The Maschinengewehr 08: Workhorse of the German Military

(Author's Collection)

     In 1887, Hiram Maxim demonstrated his machine-gun to the Germans and suitably impressed after a long period of trials with the Maxim, a limited number were purchased by the Deutsches Heer in 1895 and the Kaiserliche Marine in 1896. In service, these weapons were designated as the Maschinengewehr 99 (MG 99). Minor updates were made to the MG 99 which resulted in the Maschinengewehr 01 which was officially put into service in limited numbers in 1901 as the MG 01. The Deutsches Heer was still not completely satisfied with the MG 01 and so further refinements were developed by both Spandau Aresnal and Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken (DWM), mainly to lighten the weapon in action. The distinctive sled mount for the machine-gun was much the same as with the early MG 99 except that the ability to affix travel wheels to the sled which was introduced with the MG 01 was removed in order to save weight. The new machine-gun, the MG 08, went into production at Spandau in 1908 and entered service with the Deutsches Heer the same year. The MG 08, in action, was by no means a lightweight weapon. The entire apparatus for the MG 08, called the Maschinengewehr-Gerät 08, included the machine-gun (with 4 liters of water in the cooling jacket), the sled mount (called the Schlitten 08), two extra barrels, and two extra toggle locks added up to 137 pounds not including the ammunition. The MG 08 itself made up 58 pounds of the total weight. The MG 08 was 46 inches long with a 28 inch long barrel. The MG 08 had a rate of fire of 300 to 350 rounds per minute and ammunition was fed into the gun in 250-round cloth belts. To increase the rate of fire, muzzle boosters were fitted to some MG 08 weapons (which appeared as a reverse conical addition on the end of the muzzle) which increased the rate of fire by some 45%. Such guns were designated as the MG 08 mit Rilckstorsverstärker S. The effective range of the MG 08 was 2,000 meters though it had a maximum range of 3,500 meters thanks to its 2,838 feet per second muzzle velocity (with booster). By August 1914, the Deutsches Heer had 4,114 MG 08s, 398 MG 01s, and 18 MG 99s in service.

     The photograph, however, does not come from World War One. Instead, it likely comes from the early 1930s and the main clue to this is the gas masks this machine-gun crew is wearing. The gas mask appears to be the Gasmaske 30, also known as the S-Maske or “Schutzmaske“, as evidenced by the rubberized canvas and the shape of the metal snout. The Gasmaske 30 was introduced in 1930 and would remain the primary gas mask until the introduction of the Gasmaske 38 in 1938. The loader, and probably the gunner, don't appear to have the filter in place. Had they, it would have been screwed into the snout. The mounting, however, isn't the Schlitten 08, and instead, it is the lighter Dreifuss 16 tripod which was introduced in 1916. We can also tell this is a training exercise as a blank firing adapter has been fitted to the barrel. Around the loader's chest and back are the drag straps used to haul the weapon around and near his foot is a shovel that was carried in order to quickly improve their position.

     As for the unit, this might be told on the Dreifuss 16 where what appears to be 2/J.R.9 is painted in white on the tripod. Thus, if accurate, the men would be from the 2nd. Bataillon, Jäger-Regiment 9. This unit can be traced back to August 1916 when it was formed in Galicia under the original unit name of Regiment Veith. It was originally under Infanterie-Regiment 199 (I.R.199) commanded by Major von Notz of the XX. Armee Korps. Jäger units were considered light infantry whose primary missions were skirmishing, reconnaissance, and sharpshooting. However, most of the of the Jäger-Regiments that existed in World War One were disbanded with the onset of the post-WW1 German military, the Reichswehr, which was limited to only 100,000 men. Still, the traditions of the Jäger-Regiments carried on into the infantry regiments created under the Reichswehr and by 1933, the usage of the term “Jäger“ would again reappear as Germany expanded the military. That said, the men could be from a different unit all together only that their equipment, in this case the MG 08, was from the disbanded J.R.9. 

Primary Sources:

de Quesada, Alejandro M. Uniforms of the German Soldier (St. Paul: MBI Publishing Co., 2006)

Markham, George Guns of the Reich: Firearms of the German Forces, 1939-1945 (London: Arms and Armour Press, 1991)

The Standschütze Hellriegel M1915: A Weapon Lost to Time

(Source: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)

     Of all the small arms developed during the World War One years, none is as enigmatic as the Austro-Hungarian Standschütze Hellriegel M1915, or, in German, the Maschinengewehr des Standschützen Hellriegel. The existence of the weapon came to light from a handful of photographs dated from October 1915 that were found in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Austrian National Library). Unfortunately, there were no technical details about the Hellriegel M1915 included with the photographs and so all information regarding it are derived from examination of the photographs and making educated guesses. 

     The weapon was named after a man with the last name of Hellriegel and he was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Schützenstand, or shooting club. Members of these clubs, whose men were called Standschützen, were committed to the voluntary, military protection of the state of Tyrol and Vorarlberg. When called to duty, the Standschützen were expected to supply their own rifles and often trained in civilian clothing. Officers in the Standschützen were elected, the maximum rank being Major. Standschützen officers had the same command authority as the regular military officers the latter of which, not surprisingly, did not look upon that with favor. In May 1913, those men who were already Standschützen were liable for service in the Landsturm (militia) and once assigned to Landsturm duty, these men were no longer volunteers. After August 1914, Standschützen were considered regular troops but could not be deployed outside Austrian territory (though this was later ignored). All told, there were some 65,000 Standschützen within Tyrol.

     Returning to Hellriegel's weapon, it isn't known if he designed it himself to interest the Austro-Hungarian military or if it was in response to a call for a lighter, fully automatic weapon. The ammunition used in the weapon was certainly of the pistol caliber but exactly what caliber isn't stated. The most likely caliber was 9x23mm Steyr as this was the standard pistol ammunition for the Austro-Hungarian military starting in 1911 and through World War Two. There were two means to feed the weapon, the first being a 20-round stick magazine with the second, shown here, being a drum that held approximately 160 rounds of ammunition. Unlike the stick magazine which could be fitted to the weapon, the drum magazine, at least in the photographs, could not or was only shown dismounted from the weapon. A novel feature of the drum magazine was the flexible feed chute which used a clip to secure it to the magazine well. The drum magazine was also provided with a stand (also seen in the photograph) which kept it upright if the firer did not have someone to support the drum. Another interesting feature of the Hellriegel M1915 was the fact it was water-cooled. The barrel was surrounded by the cooling jacket and the fill cap can be seen near the muzzle. A simple tubular fore-grip was affixed to the underside of the cooling jacket. Based on the photographs, the action is believed to be a form of blowback and this is because a blowback weapon doesn't require the barrel to move and instead, uses the expanding gas from the fired cartridge to push the bolt backwards, eject the round, then feed a new round as the bolt rides forward. Protruding out the back of the upper receiver were two posts connected by a central bar which was part of the return springs for the bolt. The wooden stock is believed to have been a cut down stock from a Mannlicher M1895 bolt-action rifle, the standard firearm for Austro-Hungarian infantry. The main difference was a deeper cut thumb groove. The leather sling was also derived from the M1895 rifle. Aiming was done by a iron front post sight and a rear flip-up sight. The rate of fire has been estimated to be between 650 to 800 rounds per minute though likely in combat, it would have been less. Also, the effective range of the Hellriegel M1915 isn't known. The 115 grain, full metal jacket 9x23mm round had a maximum muzzle velocity of 1,230 feet per second and when fired from the Steyr M1912 pistol, the range was 160 feet. However, fired from a longer barrel as used by the Hellriegel M1915, a more plausible effective range would be around 320 feet or more.

