicle made fittings for the vickers, along with armourer type made ammo box cradles. Main reason being that I think we can see into the back of the vehicle and view the fittings, not 100% clear though, and to the left of the vehicle in the storage box, and on the floor, are the first pattern normal vickers tripod legs. So for ground use simply dismantle gun from vehicle cradle/fittings and put onto the normal cross head and legs. Is there a photo from another angle to confirm or deny?
Mark
There definitely Potato digger tripods. Well at least the heads. They would be much better than the Mkiv because they can elevate about the centre rather than at the front giving much better control.
There are other photos from different angles but I can't find them.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...0mwte5cu-1.jpg[COLOR="black"]