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Description: | The Vickers Machine Gun was one of the longest serving weapons in British military history, with the Mk 1 being employed in virtually unaltered form from its adoption in 1912 until 1968.
The gun is a development of the Maxim system (see FIR 8095) wherein the Maxim toggle action is turned upside down, allowing for the body of the gun to be significantly smaller and, therefore, lighter. The heavy brass water jacket of the the Maxim was replaced by a lighter corrugated steel version. Various other changes were made which made the Vickers much easier to strip and service than the Maxim.
During the First World War the Vickers became central to British infantry tactics and, from October 1915, all the Army's Vickers Guns were put under the control of a specialist unit, the Machine Gun Corps. This gave impetus to the development of sophisticated tactics, which made full use of the Vickers guns range, accuracy and extraordinary reliability. These tactics were founded on pre-plotted fire, which could, when necessary, be conducted in multi-gun barrages, indirectly against unseen targets and over the heads of friendly troops.
Although the Machine Gun Corps was disbanded in 1922, similar tactics were employed during the Second World War, when use of the Vickers was deputed to specially trained battalions furnished from line infantry regiments.
The Vickers was replaced in British service from 1962 onwards, by the L7 General Purpose Machine-Gun - a variant of the Belgian FN-MAG.
corrugated barrel jacket, steel feedblock, MkIII** sight | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Vickers Ltd, Erith, Kent | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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