     The Hellriegel M1915, while it could be operated by a single man (ergo, the use of stick magazines), it could also be crewed by two men and this suggests that while classified as a submachine gun, the Hellriegel M1915 could be deployed as a light weight, light caliber machine-gun. In fact, one of the photographs shows a soldier wearing a special wooden backpack, open at the rear, with a fur covered leather flap to protect the contents consisting of five drum magazines and two pull-out drawers that may have been used for gun tools, loose ammunition, cleaning supplies, or additional stick magazines. The Italians, during World War One, used a similar concept, the twin-barrel Pistola Mitragliatrice Villar Perosa M1915, which fired the 9mm Glisenti round. Favored by the Italian “Arditi” (“The Daring Ones”), as Italian Army shock troops called themselves, the Villar Perosa was light and provided significant firepower at short ranges during assaults. A typical Villar Perosa crew was four men: a gunner and three ammunition bearers, the latter carried some 5,000 rounds between them to feed the ravenous weapon that had a maximum rate of fire of 1,500 rounds per minute, per barrel. Feed was by way of 25-round box magazines.

     Unlike the Villar Perosa, the Hellriegel M1915 failed to make it into service. The exact reasons for this are not known. Issues with the drum feed system, overall complexity, lack of a bipod support (though had it been developed further, might have been added), and difficulty plus expense to produce the gun may have all spelled the end of the novel weapon. The photographs show a weapon that was clearly a prototype, lacking finish and it is believed only a single example was built. Following its demise, it disappeared from history, the prototype lost, until the discovery of the photographs brought the unique weapon to light once more.

Source:

Banach, M. (2017, November 27). Zapomniany Standschütze Hellriegel M1915. SmartAge.pl. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from https://www.smartage.pl/zapomniany-standschutze-hellriegel-m1915/. 

British Mk. IV Tank No.2648 "Lyric": War Memorial Donation

     The British deployed tanks into battle for the first time during the Battle of Flers–Courcelette which was fought from September 15, 1916 through September 22, 1916. The fledgling Tank Corps was equipped with 50 Mark I tanks. Unfortunately, the Mark I was mechanically unreliable and their crews inadequately trained in handling this new weapon. In preparation for the coming battle, the Mark I tanks were moved into assembly positions on September 13 but many of the crews, anxious about the coming battle and moving their tanks over terrain totally different from that of the training grounds, would see only 36 tanks left functional for the start of the battle. During the combat, 27 tanks reached the German front trench line and by the time tanks reached the third objective, only 6 did so. It is believed that only 18 tanks actually contributed to the combat, the remainder breaking down or having been ditched (a term for having become stuck or bogged down due to the terrain). In addition, it was found that the Mark I tank's maximum frontal armor of 10mm was capable of being penetrated by the 7.92X57mm Spitzgeschoß mit Kern (armor-piercing; known as the K Bullet) ammunition used by German infantry weapons. All in all, it had not been a stellar debut of the British tank.

     Still, the British did not give up on the Tank Corps. By 1917, crew training continued to be an issue with many crews only receiving a hasty training regimine. But, the tank itself was improved and by April 1917, the new Mark IV tank was entering service. Mechanical reliability was enhanced to a degree but the main change was the increase in the front armor thickness from 10mm to 12mm. Even though a mere 2mm more of armor seems paltry, it was enough to render the K Bullet far less effective and instead of always being able to pierce the armor of the earlier Mark I tank, now it could only do so 33% of the time against the Mark IV and only from the extremely close range of 100 meters. This had the effect of making German infantry much more reliant on artillery assets to deal with British tanks than they had been in 1916. Moreover, the deployment methodology of tanks had been overhauled so that cooperation between tanks, infantry, artillery, and aircraft was streamlined with easy to learn drills that had the effect of creating a combined arms strategy. Another critical aspect of the revised tank tactics was the use of reconnaissance and intelligence to pinpoint where tanks could be best deployed and effective against enemy positions. A part of the attack strategy was resupply. To that end, when Mark IV tanks went into action en mass again during the Battle of Cambrai which raged from November 20, 1917 to December 7, 1917, behind them were supply tanks.

     Between 1917 and 1918, over 200 Mark IV tanks were produced specifically as supply tanks. In addition, some obsolete Mark I and Mark II tanks were converted into supply tanks. The modification typically involved removing all armament and for the purpose-built supply tanks, the sponsons were larger and squared off in order to more easily accommodate stores of supplies. By the Battle of Cambrai, Mark IV supply tanks were used exclusively, having replaced the earlier models. Each tank company was to be equipped with two supply tanks. The Mark IV supply tanks were known as “Top Towers” due to a box-like towing apparatus that was fitted to the top of the tank. Two tow cables ran from the driver's turret through the box affixed towards the rear of the tank roof, the apparatus preventing the cables from getting tangled in the tracks of the tank. The cables pulled sledges which contained ammunition and other supplies and thus increased the amount of cargo a single supply tank could carry.

