Download or read book Machine Guns of World War I written by Robert Bruce and published by Crowood Press UK. This book was released on 2008-11-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All the guns examined in this new paperback edition of Machine Guns of World War 1 belong to the class known as "automatic" and seven classic World War 1 weapons are illustrated in some 250 color photographs. Detailed sequences shows them in close-up: during step-by-step field stripping, and during handling, loading and live firing trials with ball ammunition, by gunners wearing period uniforms to put these historic guns in their visual context. These fascinating photographs are accompanied by concise, illustrated accounts of each weapon's historical and technical background. The reader will learn exactly what it looked like, sounded like and felt like to crew the German, British and French machine guns which dominated the battlefields of the Western Front in 1914-18, and which changed infantry tactics forever.
Download or read book German Machine Guns of World War I written by Stephen Bull and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-05-19 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World War I's defining weapon for many, Germany's MG 08 machine gun won a formidable reputation on battlefields from Tannenberg to the Somme. Although it was a lethally effective weapon when used from static positions, the MG 08 was far too heavy to perform a mobile role on the battlefield. As the British and French began to deploy lighter machine guns alongside their heavier weapons, the Germans fielded the Danish Madsen and British Lewis as stopgaps, but chose to adapt the MG 08 into a compromise weapon – the MG 08/15 – which would play a central role in the revolutionary developments in infantry tactics that characterized the last months of the conflict. In the 1940s, the two weapons were still in service with German forces fighting in a new world war. Drawing upon eyewitness battlefield reports, this absorbing study assesses the technical performance and combat record of these redoubtable and influential German machine guns, and their strengths and limitations in a variety of battlefield roles.
Download or read book The Weapons of World War I written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-01-25 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Profiles weapons such as superartillery, poison gas, rifles, grenades, flamethrowers, planes, and more. *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "God would never be cruel enough to create a cyclone as terrible as that Argonne battle. Only man would ever think of doing an awful thing like that. It looked like 'the abomination of desolation' must look like. And all through the long night those big guns flashed and growled just like the lightning and the thunder when it storms in the mountains at home...And it all made me think of the Bible and the story of the Anti-Christ and Armageddon. And I'm telling you the little log cabin in Wolf Valley in old Tennessee seemed a long long way off." - Alvin C. York World War I, also known in its time as the "Great War" or the "War to End all Wars," was an unprecedented holocaust in terms of its sheer scale. Fought by men who hailed from all corners of the globe, it saw millions of soldiers do battle in brutal assaults of attrition which dragged on for months with little to no respite. Tens of millions of artillery shells and untold hundreds of millions of rifle and machine gun bullets were fired in a conflict that demonstrated man's capacity to kill each other on a heretofore unprecedented scale, and as always, such a war brought about technological innovation at a rate that made the boom of the Industrial Revolution seem stagnant. The arms race before the war and the attempt to break the deadlock of the Western and Eastern Fronts by any means possible changed the face of battle in ways that would have previously been deemed unthinkable. Before 1914, flying machines were objects of public curiosity; the first flights of any account on rotor aircraft had been made less than 5 years before and were considered to be the province of daredevils and lunatics. By 1918, all the great powers were fielding squadrons of fighting aircraft armed with machine-guns and bombs, to say nothing of light reconnaissance planes. Tanks, a common feature on the battlefield by 1918, had not previously existed outside of the realm of science fiction stories written by authors like H.G. Wells. Machine guns had gone from being heavy, cumbersome pieces with elaborate water-cooling systems to single-man-portable, magazine-fed affairs like the Chauchat, the Lewis Gun and the M1918 BAR. To these grim innovations were added flamethrowers, hand grenades, zeppelins, observation balloons, poison gas, and other improvements or inventions that revolutionized the face of warfare. These technological developments led to an imbalance. Before the introduction of the man-portable light machine gun (which took place in the second half of the war), not to mention tanks (which also joined the fight late in the game), defensive firepower vastly outweighed offensive capability. Massed batteries of artillery, emplaced heavy machine guns, barbed wire entanglements, and bewildering fortifications meant that ground could not be taken except at incredible cost. This led to the (somewhat unjustified) criticism famously leveled at the generals of World War I that their soldiers were "lions led by donkeys." Certainly, every army that fought in the Great War had its share of officers, at all levels of command, who were incompetent, unsuitable, foolish, or just plain stupid, but there were plenty of seasoned professionals who understood their job and did it well. The main problem facing commanders in the war was that there was such a bewildering array of new armaments, with such vast destructive potential, that previous military doctrines were virtually useless. The Weapons of World War I analyzes the technological advancements in weaponry that produced the deadliest conflict in history up to that time. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the weapons of World War I like never before, in no time at all.
