Reply to Thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Dumpstick" data-source="post: 3896936" data-attributes="member: 41653">My late Gfather was a machine gunner in WW1.&nbsp; He was wounded in France 3 days prior to the Armistice, and carried shrapnel in his leg to the the end of his days.&nbsp; I think he was selected as a MG Gunner because he was rather large for his day - about 6&#039;2&quot;, over 200 lb.Remember, MG tactics were fairly new at that time. MGs were used more as artillery than Anti-personnel weapons.&nbsp; note I&#039;m not saying that MGs weren&#039;t used in the AP role, just that more often they were used as a long-distance harassing fire.They trained on the Colt-Browning M1895.&nbsp; When they got over there, all the 1895s were taken away (more likely the guns never made it there), and they were given that French POS to use - the Chauchat.He hated it. The Chauchat was eventually replaced with the Hotchkiss, at least for his unit.&nbsp; He was using the Hotchkiss when he was wounded - at the same time his remaining 2 team members were killed by an artillery airburst.He said that he used the corpses as further protection -&nbsp; pushing them up on the lip of the position.&nbsp;He was there, by himself, wounded, for 2 days before being relieved/rescued (he couldn&#039;t walk) by his unit.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dumpstick, post: 3896936, member: 41653"] My late Gfather was a machine gunner in WW1. He was wounded in France 3 days prior to the Armistice, and carried shrapnel in his leg to the the end of his days. I think he was selected as a MG Gunner because he was rather large for his day - about 6'2", over 200 lb. Remember, MG tactics were fairly new at that time. MGs were used more as artillery than Anti-personnel weapons. note I'm not saying that MGs weren't used in the AP role, just that more often they were used as a long-distance harassing fire. They trained on the Colt-Browning M1895. When they got over there, all the 1895s were taken away (more likely the guns never made it there), and they were given that French POS to use - the Chauchat. He hated it. The Chauchat was eventually replaced with the Hotchkiss, at least for his unit. He was using the Hotchkiss when he was wounded - at the same time his remaining 2 team members were killed by an artillery airburst. He said that he used the corpses as further protection - pushing them up on the lip of the position. He was there, by himself, wounded, for 2 days before being relieved/rescued (he couldn't walk) by his unit. [/QUOTE]

Verification