     The tank in the photograph is “Lyric” and carried the serial number 2648. It had been commanded by 2nd. Lieutenant Lowe and belonged to B Company, 5th. Section, 12th. Battalion. The crew number of the tank was L36 (other sources say L52). The tank survived World War One and would end up as a replacement war memorial and tourist attraction near Fort de la Pompelle outside the city of Reims. The original tank which served as the memorial had been the German Beutepanzer (“captured tank”), Wagon 113, of Abteilung 14, that had been abandoned after ditching on June 1, 1918. The Germans had captured the Mark IV tank “Liesal” (Serial No.4571) that had belonged to the 5th. Battalion on March 22, 1918 after it had broken down and had to be abandoned while supporting the 66th. Infantry Division near Roisel. It was repaired and refurbished then issued to Abteilung 14. In the mid-1920s, concerns by city administrators in Reims about the safety of visitors to the tank saw them consider replacing it. The damage to “Liesel” was extensive and thus posed the risk of injuries to visitors who decided to climb around the tank. In addition, the area surrounding the tank had yet to be fully purged of any ordnance which also posed a hazard to visitors. Finally, the location of the tank had become overgrown and it was no longer readily visible to passers-by. Thus, the wreck of “Liesal” was removed and later scrapped and the British donated “Lyric” to Reims who emplaced it along Rue de Châlons which was a much more accessible and visible location. In addition to advertising the tank attraction, the city added markers on the tank with one being on the roof which allowed for aerial identification, another on the front of the hull which was about the tank and the local history, and one on the hull side hatches warning against opening or entering the tank. “Lyric” remained in place all the way into World War Two as photographs exist showing German soldiers in 1940 posing with the tank but it would not survive any further as it was presumably scrapped by the Germans in order to reclaim the metal for other uses.

7” Tracked Gun Mk. 2: Impressive for the Time

     When the U.S. Army and later, the U.S. Marines, arrived in Europe to take part in World War One, they did so without their own artillery. This was due to the U.S. M1902 light field gun firing a 3-inch (76.2mm) shell and so the U.S. Army elected to leave their M1902 guns behind and adopt the French Canon de 75 Modèle 1897 as the M1897 75mm gun. Because of this, the Marines also left their artillery back in the United States and so while in Europe, they were mostly dependent on the U.S. Army for artillery support. So, while the U.S. Army also adopted the French heavy Canon de 155 C Modèle 1917 Schneider as the M1917 155mm gun, the Marines had nothing comparable. This prompted the Marines to consider a heavy gun of their own. Back in the United States, the Marines found that the U.S. Navy had a surplus of 7"/45 caliber guns Mark 2. These guns had been developed back in 1900 and were deployed onboard Connecticut-class and Mississippi-class pre-dreadnought battleships as secondary guns beginning in 1906. However, prior to World War One, most of these guns had been removed from Navy warships. So, early in 1918, the Marines designed a wheeled carriage to mount the guns on but the result was completely unsuited for the battlefield due to its immense 32 ton weight and 6.6 foot diameter wheels. Such a carriage would have sunk into the mire that was seemingly ever present in France. Returning to the drawing board, the Marines went to the U.S. Navy to seek their assistance and what the naval engineers at the Bureau of Ordnance came up with was to mount two slightly modified Holt tractor track assemblies to the gun carriage. The track assemblies were already, more or less, in production by the Holt Manufacturing Company which sped up development and eased construction. In addition, the tracks spread the weight of the gun across more area and thus lightened the ground pressure. By consequence, cross-country mobility was improved. Another benefit was the gun did not need any special preparation to fire. This same concept was seen again in World War Two with the Russian 203mm M1931 howitzer.

     On May 15, 1918, the 7” Tracked Gun Mk. 2 prototype was completed by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and soon after, the Marines ordered 20 of the guns and the U.S. Army ordered 36 examples. By the early winter of 1918, the majority of the order for the Marines had been completed and 18 guns, along with Holt tractors to pull the guns, were assigned to the 10th. Marine Artillery Regiment. The regiment took the guns to Lower Station, located in Dahlgen, Virginia and on October 16, 1918, the first shots were fired from the guns. World War One, however, ended on November 11, 1918 and so the Marines canceled the remaining two guns and the U.S. Army saw 20 guns delivered before the rest of the purchase was cancelled as the need for the guns had past. In time, the Marines began to fill out their artillery forces with the M1897 and M1917 guns and so the 7” Tracked Guns Mk. 2 of both the Marines and the Army were retired from service and put into reserve. The advent of World War Two saw the guns taken out of mothballs and returned to duty as coastal defense guns with the majority under the control of the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps. Most of the guns were deployed to Hawaii with 16 guns positioned around the islands with 2 guns located at Fort Rosecrans in San Diego, California. Another 8 guns were situated at Bora Bora, French Polynesia and 4 guns were part of the inventory of the U.S. Marine 6th. Defense Battalion on Midway Island. The end of World War Two also spelled the end of the road for the 7”/45 caliber gun.

     The performance of the 7”/45 (178mm) caliber gun was impressive. A good crew could fire four 152lb. armor-piercing shells every minute. The carriage permitted a maximum elevation of 40 degrees and at that elevation, the muzzle velocity of 2,700 feet per second gave the gun a range of 13.7 miles. In 1920, the U.S. Army stated it was the most powerful gun it had ever taken into service. By comparison, the M1917 was only capable of a range of 7 miles firing a 100lb. shell. Today, only a single example of the 7” Tracked Gun Mk. 2 exists today and it is located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren in Dahlgren, Virginia.

Armored Autocar: 1st. Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade

     World War One was a conflict that saw rapid advances in terms of military technology. This surge is especially noticeable in aviation but the land war also saw many advances in small arms, dedicated anti-tank and anti-aircraft artillery, chemical weapons, and of course, the birth of tanks and wide spread usage of armored cars. Prior to the start of World War One, armored cars were more or less a curiosity. Perhaps one of the first armored cars which featured an armored body with a rotating armored turret was the 1904 Austro-Daimler Panzerwagen. It was the Italians that took the armored car to war during the Italo-Turkish War which lasted from September 29, 1911 to October 18, 1912 where they deployed the Fiat Arsenale which was built on a Fiat 15bis truck chassis. When World War One broke out, armored cars were used to good effect, in part due to their mobility. Unfortunately, as the war started to bog down into static warfare on the Western Front, the terrain became all but impassible for armored cars to get to where they were needed. Thus, their main advantage of speed was no longer an asset.