Download or read book Weapons Of World War I written by John Hamilton and published by ABDO Publishing Company. This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An introduction to the artillery, poison gas, guns, tanks, and U-boats and torpedoes used in World War I.
Download or read book Machine Guns and the Great War written by Paul Cornish and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2009-09-19 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth study of how these direct fire weapons were actually employed on the battlefields and their true place in the armory of World War I. The machine-gun is one of the iconic weapons of the Great War—indeed of the twentieth century. Yet it is also one of the most misunderstood. During a four-year war that generated unprecedented casualties, the machine-gun stood out as a key weapon. In the process it took on an almost legendary status that persists to the present day. It shaped the tactics of the trenches, while simultaneously evolving in response to the tactical imperatives thrown up by this new form of warfare. Paul Cornish, in this authoritative and carefully considered study, reconsiders the history of automatic firepower, and he describes in vivid detail its development during the First World War and the far-reaching consequences thereof. He dispels many myths and misconceptions that have grown up around automatic firearms, but also explores their potency as symbols and icons. His clear-sighted reassessment of the phenomenon of the machine-gun will be fascinating reading for students of military history and of the Great War in particular. “For those wanting a little more in-depth information about the role and development of machine guns during the war, this book offers an excellent, well written and easily accessible account of what became the iconic weapon of the war, mainly due to the massive casualties it was able to inflict . . . This really is well worth reading.” —Great War Magazine
Download or read book Machine Guns of World War I written by Robert Bruce and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Book of the Machine Gun written by Frederick Victor Longstaff and published by . This book was released on 1917 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book With a Machine Gun to Cambrai written by George Coppard and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of trench warfare as experienced by a young volunteer during World War I.
Download or read book Great Weapons of World War I written by William G. Dooly and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over 300 planes, ships, tanks, small arms and artillery weapons are illustrated and described in terms of the historic roles they played in World War II.
Download or read book The German MG 34 and MG 42 Machine Guns written by Luc Guillou and published by Schiffer Military History. This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The German MG (Maschinengewehr) 34, along with the later-war MG 42, was a recoil-operated, air-cooled machine gun and is considered the world's first general-purpose machine gun. Considered the most advanced machine gun in the world at the time, its ease of mobility and high rate of fire--900 rounds per minute--made it ideal both for infantry and antiaircraft use. First entering service during the Spanish Civil War in 1936, it remained in Wehrmacht service through the end of WWII in 1945, along with its updated model, the MG 42. This illustrated book presents the design, manufacturing, and development both of the MG 34 and MG 42, from its acceptance by the German military through production and combat use from 1936 to 1945. Details include close-up views of markings and other details, as well as a breakdown of the weapon. Accessories such as ammunition and gun mounts are featured throughout the book, as are rarely seen combat-related uniform and equipment items.
Download or read book The Devil s Paintbrush written by Dolf Leeming Goldsmith and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Machine Guns written by James H. Willbanks and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2004-11-23 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The machine gun—often called the killing machine—revolutionized modern ground combat, brought an end to the traditional infantry and cavalry charge, and changed the battlefields of war forever. This volume in the Weapons and Warfare series describes the history of machine guns from the mid-19th century to the present, following both the evolution of small arms technology and the impact of machine guns on the battlefield, on military strategy, and on human society. This book discusses subjects ranging from the forerunners of mechanical and automatic guns, to the unusual history of the Civil War-era Gatling gun (the first practical machine gun, not used by the Union army because Gatling was a Southerner), to the machine guns developed for the world wars and those for present day use. Readers will see how the advent of the machine gun revolutionized ground combat—and how in some instances, technology outran tactics and doctrines, with disastrous consequences.
