The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles ...

s on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...

in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful ...

s in combat and was subsequently turned into the Tank Corps, later called the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as t ...

. The MGC remained in existence after the war until it was disbanded in 1922.

Formation

St Cassian's Church, Chaddesley Corbett, Worcestershire - Hemming

At the outbreak of the

in August 1914, the tactical potential of

s was not appreciated by the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

. The prevalent attitude of senior ranks at the outbreak of the Great War can be summed up by the opinion of an officer expressed a decade earlier that a single battery of machine guns per army corps was a sufficient level of issue. Despite the evidence of fighting in Manchuria (1905 onwards) the army therefore went to war with each

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions ...

and

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

containing a machine gun section of just two guns. These organic (embedded) units were supplemented in November 1914 by the formation of the

Motor Machine Gun Service The Motor Machine Gun Service (MMGS) was a unit of the British Army in the First World War, consisting of batteries of motorcycle/sidecar combinations carrying Vickers machine guns. It was formed in 1914 and incorporated into the Machine Gun Cor ...

(MMGS) administered by the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, consisting of motor-cycle mounted machine gun batteries. A machine gun school was also opened in France. After a year of warfare on the

some commanders advocated crewing them with specially trained men who not only thoroughly conversant with their weapons but who understood how they should be best deployed for maximum effect. To achieve this, the Machine Gun Corps was formed in October 1915 with Infantry, Cavalry, and Motor branches, followed in 1916 by the Heavy Branch. A depot and training centre was established at Belton Park in

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln a ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, and a base depôt at

Camiers Camiers () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in Hauts-de-France in France. Geography The area of the commune is . The village of Camiers itself is small and stands just inland from the dunes on the south-west and west-facing coast jus ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Branches

The British Army on the Western Front, 1914-1918 Q9001

*The Infantry Branch was by far the largest and was formed by the transfer of battalion machine gun sections to the MGC. These sections were grouped into Brigade Machine Gun Companies, three per

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

. New

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

were raised at Grantham. In 1917, a fourth company was added to each division. In February and March 1918, the four companies in each division were formed into a Machine Gun Battalion. * The

Guards Division The Guards Division is an administrative unit of the British Army responsible for the training and administration of the regiments of Foot Guards and the London Guards reserve battalion. The Guards Division is responsible for providing two b ...

formed its own machine gun support unit, the

Guards Machine Gun Regiment The Guards Machine Gun Regiment was a regiment of the British Army, formed for service in the First World War. When the Guards Division was formed in August 1915, it included three machine gun companies, with a fourth added in March 1917. In Apr ...

. * The Cavalry Branch consisted of Machine Gun Squadrons, one per cavalry

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. ...

. * The Motor Branch was formed by absorbing the

and the armoured car squadrons of the recently disbanded Royal Naval Armoured Car Service. It formed several types of units: motor cycle batteries, light armoured motor batteries (LAMB) and light car patrols. As well as motor cycles, other vehicles used included

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

and

Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...

cars. * The Heavy Section was formed on 1 May 1916, becoming the Heavy Branch in November of that year. Men of C and D Companies of this branch crewed the first tanks in action at the

Battle of Flers-Courcelette A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place be ...

on 15-16 September 1916 and throughout the Autumn. In July 1917, the Heavy Branch separated from the MGC to become the Tank Corps, later called the Royal Tank Regiment.

First World War

The British Army on the Western Front, 1914-1918 Q10324

The MGC saw action in all the main theatres of war, including the

in France and Belgium, Sinai and Palestine Campaign,

Mesopotamian campaign The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, troops from Britain, Australia and the vast majority from British India, against the Central Po ...

, Egypt, Salonika, East Africa campaign and Italian front. In its short history, the MGC gained an enviable record for heroism as a front line fighting force. In the latter part of the war, as tactics changed to

defence in depth Defence in depth (also known as deep defence or elastic defence) is a military strategy that seeks to delay rather than prevent the advance of an attacker, buying time and causing additional casualties by yielding space. Rather than defeating ...