     However, one Major Raymond Brutinel of the Canadian Army felt that the armored car had much potential, especially if it was utilized within a fully mechanized unit. A former Captain of the French Army Reserve, Brutinel immigrated to Canada prior to the war and amassed a sizable fortune as an entrepreneur. He went to the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defense, Sam Hughes, and pitched his concept with a large carrot...that being Brutinel would finance the entire endeavor. While this was not an unusual practice, what Brutinel wanted to do certainly was. Checkbook in hand, Brutinel ordered twenty Colt Model 1914 machine-guns, bought truck chassis from the Autocar Company located in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and obtained armor plate from Bethlehem Steel (also in Pennsylvania). Once all of the purchases arrived back in Canada, work commenced on what would simply be called the Armored Autocar. The vehicle was, in the basic sense, an armored box on top of the Autocar chassis. The front and rear of the box were angled and the flat sides and rear had drop-down panels. Armor thickness was 5mm on every facing except the rear which was only 3mm thick. There was no overhead protection, the box being open topped. Situated inside the box were two pedestals, each one mounting a single Colt machine-gun which could be rotated 360 degrees. The weapons were capable of firing over the sides but if need be, could be removed from the pedestals and deployed on the ground. Both guns were fed from a generous onboard ammunition supply of 20,000 rounds. Fully loaded, the Armored Autocar weighed 3 tons and the 22hp engine could move the vehicle on roads at a top speed of 25mph. A total of eight men crewed a single Armored Autocar. In combat order, the Armored Autocar, in addition to the ammunition, carried enough rations for fourteen men along with additional stores of gasoline.

     On August 24, 1914, the Automobile Machine Gun Brigade No. 1 was established though in short order, the name was changed to Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) on September 15, 1914. The initial compliment of vehicles was composed of eight Armored Autocars, six to eight unarmored Autocar trucks as support vehicles, four automobiles for the unit staff, and an ambulance. This force was broken down into two batteries, the 1st. and 2nd. Sifton Batteries. Within a year, private funding authorized three more batteries, the Eaton, Borden, and Yukon Batteries. In October 1914, the unit was sent overseas to England where it was renamed the 1st. Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade CEF (1st. CMMG Brigade). The brigade had five batteries (A through E) with each battery having eight Armored Autocars and twelve trucks. Each battery was broken down into four Sections which contained two Armored Autocars each. In addition, the brigade had a motorcycle unit whose 51 men served as signalers, scouts, and dispatch riders. Unfortunately, the situation on the Western Front had stagnated to the point that the brigade was, more or less, sidelined and had no opportunity to prove it's worth. This situation stretched into 1916 and 1917 (by this time, the unit was now in France) but the brigade was able to retain unit integrity and not have their equipment and men bled off into other units. During this time, the Colt machine-guns were switched out with Vickers .303 caliber machine-guns and some of the Armored Autocars carried a loose Lewis light machine-gun. 1918, however, saw the start of Kaiserschlacht (Kaiser's Battle) which was better known as the 1918 Spring Offensive. Beginning on March 12, 1918, the Germans launched widescale offensive attacks on the Western Front, seeking to defeat the French, British, and other allied countries before the United States could fully deploy troops into the theater.

     At this time, the 1st. CMMG Brigade was able to highlight its capabilities. While not able to participate in offensive operations, the brigade excelled in the defense where its rapid deployment capability allowed it to act as a “fire brigade” and shift to wherever it was needed to stem German advances. The latter capability was due to the firepower the brigade could project as each battery contained sixteen machine-guns plus an additional 8 light machine-guns. The Armored Autocars, though, were not invulnerable. The 5mm of armor was only effective against some small arms and only at distances of 180 feet or more. In addition, with no top cover, the vehicle was vulnerable to grenades if the enemy was able to close with it. Against artillery or anti-tank guns, the Armored Autocar had no chance of survival if struck. With at least six men manning the weapons, hits by the enemy against the Armored Autocar was sure to cause casualties and so injuries and fatalities among the crews were high. Despite the losses, the 1st. CMMG Brigade proved its worth and in May 1918, the 2nd. CMMG Brigade was stood up. In addition, a Canadian Corps Cyclist Battalion was attached to the unit which brought 300 infantrymen (whose mobility came from bicycles) to be utilized defensively to protect the Armored Autocars or to conduct offensive operations. Finally, a trench mortar section was added that had their mortars mounted on trucks and thus had the same mobility advantage as the Armored Autocars and brought even more firepower to bear on the enemy. Following World War One, the two brigades were eventually stood down. However, the concept of the fully mechanized nature of the brigades was a first (and only) such force during the war and would prove an influence to later military planners and theorists.

     Only one Armored Autocar remains today and is on display at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario.

The Lloyd 40.05: Strange Solution for a Common Problem

     Until the introduction of Anthony Fokker's Stangensteuerung (literally Rod Control) interrupter gear in 1915 which allowed for a forward firing machine-gun to fire through the propeller arc with some measure of safety, the various combatants of World War One had to use other solutions to permit a machine-gun to fire forwards. At first, pilots and observers used pistols and rifles against enemy aircraft but soon after, machine-guns became the standard aircraft armament. A simple solution, used by the Nieuport 10 as an example, mounted a Lewis or Hotchkiss machine-gun on top of the upper wing, firing forwards. While clearing the propeller arc, the position of the machine-gun made reloading a difficult prospect for the pilot. Another solution was to put the engine in the rear of the fuselage. Pusher designs, such as the de Havilland D.H.2 and Farman F.40, permitted a clear field of fire for the gunner who was positioned in the front of the aircraft, forward of the pilot. Yet another relatively common solution was the use of wedge shaped deflector plates fitted to the back of the propeller that would deflect bullets away from the blades. One type of aircraft that used these deflectors was the Morane-Saulnier L scout plane. While somewhat effective, there was no guaranty that the deflected bullets wouldn't strike the aircraft. Perhaps the most bizarre solution in order to permit a machine-gun to fire forward and not destroy the propeller in the process was put forward by the Hungarian Lloyd Repülőgép és Motorgyár Részvénytársaság (Lloyd Aircraft & Motor Works, Inc.) company.

     The Lloyd Works (Ungarische Lloyd Flugzeug und Motorenfabrik AG in Austrian) manufactured the Lloyd C.II, C.III, and C.IV two-seat, single-engine biplane reconnaissance aircraft for the Kaiserliche und Königliche Luftfahrtruppen (K.u.K. LFT;Austro-Hungarian Aviation Troops). The C-series of aircraft were quite conventional in design which made the appearance of the Lloyd 40.05 (it was also called the FJ for Flugzeug Jäger or Aircraft Hunter) all the more striking when it commenced development in 1915. A Lloyd engineer by the last name of Melczer decided that an optimum solution to permit a forward firing machine-gun a good range of fire and still retain a tractor propeller (meaning, a front mounted engine) was to position the observer/gunner above the upper wing. To accomplish this, the entire forward portion of the Lloyd 40.05 featured a fully enclosed position that consumed the space between the fuselage and the upper wing. On the left side of the enclosure were clear panels to give some measure of side vision for the observer when seated and performing reconnaissance tasks. At the top of the enclosure was the open gun station which had a short windscreen in the front and armament consisted of twin 8mm M.07/12 Schwarzlose machine-guns on a flexible mounting. Just beneath the windscreen, in the direct front of the aircraft, was a radiator for the motor. While the observer had a clear view when manning the gun station, the same could not be said for the pilot. Sitting directly behind the observer's enclosure, the pilot had no forward view unless he moved his head to look from side to side. To add to the pilot's situation, the exhaust stacks for the engine were positioned on the right side of the enclosure, directly in line with the pilot's head which meant the slipstream likely carried any fumes and smoke into his face.

