@historicalfirearms / www.historicalfirearms.info
Was the M1909 Benét Mercié Machine gun fielded by any nation on a significant amount, if any, during WWI.
Yes. The US Army used them extensively for training. The British Army had them in service as the Hotchkiss Portative Mk1 & Mk1*, they equipped cavalry regiments and were also mounted in some tanks.
Here's a video I did on them:
During the First World War Germany struggled to produce its own tanks, with no more than 20 A7Vs being built, instead the Imperial German Army made liberal use of captured allied tanks.
The British Army's first dedicated infantry anti-tank weapon was a rifle grenade. Rifle grenades became extremely popular during the First World War and when the tank threat emerged a rifle grenade seemed like the ideal answer.
Watch the video below:
Check out the accompanying article for this video at www.armourersbench.com.
I've saved up a few parcels with some new additions to the TAB reference collection and I thought I'd bring you along for the ride. The manuals we'll be taking a look at span about 60 years of British Army doctrine and weapons.
There's some quite interesting and rare stuff here. Ranging from a 1917 Hotchkiss light machine gun manual through to a mid 60s AFV recognition book and a Sterling SMG pamphlet from 1975! Lots to look at today.
Join us as we discuss a modern adaptation of R.C. Sherriff's classic First World War play 'Journey's End'. The 2018 adaptation stars Asa Butterfield, Sam Claflin, Paul Bettany, Stephen Graham, Tom Sturridge and Toby Jones.
We're lucky enough to be joined by a very special guest, Taff Gillingham historical advisor and co-director of Khaki Devil, who was instrumental in giving the film its impressive authenticity. The film follows a group of British officers in the days before German Spring 1918 Offensive!
The episode is also available on all other podcast platforms, you can find them here.
Be sure to follow us on Twitter @FightingOnFilm
In the UK we’ve gone into another COVID-19 induced lockdown, so why not put out another episode of the Fighting On Film! In this first episode of a new additional format ‘Show & Tell’ we talk about a couple of war movies we watched recently and see if you guys think we should cover them in a full episode. We discuss a new Latvian film 'The Rifleman’ and a British 50’s movie featuring a young Richard Attenborough - 'Sea of Sand/Desert Patrol’.
Also available on other platforms and apps - find them here.
Hi guys, here’s a special Halloween episode of our new podcast, Fighting On Film, that looks at classic and obscure war films.
In this episode we discuss Death Trench (also known as Trench 11), a 2017 First World War horror movie set in the final months of the war. A rag tag band of soldiers investigate a German biological weapons bunker with predictable results!
Also available on other platforms and apps - find them here
Be sure to follow us on Twitter @FightingOnFilm and let us know what you thought of the episode and if you’ve seen Death Trench.
Happy Halloween and Thanks for listening!
I recently came across some archival footage which gives some glimpses of some quite rare US medium tanks developed in the 1920s. The footage features the M1921, the T2 Medium Tank and a Christie Tank!
Check out the video below:
The US tank arm subsequently abandoned the various medium tank designs they’d been working on and shifted towards cheaper light tanks. Always special finding archival footage, hope you enjoy the video.
The Armourer’s Bench recently reached 7,000 subscribers over on YouTube (thanks guys!) so what better way to celebrate than some original archival footage of the Browning M1917 in action. It was filmed in April 1918 by the US Army Signal Corps.
This is the first of a couple of extra videos we'll post this week so keep an eye out. Thanks again for all your support guys!
The Five of Hearts was one of 144 Renault FT light tanks operated by the US Tank Corps on the Western Front during World War One. During the Meuse-Argonne offensive in 1918, the Five of Hearts, the battalions of the Corps named their tanks after card suits, was supporting US infantry pinned down by German machine gun positions. The tank was armed with a 37mm gun and managed to destroy one set of German positions before the driver was wounded in the throat and the tank was immobilised and its gun mantlet and turret jammed by German small arms fire.
The Five of Hearts’ commander, Sergeant Arthur Snyder, later recalled defending the tank with his sidearm:
“My wounded driver kept filling pistol clips and I produced as much fire as possible with our pistols and the crippled 37mm. I paid more attention to the volume of fire than its accuracy for I fear the enemy would close in if the volume diminished. Three machine guns were set up at very close range, but just out of range of our piece with its limited elevation.