, it commonly served well in advance of the front line. It had a less enviable record for its casualty rate. Some 170,500 officers and men served in the MGC, with 62,049 becoming casualties, including 12,498 killed, earning it the nickname 'the Suicide Club'. While the undeniable bravery and self-sacrifice of the corps stands testament to the men and their regimental esprit de corps it is also a symptom of the fixed belief on the part of senior commanders that machine guns were confined to a marginal if useful role, that of an adjunct to massed rifle fire, ignoring the proven potential of this weapon in the indirect role (in effect rifle-calibre fire employed as ultra-short artillery.) By correctly setting up the same weapons more commonly used in the direct role (over open sights) the delivering of accurate and sustained fire at high elevation became less an art than a science that could reliably deliver plunging fire at approximately twice the maximum effective range of hand-held weapons of identical calibre, but not so convincingly a belief to hold that the machine gunners were in effect hiding behind the front lines while uselessly firing into the air, making a show instead of dying beside riflemen whose weapons used practically identical ammunition. This conviction may explain–from both sides–the persistence with which machine gunners were placed in exposed positions where their fire was only marginally effective but enemy troops could be seen to fall victim to it, and the great personal bravery with which those same men fought when the same enemy concentrated their forces against the greater threat represented by an unsupported sandbag emplacement. As stated by Paul Cornish in ''Machine Guns and the Great War:'' "The theory behind this technique had long been understood... as early as 1908... the mathematical work required to provide a reliable basis for the conduct of such fire was carried out by a group of British enthusiasts at the Hythe musketry school... However, it was 1915 before such fire was successfully carried out in the field..." Cornish goes on "To conduct such fire the proposed target would be located... the relative position of the machine gun relative to it would be determined with ruler and protractor.. calculations would be made to determine the gun's potential cone of fire and the trajectory of its bullets (an important consideration if firing over the head of friendly troops). A clinometer, combined with a graduated elevation dial fitted to the tripod would be employed to set the gun to the correct elevation..." The obvious complexities and the exacting preparations - in effect identical to those of artillery gunners - may have seemed arcane and pointless to those who carried - or whose men carried - rifles firing the same ammunition but could neither see (or more importantly imagine) the terminal effect of a long-range barrage. When properly employed it was unarguably a devastating deterrent, as witnessed by those who took the trouble to seek out the areas interdicted but for those who took the trouble to do so were often regarded uncritical advocates of novel, untried tactics. While in the more sustained direct fire role, properly supported: The 100th Company of the Machine Gun Corps at High Wood on August 24, 1916 was ordered to "give sustained covering fire for 12 hours onto a selected area 2000 yards away in order to prevent German troops forming up there for a counter-attack while a British attack was in progress" The ten machine guns of the company used 100 new barrels and "every drop of water in the neighbourhood, including the men’s drinking water and contents of the latrine buckets, went up in steam to keep the guns cool" . And in that 12-hour period the ten guns fired a million rounds..." Towards the end of the Great War some if not all deeply-entrenched attitudes were changing, and not only on the part of British and Commonwealth personnel. Following the extensive barrage fire at

Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

and Battle of Messines a demonstration was held on the dunes at Camiers by request of

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

Sir Douglas Haig Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War, he commanded the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front from late 1915 unti ...

, Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front, who insisted all his Corps commanders attend. French observers were treated to a similar demonstration, after which the concept was swiftly introduced into the

French Army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

where it was embraced as a means to economise on artillery shells with the extraordinary assertion the results were more demoralising 'by means of continuity' than the result of shelling. Subsequently a machine gun school was established near the site of both demonstrations and machine gun barrages were successfully employed used by the French forces

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...

and

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

Post war

At the end of hostilities, the MGC was re-organised in a smaller form as many of its soldiers returned to civilian life. However, the Corps continued to see active service notably in the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

; the

Third Anglo-Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War; fa, جنگ سوم افغان-انگلیس), also known as the Third Afghan War, the British-Afghan War of 1919, or in Afghanistan as the War of Independence, began on 6 May 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan inv ...

, and the ongoing conflict in the Northwest Frontier of India. The MGC also served prominently in the British force that occupied parts of Germany in the period between the Armistice of 1918 and the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919 as its equipment and training made it possible for a relatively small garrison to control a large population but by 1920 the headquarters in Belton Park was closed and the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

began to dispose of the many buildings. In 1922 the Machine Gun Corps was disbanded as a cost-cutting measure.

Victoria Crosses

The following members of the Machine Gun Corps have been awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previousl ...

(VC), the highest and most prestigious award for valour in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

forces. * Harold Sandford Mugford, April 11th 1917 at

Monchy-le-Preux Monchy-le-Preux () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Monchy-le-Preux is situated southeast of Arras, at the junction of the D33 and the D339 roads. Junction 15 of the A1 autoroute ...

, France *

John Reginald Noble Graham Lieutenant Colonel Sir John Reginald Noble Graham, 3rd Baronet, (17 September 1892 – 6 December 1980) was a British businessman, army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that ...