     The Lloyd 40.05 was powered by a MAG-Daimler 6-cylinder, water-cooled, inline piston engine that developed 160 horsepower. It drove a two-bladed, fixed pitch wooden propeller. The aircraft stood at 10.2 feet high, was 22.8 feet long, had a maximum wingspan of 36.8 feet, and a total wing area (top and bottom wings) of 270 square feet. The fully loaded weight was 2,120 pounds. The maximum service ceiling was 16,404 feet and the maximum operational range was 310 miles.

     The first prototype of the Lloyd 40.05 took to the air in January 1916 and needless to say, the K.u.K. LFT was not impressed with the design and flat out rejected it. The reasons were many and included poor handling in the air, the difficulty for the pilot to land the aircraft, slow speed due to the friction drag produced by the large frontal surface area of the plane, and that by 1916, interrupter gears were being used more and more, removing the need for other solutions to provide safe forward weapon firing. Lloyd, in a desperate bid to try to interest the K.u.K. LFT in the aircraft, converted the 40.05 into a single-seat fighter, eliminating the observer and in place of the gun station, a Type-II VK (Versuchs Kompanie) gun container was fitted, firing forward, with a single 8mm M.07/12 Schwarzlose machine-gun. The shape of the container earned the Type-II VK the morbid nickname of “Kindersarg” or "Children's Coffin”. Since the 40.05 was relatively unchanged outside of the modification to fit the gun container, the K.u.K. LFT again quickly rejected the aircraft as all the flaws of the two-seat version remained. In all, only two Lloyd 40.05 aircraft were built.

The German 7.7cm FK 96 n.A.: Improvised Anti-Aircraft Gun

      As a weapon of war, aircraft came into their own during World War One (WW1). By the close of the war in 1918, airplanes were a far cry from their predecessors at the start in 1914. Not surprisingly, the means to combat airplanes and remove them from the skies evolved as well. Dedicated anti-aircraft guns did not come about immediately and so most of the major warring powers during WW1 devised ad-hoc apparatus to enable existing guns to point skyward. Field artillery was not designed to fire at high angle and so such guns did not have the ability to elevate the gun tube to such degrees. So, there was the need to raise the gun itself to allow for more elevation as well as provide enough clearance for the gun to recoil without hitting the ground. This particular German solution is quite elaborate compared to other, cruder apparatus. 

     The gun is the German 7.7cm FK 96 n.A. (neuer Art; meaning “new Style”) and it is mounted on a carriage which is fixed centrally on the ground. This allowed the entire contraption to be moved 360 degrees via a long pole set in the back (not fitted in this photograph) which was pushed by a portion of the crew. Elevation was set via the adjusting mechanism at the back of the carriage. This was accomplished by an artilleryman sitting in the seat above it and turning a wheel which would allow more rapid adjustment of the gun. This same man would also use the anti-aircraft gun sight to bring the cannon to bear and no doubt directed the crew members assigned to traversing the carriage. All told, the crew consisted of about eight men. Interestingly, this specific carriage design was used on other guns (as other photographic evidence shows) but it is possible that other images depict guns of the same unit (and thus locally fabricated) rather than an issued piece of equipment in use by other artillery troops. In short order, dedicated anti-aircraft guns and mounts would be constructed and used by Germany, France, and Britain prior to the cessation of hostilities in 1918.

de Bange 155mm Long Canon Modèle 1877: Service in Two World Wars

     A photograph taken from a Keystone View Company stereoscope card depicts a French gun crew manning a camouflage painted de Bange 155mm Long Canon Modèle 1877. As the date suggests, the 155 L de Bange (the short name for the gun) was by no means a new gun by the time World War One began in 1914. Development of the gun started in February 1874 by a committee made up of French artillerymen. The intent of the committee was to learn lessons from the Franco-Prussian War which took place between July 19, 1870 and January 28, 1871 and from these lessons, conceive of a new heavy caliber gun for siege purposes as well as equipping fortresses. Towards the close of April 1874, the caliber of 155mm was selected and three manufacturers produced their designs which were put to test beginning in 1876. The winner of the competition was Charles de Bange with his 155 L gun and the French military put in an order for 300 guns in November 1877.

     The 155 L de Bange featured a hooped steel construction style and the barrel utilized gain-twist rifling. This method utilized rifling that had an initial slower twist rate at the breech end of the barrel which got progressively faster as the shell traveled down the barrel. This accelerated the angular momentum of the projectile. This wasn't so much as to propel the shell faster but to spread the torque of the spinning shell, which causes stress on the barrel, to be spread across as much of the length of the barrel as possible. This, then, allowed wear of the barrel to be more distributed rather than being concentrated at the breech end. As the photograph shows, the 155 L de Bange had no recoil mechanism and instead, it relied on friction to slow the backwards motion of the box trail carriage. To reduce the recoil further, wooden wedges were put behind the wheels. When the gun fired, the carriage rode up the wedges which bled off momentum and the gun would roll back down the wedges to more or less the same position it started from. This also helped eliminate the need to manhandle the gun back into position after every shot. The loader is likely checking the breech lock, a round already loaded given the gunner is ready with the lanyard to fire the cannon. Once all was set, the loader would retreat away from the gun before firing as the recoil of the gun had the possibility of the carriage jumping the wedges or coming off them. This concern also accounts for the long length of the lanyard so the gunner could be as far away from the gun as possible. The gun fired a 100lb. high-explosive round to a maximum range of 8 miles and a competent crew could fire one round every minute. The gun had a very limited traverse of 4 degrees with a maximum depression of 10 degrees and a maximum elevation of 28 degrees. The combat weight of the gun as shown in the photograph was 7 tons and so it was by no means easily moved.