The fragmentation of our shells did afford some protection but I could not train this fire on the German field piece. The constant hammering of these machine guns at close range was terrific. The hinges on the doors could not stand up under it for long, but it was the mushroom ventilator on top of the turret that gave way. I was hit in the back of my head with fragments of it and bullet splinters.”
Luckily for Snyder the German infantry made no attempt to rush the tank, content instead to pepper it from a distance, and they quickly retreated when men of the 16th Infantry arrived.
In terms of protection Snyder felt that “the armor plate on those old French Renaults was good, but when you came to close quarters the splinters from bullets hitting around the vision slits did considerable damage.” Two of Snyder’s drivers were badly wounded; one by bullet splash splinters and the other in the throat.
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In the spring of 1916, Marcianus F. Rossi, then a resident of San Jose, California, patented an interesting projectile designed to cut barbed wire. Rossi’s application was filed on 7th April, 1916 and granted a year later on the 10th April, 1917.
Rossi explained his concept in his patent specification:
“This invention relates to a projectile for ordnance purposes and has for its object to provide a hollow projectile in which is mounted a movable device that includes a plurality of cutters adapted to be forced out of a projectile after the latter has been dis charged from the gun and which serve the purpose of cutting through and destroying wire entanglements that are erected at the present time in advance of an attacking army to prevent surprises and sudden attack by the enemy.”
The hollow projectile had a spring and plunge inside which when tripped forced our a pair of blades which, in theory, would cut any wire it came into contact with.
The wire-cutting blades remained inside the shell until it was fired and would then deploy in flight through openings in the projectile body. Rossi wanted the projectile to spin in flight like a conventional shell and once the blades deployed he envisaged “both forward movement... and a rotary movement...” which he believed would cut through “all wire entanglements that intervene in its path for a very great distance.” This would suggest that he intended the rounds to be fired directly rather than plunging indirectly as most artillery was used by this point of World War One.
Rossi believed that “when a sufficient number of such projectiles have been discharged these entanglements are practically rendered useless.” A very optimistic hope, considering the round was more likely to churn up and entangle even more any wire it came into contact with. Even more optimistically Rossi thought that his “projectile may be used for the destruction of aeroplanes, buildings and other objects.”
Rossi’s projectile is a perfect example of an inventor with little practical experience of a military problem he is attempting to overcome. Wire posed an enormous problem during World War One, however, Rossi’s answer to the challenge would probably have been impractical.
Rossi, born in Italy in 1870, went on to publish an early science fiction story - A Trip To Mars, published in 1920. His patent and literary work are a testament to his imagination. He died in 1948, aged 78.
Sources:
‘Projectile’, US Patent #1,222,142, M.F. Rossi, 10 Apr. 1917, (source)
M.F. Rossi, SF Encyclopedia, (source)
In this week's Armourer’s Bench video looking at the US Tanks of WW1. It's the end of a series of videos looking at the three tanks the US developed or built during the war.
We look at the Ford M1918 Light Tank, the M1917 Renault FT copy and the MkVIII ‘International’ Heavy Tank. Each has a fascinating story. Check out the accompanying blog for the video, here!
A British MkIV heavy tank ploughs through a series of wooden buildings during a 1917 demonstration.
This week’s bonus Armourer’s Bench video features some contemporary footage of a MkVIII Heavy Tank showing off what it can do during a demonstration outside Bridgeport, Connecticut, in October 1918.
The MkVIII was the last of the rhomboid heavy tanks developed during World War One. It was a collaborative effort between the US, UK and France. With the UK providing the armour plate and guns while the US provided the engine and automotive parts.
The tanks were to be assembled at a factory in France - all in time for the planned offensives of 1919. But the war ended and orders for thousands shrank to hundreds and the French factory went unfinished. Some MkVIIIs did, however, see service with the US Army during the interwar period. In this video we explore the development and history of one of World War One's lesser known but most interesting tanks.
In April 1919, a lone US-built M1917 light tank climbed over 11,000 feet up a mountain in Colorado. In this week’s TAB video we look at the story of this impressive feat!
Check out the accompanying blog for this video over at www.armourersbench.com.
Thanks for watching guys, I hope you’re all staying safe and well! - Matt
In April 1919, a lone US-built M1917 light tank climbed over 11,000 feet up a mountain in Colorado. In this week’s TAB video we look at the story of this impressive feat!
Check out the accompanying blog for this video over at www.armourersbench.com.
Thanks for watching guys, I hope you’re all staying safe and well! - Matt