, April 22nd 1917 at Istabulat, Mesopotamia * Allan Ebenezer Ker, March 21st 1918 near Saint-Quentin, France *

Herbert George Columbine Herbert George Columbine VC (28 November 1893 – 22 March 1918) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth f ...

, March 22nd 1918 at Hervilly Wood, France * Arthur Henry Cross, March 25th 1918 at

Ervillers Ervillers is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A farming village situated south of Arras at the junction of the N17, D36 and D9 roads. History Prehistoric fossils have been found her ...

, France *

William Allison White William Allison White VC TD (19 October 1894 – 13 September 1974) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonweal ...

, September 18th 1918 at

Gouzeaucourt Gouzeaucourt () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It was the scene of fierce fighting during World War I, and is mentioned in the poem "The Irish Guards" by Rudyard Kipling. There are 916 casualties from several nations int ...

, France *

David Stuart McGregor David Stuart McGregor VC (16 October 1895 – 22 October 1918) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. ...

, October 22nd 1918 near Hoogemolen, Belgium

Machine Gun Corps Memorial, London

A memorial to the 15,552 wartime fatalities of the Machine Gun Corps was unveiled on 10 May 1925 by the

Duke of Connaught Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom that was granted on 24 May 1874 by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to her third son, Prince Arthur. At the same time, he was also ...

, at

Hyde Park Corner Hyde Park Corner is between Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair in London, England. It primarily refers to its major road junction at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park, that was designed by Decimus Burton. Six streets converge at the ...

in London. It features a

bronze statue Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as well as bronze elements ...

by Francis Derwent Wood in the Renaissance style, depicting the youthful

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

after his defeat of the giant

Goliath Goliath ( ) ''Goləyāṯ''; ar, جُليات ''Ǧulyāt'' (Christian term) or (Quranic term). is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant defeated by the young David in single combat. The story signified King Sau ...

, an event described in the

Book of Samuel The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Jos ...

; on lower plinths flanking the figure are two bronze models of Vickers machine guns, wreathed in laurels. A short service of remembrance known as the Annual Observance is held on the second Saturday in May at the Memorial, which is organised by the Machine Gun Corps Old Comrades' Association. On

Remembrance Sunday Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in Nov ...

, the second Sunday in November, there is also a wreath laying ceremony held in conjunction with the ceremony at the nearby

Royal Artillery Memorial The Royal Artillery Memorial is a First World War memorial located on Hyde Park Corner in London, England. Designed by Charles Sargeant Jagger, with architectural work by Lionel Pearson, and unveiled in 1925, the memorial commemorates the 49, ...

. Machine Gun Corps.JPG, The "Boy David" Memorial to the Machine Gun Corps in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. MachineGunCorpsInscription.JPG, The inscription on the memorial: "

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

hath slain his thousands but

his tens of thousands" from 1 Samuel: chapter 18, verse 7. MGC Boy David Memorial Rear Inscription.jpg, The inscription on rear of the memorial.

Notable personnel

* :Machine Gun Corps soldiers * :Machine Gun Corps officers

References

Bibliography

* Hutchison, G. S., ''Machine Guns: Their History and Tactical Employment (Being also a History of the Machine Gun Corps, 1916–1922)''. London: Macmillan, 1938. * Russell, Arthur, ''With the Machine Gun Corps from Grantham to Cologne''. London : Dranes, 1923. * Crutchley, C. E., ''Machine Gunner: 1914–1918''. Purnell Book Services, 1975. * Stevens, F. A., ''The Machine Gun Corps: A Short History''. Tonbridge: F. A. Stevens, 1981. * Coppard, George, ''With a Machine Gun to Cambrai''. Cassell Military Paperbacks, 1999. * ''Weapons & War Machines'' - Ian V. Hogg & John Batchelor - Pheobus - 1976 * Cornish, Paul, ''Machine Guns and the Great War.'' Pen & Sword Ltd 2009 * MGC Old Comrades Association *Time Team Series 20 Episode 01 ''The Forgotten Gunners of WWI''

External links

The Machine Gun Corps Old Comrades' Association
* {{cite web , url= http://www.historicaleye.com/findingAlfred2.html , title=The end as the beginning , work=Family history , publisher=Historical Eye , year=2011 — Private Alfred Adams, MGC, killed at Oppy-Gavrelle in 1917 British administrative corps Military units and formations established in 1915 Military units and formations disestablished in 1922 Royal Tank Regiment