     When World War One began, the French had pinned their hopes on the excellent Canon de 75 Modèle 1897. Some 1,392 155 L de Bange guns were on inventory, either in depots or in fixed positions. The French quickly learned that the Germans used heavier caliber guns that outranged the 75mm French gun and they had no counter to them in the field. In short order, the French started dragging the 155 L de Bange guns out of mothballs as a quick means to even the odds. The wheels on the gun's carriage were updated by fitting them with Rotaie a Cingolo (“Caterpillar Track Rails”), or simply cingoli. These hinged plates had two purposes. The first was to spread the ground pressure of the gun across more surface area which permitted easier movement over soft ground. The second purpose was the plates provided an immediate firing platform without extensive preparation as two plates per wheel would always be flat upon the ground. It took ten horses to pull the 155 L de Bange though gun tractors were used as well. By the end of November 1914, 112 guns were in service and by August 1, 1916, 738 guns were in action with French heavy artillery regiments. The 155 L de Bange served as a standard artillery piece but was also used in the counter-battery role, using its range to destroy German heavy guns when they were located. As the war went on, newer heavy guns began to enter service and usually after 10,000 shots, 155 L de Bange guns were taken out of service. But this did not last long as production of the newer cannons could not keep up with demand and so new barrels for the 155 L de Bange were produced starting in 1916. One way to tell an original barrel from the 1916 barrels is the position of the lifting handle. An original barrel, shown in the photograph, had a lifting handle in-line with the barrel while the new barrels had the lifting handle across the barrel. Even by November 1918, each French Army Corps had a single heavy artillery battalion equipped with the 155 L de Bange.

     Following World War One, a number of 155 L de Bange guns were sent to Romania and the Soviet Union who put them to use with the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. In 1937, the Russians sent a number of the guns to the Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War. As for the French, 305 of the guns remained in service, most once more situated in fortresses or placed along the Maginot Line. France donated 48 guns to Finland in 1940 but none arrived in time to see action during the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union which occurred from November 30, 1939 to March 13, 1940. They did, however, see combat under the designation 155 K/77 during the Continuation War which pitted Finland and Germany against the Soviet Union from June 25, 1941 to September 19, 1944. By this time, only 19 guns were left in service. Although the Germans captured some operational 15 L de Bange guns following the fall of France, they did not put them into service.

2cm Becker M II: Anti-Aircraft Success Story

     Somewhere on the Western Front, a crew poses with a 2cm (20mm) Becker M II automatic cannon. The Becker design actually predated the opening of World War One, development having begun in 1913 based on an earlier 1.9cm (19mm) model. Thus, when the German War Ministry issued a specification in June of 1915 for an aerial weapon under 3.7cm in caliber, weighing under 154lbs., and having a ten round burst, the Becker M II was already well advanced and thus at the right place and time. Unfortunately, when the weapon was mounted on Gotha G.I heavy bombers for testing in action, the Becker did not perform well. Still, potential was seen in the design and so the Spandau Arsenal was asked to lend their expertise to the weapon and after some modifications, an initial purchase order of 120 examples of the M II was placed. The Becker had a rate of fire of 325 rounds per minute and utilized a curved, 10-round or 15-round box magazine. Empty, the M II weighed 66lbs. and had a muzzle velocity of 1,600 feet per second. In service with the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte (German Air Force), the Becker was used on the Friedrichshafen G.III heavy bomber as well as other bombers in the Großflugzeug (“Large Aircraft”;G-Klasse) category. In addition, some of the zeppelins utilized by the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) were also fitted with Becker cannons. The Germans also sought to use the Becker as an air-to-ground weapon and fitted it to prototype ground attack aircraft such as the Albatros D.VI and the AGO S.1. This latter use would see the Becker adapted as an anti-tank weapon for ground troops under the designation 2cm Tankabwehrkanone Becker M II. The gun was fitted to a heavy tripod though the recoil of the M II was still more than the tripod could handle and given the muzzle velocity, despite the caliber, the M II showed up poorly against tanks. In fact, the M II had a lower muzzle velocity than the Maschinengewehr 08 (MG 08) machine-gun which was 2,953 foot per second. Disliked by the troops, the Tankabwehrkanone M II saw production halted after some 200 were built and issued. The Becker, however, had better luck with the troops as a anti-aircraft weapon. Given aircraft were built of thin metal, wood, and canvas, the Becker's round, if it hit, could inflict significant damage, especially if it struck a critical component, such as the engine or control surface. However, there was no official anti-aircraft mount for the M II and so troops had to make improvised mountings such as that seen in the photograph.

     The gunner and the two loaders all wear the Infanterie Panzer (Infantry Armor) which debuted in mid-1917 and so this at least dates the photograph to that period. The armor was proof against small arms fire from 550 yards but it was more intended to protect the wearer from shell splinters and shrapnel. It came in two sizes, small and large, weighing 22lbs. and 24lbs. respectively. The smaller plates were secured to the chest plate by web straps with felt pads underneath the edges to prevent metal-on-metal noise. The armor was not popular with troops as it made shouldering a rifle and throwing grenades difficult and dug into the armpits when crawling. Thus, the armor became trench equipment rather than issued to individuals. When a unit left a particular trench line, the armor stayed behind and was then issued to the next unit to man the trench lines. Given the mobility restrictions, the armor was usually worn by machine-gun crews in static emplacements or as we see here, an anti-aircraft crew. It is likely the photograph was posed given the gun and crewmen are completely exposed. In actual combat, it would be better concealed with some form of cover, be it earthen berms or sandbagged emplacements. The M16 helmets they wear were first issued in January 1916, the shape inspired by the sallet helmet from the 15th. century. Of all the helmets made during World War One, the M16 was the best design of them all. The shape deflected away shrapnel, covered the neck and much of the head, and used a padded liner system which made wearing the helmet more comfortable. The lugs on the sides were ventilation holes and were also used as the attachment points for an armored plate. At 6lbs., the plate was not popular and was almost always used by static gun crews and snipers. Finally, the crew have donned their M17 Lederschutzmaske (leather protection mask) gas masks for the photographer.

Captain Fernand Jacquet: Belgium's World War One Ace

Capt. Jacquet (left) and his gunner, Lt. Robin, with their Farman F.40.

     In October 1907, Fernand Maximillian Leon Jacquet (born November 2, 1888) enlisted in the Belgian Army as a cadet. After successfully completing training at the École Royale Militaire located in Brussels, Belgium, Jacquet received his commission as an infantry second lieutenant and was posted to the 4e Régiment de Ligne (4th. Line Regiment) on June 25, 1910. Jacquet, though, soon grew very keen on aviation and towards the end of 1912, he applied for both civilian flight school as well as military flight school in order to earn his flying credentials. He received his instruction in the village of Sint-Job-in-'t-Goor and earned his civilian pilot license (license no. 68) on February 25, 1913 and then his military pilot certification on August 30, 1913. After a promotion to first lieutenant, Jacquet was posted to the 2e Escadrille d’Observation (2nd. Observation Squadron) based in Boninne, Belgium. An interesting note was that Jacquet was nearsighted and it was the main reason he always flew two-seater aircraft so that he would do the flying while his gunner would do the shooting.