Download or read book Machine Gunner 1914 18 written by C. E. Crutchley and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2013-11-28 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1914 there were only two machine guns supporting a British infantry battalion of 800 men, and in the light of the effectiveness of German and French machine guns the Machine Gun Corps was formed in October 1915. This remarkable book, compiled and edited by C E Crutchley, is a collection of the personal accounts of officers and men who served in the front lines with their machine guns in one of the most ghastly wars, spread over three continents. The strength of the book lies in the fact that these are the actual words of the soldiers themselves, complete with characteristic modes of expression and oddities of emphasis and spelling. All theatres of war are covered from the defence of the Suez Canal, Gallipoli and Mesopotamia in the east to France and Flanders, the German offensive of March 1918 and the final act on the Western Front that brought the war to an end. October 2006 is the 90th anniversary of the formation of the Machine Gun Corps.
Download or read book Hotchkiss Machine Guns written by John Walter and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-11-28 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Created by a long-forgotten Austrian nobleman, Adolf Odkolek von Augezd, the air-cooled Hotchkiss machine gun was the first to function effectively by tapping propellant gas from the bore as the gun fired. Although the Hotchkiss would be overshadowed by the water-cooled Maxim and Vickers Guns, it proved its effectiveness during the Russo-Japanese War. The gun, quirky though it was, was successful enough to persuade Laurence Benét and Henri Mercié to develop the Modèle Portative: a man-portable version which, it was hoped, could move with infantrymen as they advanced. Later mounted on tanks and aircraft, it became the first automatic weapon to obtain a 'kill' in aerial combat. Though it served the French and US armies during World War I (and also the British in areas where French and British units fought alongside each other), the Odkolek-Hotchkiss system was to have its longest-term effect in Japan. Here, a succession of derivatives found favour in theatres of operations in which water-cooling could be more of a liability than an asset. When US forces landed on Saipan, Guam and Iwo Jima, battling their way from island to island across the Pacific, it was the 'Woodpecker' – the Type 92 Hotchkiss, with its characteristically slow rate of fire – which cut swathes through their ranks. Supported by contemporary photographs and full-colour illustrations, this title explores the exciting and eventful history of the first successful gas-operated machine gun.
Download or read book German Submachine Guns 1918 1945 written by Luc Guillou and published by Schiffer Military History. This book was released on 2018-04-28 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Germany's World War I- and World War II-era submachine guns are all featured in this fully illustrated book. Early Bergmann models are presented first showing their development from the MP18, through to the MP35, followed by discussions of the Schmeisser MP28, Steyr MP34, and Erma "EMP." An extensive chapter on the famous MP38/40 features a close look at production numbers, manufacturers, and markings. Foreign and late-war models are also presented, showing the wide variety of SMGs used by the Wehrmacht during WWII. The book concludes with the legendary and influential MKb42, MP43/1, MP44, and StG44 series of assault rifles. Their wartime use is shown in superb period photography and clear, up-close color images. Accessories such as magazines, ammunition, pouches, and silencers are featured throughout the book, as well as rarely seen WWI- and WWII-related uniform and equipment items.
Download or read book The Emma Gees written by Herbert W. McBride and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2019-12-16 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Emma Gees" by Herbert W. McBride is an incredible book about the fighting and terrible conditions in WW1. Fans of McBride will notice that this book and his "A rifleman went to war" overlap. Individually they both discuss the hardships and horrors of the great war in a way that historians are unable to fully mimic. This is an authentic read for history lovers young and old.
Download or read book The Social History of the Machine Gun written by John Ellis and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 1986-08 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It necessitated a technological response: first the armored tank, then the jet fighter, and, perhaps ultimately, the hydrogen bomb.