     When World War One began and Germany invaded Belgium in August 1914, Jacquet was in the thick of it, flying reconnaissance missions from his unit's Boninne base, to include deep penetrations behind German lines. He also took it upon himself to bomb German positions whenever possible, hitting German targets at Groote Hemme on November 24, 1914 and twice on December 24, 1914 at Beerst and Essen. At this time, Jacquet's mount was a Farman HF.20 pusher reconnaissance aircraft and it was on this aircraft and his later Farman F.40 aircraft that would carry the grim moniker of the death's head on the nose. On April 17, 1915, Jacquet scored Belgium's first aerial kill when his gunner Henri Vindevoghel shot down a German Aviatik reconnaissance plane. Sometime in 1916, Jacquet traded in the HF.20 for an improved F.40 mount. Like the HF.20, it was a two-seat pusher-style reconnaissance aircraft but while slower and with less range than the HF.20, the F.40 had a better service ceiling, had better armament, and in addition to a better bomb load, could carry ten Le Prieur rockets. During the course of the war in 1916, Jacquet and his gunner, Louis Robin, racked up another three kills though, on September 8, 1916, their F.40 was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire. Fortunately, while the F.40 was utter wreckage, both men walked away unscathed. In December 1916, Jacquet was given command of the 1ère Escadrille de Chasse. On February 1, 1917, Jacquet became an ace when Robin downed a German Rumpler aircraft while Jacquet was flying a two-seat Sopwith 1 1⁄2 Strutter and by December 1917, Jacquet was promoted to Captain-Commandant and put in charge of the Groupe de Chasse, Belgium's first fighter wing. By now, Jacquet was flying the two-seat SPAD S.XI with his unit being a mixture of the SPAD S.XI and Sopwith 1 1⁄2 Strutters.

     When the war ended, Jacquet had seven confirmed victories with another nine unconfirmed and he had an impressive array of medals to go with his wartime service. His decorations included being a Knight of the Order of Leopold (Chevalier de Ordre de Léopold), Ordre de la Couronne avec des Palmiers (Order of the Crown with Palms), the Croix de Guerre (six citations), Médaille de la Victoire 1914-1918, Médaille Commémorative de la Guerre 1914-1918, Knight of the Legion of Honor (Chevalier de Légion d'Honneur), the Croix de Guerre (the French version), the Russian Order of St. Anna (Орден Святой Анны), and the British awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross (the only Belgian to have received this decoration during World War One).

     The photograph depicts Jacquet (on the left) with his gunner, Lt. Robin. Jacquet's rank is that of Captain as shown by the three stars on his collar tabs. The fuselage of his F.40 was all black with a predominantly white skull on the nose. The F.40 was a tall aircraft, standing 12.1 feet in height, had a length of 30.4 feet, and a wingspan of 57.9 feet. The F.40 used many engines but the most common was a Renault V-12, air-cooled piston engine that developed 130 horsepower that drove a 2-bladed, fixed pitch wooden pusher propeller. This gave the F.40 a maximum speed of 84mph at 6,600 feet. Enough fuel was carried for a 260 mile range or a total air endurance of 2 hours and 20 minutes. The service ceiling was 13,290 feet and it took the F.40 a total of fifteen minutes to reach 6,600 feet. For weapons, the usual fit was a single .303 caliber Lewis machine-gun though it could be fitted with two. A total of 530 pounds of bombs could be carried and the F.40P model could mount ten Le Prieur air-to-air incendiary rockets. These rockets were exclusively used against observation balloons and German Zeppelin airships.

     Jacquet retired from the Belgian military in 1921 after fourteen years of service. He, along with Louis Robin, opened a flying school in Gosselies, Belgium. On August 27, 1931, Jacquet became the commercial director for the British aviation firm Fairey's Belgium subsidiary Société des Avions Fairey that the British company had set up at Gosselies' aerodrome. When the Germans, again, invaded Belgium on May 10, 1940, Jacquet once again heeded the call to battle and joined the Résistance Belge (Belgian Resistance) at the age of 52. He was captured by the Germans and imprisoned at Fort de Huy in the city of Huy in 1942. The fort was used by the Germans to house all manner of criminals, communists, resistance fighters, captured soldiers from England, France, and Russia, and even hostages for one reason or another. It was also used as a transit stop for Jews and other "undesirables" before being taken to either the Neuengamme concentration camp in northern Germany or the Vught concentration camp in the Netherlands. Jacquet survived imprisonment and was freed from Fort de Huy upon the end of the war. He moved to Leval-Chaudeville and that was where he passed away on October 12, 1947 at the age of 58.

British Medium Mk. A Whippet: In Japanese Service

     Parallel to the development of British heavy tanks in World War One was the creation of a cavalry tank that could exploit any breakthroughs made by the heavier tanks. Work began on the new tank in October 1916 with metal being cut on the prototype on December 21, 1916. The work was completed on February 3, 1917 and trails commenced on March 3, 1917. Following the demonstration of the tank, given the designation Medium Mark A but nicknamed the Whippet, an order of 200 examples was given with the first to be delivered on July 31, 1917.

     Originally, the Whippet was given a rotating turret off an Austin armored car but this was dropped in favor of a fixed, rear mounted turret. Armament consisted of four, ball-mounted .303 Hotchkiss machine-guns, one on each face of the turret. The Whippet was powered by two 4-cylinder Tylor Twin engines, each driving one set of tracks. In addition, each engine had its own gearbox and transmission which could be locked together when the tank was driving in a straight line. This rather complex drive train required significant training on the part of the driver in order to master the handling of the tank. In order to turn the Whippet, the transmissions had to be uncoupled and one engine revved up and the other powered down in order to effect the change in direction. The driver was provided with a steering wheel whose mechanism automatically adjusted the engines accordingly. In practice, the gradual steering often failed, causing the tank to veer off course. Drivers, knowing the problems with the regular steering mechanism, would use the brakes to effect turns or would bring the tank to a halt, lock a track side, then turn which sometimes led to the Whippet throwing or breaking a track due to the jerky motions. For armor, the Whippet had a maximum of 14mm which was proof against German armor-piercing ammunition as used in their machine-guns and small arms though it was completely vulnerable to anti-tank guns and artillery. In terms of speed, the Whippet could muster a top speed of 8mph which was double that of the main British heavy tank, the Mark IV. The Whippet had a three man crew that consisted of the commander, the driver, and the gunner. The latter had his work cut out for him given he had to man four weapons within the confines of the turret. In some cases, the commander would assist or a second gunner was crammed into the fighting compartment.

     Following World War One, the Whippet was eventually replaced by the Medium Mark B and Medium Mark C which left examples of the Whippet as surplus and at this stage, the Japanese entered the picture. As Japan sought to modernize its military in the 1920s, it did so in three major ways. The first was to send personnel abroad to the major military powers (like Britain and France) to study the military technology of those countries. The second way was for Japanese companies to hire foreign engineers and designers and the third way was to purchase foreign designs with which to study. When World War One ended, the Japanese looked to Britain and France to purchase tanks. The first order was for a single Mark IV heavy tank (some sources state a Mark V tank) while a second purchase, done in 1919, was for six Medium Mark A Whippet tanks along with thirteen Renault FT light tanks (called the Ko-Gata Sensha in Japanese service). The photograph shows one of the Japanese Whippet tanks being demonstrated before a crowd of military personnel.

     The Whippet tanks the Japanese obtained were production models as evidenced by the four mud chutes on the tank as the prototypes had five. Exhaust smoke from the engine is obscuring some of the features of the tank but the fixed turret is evident though devoid of any armament. It is possible that the demonstration was done soon after the Whippets were received in Japan as the original British white/red/white identification striping on the front of the tracks is still visible. Later photographs of the Whippets do not show this and stars were added to the front of the hull which suggests the tanks had been later repainted. The Japanese retained the Whippets in service until 1929 but by then, Japanese industry was already developing their own indigenous tank, the Type 87 Chi-I medium tank. 

Ordnance BL 15in. Howitzer Mk.I: A Gun The British Military Didn't Want

     In October 1914, the Royal Marines were reorganized in order to create two Royal Marine Artillery brigades. One served as an anti-aircraft artillery brigade while the other became the Royal Marine Howitzer Brigade (RMHB) under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel G. R. Poole. With a strength of around 1,000 men, the RMHB was split into twelve, one gun batteries. Each battery was composed of 60 men. A training facility was arranged for at Fort Cumberland, located in Portsmouth, UK. The guns deployed by the RMHB was the Ordnance Breech Loading (BL) 15in. Howitzer Mk.I and the RMHB would be the only unit to use them. 

     Coventry Ordnance Works, buoyed by their success with the 9.2in. howitzer, designed the BL 15in. gun on their own. However, with no military request for the gun, Coventry Ordnance Works used its influence within the British Admiralty to attempt to get interest in the product. At that time, Winston Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty and saw the opportunity to get the Royal Navy involved in the land conflict in France. He authorized the purchase of 12 of the guns and so equipped, the RMHB would be sent to the Western Front in February 1915. The BL 15in. howitzer weighed around 94 tons and required three Foster-Daimler 105hp tractors to move. It could throw a 1,450lb shell out to a maximum range of 6.1 miles. Although effective enough when it came to eliciting destruction on German forces, the range was less than other, more capable guns and the time it took to bring the gun into action and the support required to operate it were detriments to its continued use. 

     Churchill’s support for the RMHB faded away in light of the performance of the howitzers and in time, the guns were forced onto the British Army who did not want them. Still, under Army oversight, RMHB crews served the weapons during the Battle of the Somme (September 1916) and the Third Battle of Ypres (October 1917). The guns were declared obsolete shortly after World War One and all of them were scrapped by 1920.

The Linke-Hofmann R I: The See-Through Bomber

 

Photograph of the second prototype, the R I 40/16

     World War One saw a rapid evolution within the field of aviation between 1914 to 1918. By 1918, military aircraft on all sides, especially the British and Germans, had evolved from slow and relatively cumbersome planes to fast and agile ones. Another aspect of aircraft by 1918 was a clear demarcation between types of aircraft. By the end of World War One, most of the warring powers had an array of aircraft classes such as fighters, interceptors, bombers, reconnaissance planes, fighter-bombers, and even ground support aircraft. If one examines the breadth of German aircraft design during the World War One years, there were a number of rather odd aircraft which appeared. It should be remembered that the start of World War One in 1914 was over ten years after the Wright Brothers made the first controlled and sustained flight in December 1903. As such, if a theory for some aeronautical advantage was determined to be feasible, it was investigated by aircraft designers and in some cases, turned into an actual airplane to fully put the idea to the test. One such aircraft was the German bomber, the Linke-Hofmann R I.

     The Modellversuchsanstalt der Motorluftschiff-Studiengesellschaft (MLStG; Institute for Testing of Aerodynamic Models of the Powered Airship Society), established in 1907 in Göttingen, Germany, had designed and tested a model aircraft concept in which it was seen that if the space between a biplane's wings (the interplane gap) was completely enclosed, it provided for a more aerodynamically clean surface by eliminating some of the drag induced by exposed struts, pilot windscreens, engine radiators, and oil coolers. The study by the MLStG was taken up by the Linke-Hofmann company (founded in 1834) who sought to compete in the Riesenflugzeuge (giant aircraft) arena in which several German aviation companies built large three to four engine bombers for the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte (German Air Force). Despite Linke-Hofmann being well known for designing and constructing locomotives and not aircraft, the company brought in former A.E.G. engineer Paul Stumpf to design and oversee the new bomber which was designated the R I. What resulted was evidence that what works in the laboratory does not always translate to success when put into production.

     To facilitate the MLStG's study results, the fuselage of the R I was immense in size. Within the cavernous interior were two pairs of Mercedes D IVa engines, each of the four engines rated at 260 horsepower. Also inside the fuselage were the gearboxes and clutch systems for each pair which were connected to a driveshaft that drove a large, two-bladed wooden propeller on each side of the aircraft. The propeller mountings, along with dual radiators, were situated between the wings. The propeller mountings were not connected to the wings and thus did not pass on vibration forces to them. If required, the engines, gearboxes, and clutches could all be serviced by flight mechanics without exposure to the elements. So large was the interior of the R I that it had three decks. The top deck contained the cockpit and the wireless radio operator's station. The middle deck was the engine compartment and the lower deck contained the bombardier's position, the fuel tanks, and the bomb bay. The R I utilized all-steel tires rather than rubber and used a multi-spring suspension system. The first prototype, R I 8/15, was completed and used Cellon for skinning over the wooden airframe. Cellon was cellulose acetate and since it was clear, the intent was to make the R I less visible in the sky. The maiden flight of R I 8/15 took place in the spring of 1917 with test pilot Hauptmann Krupp at the controls.

     Suffice it to say, a host of problems quickly manifested themselves. The wings were found to be less than robust due to their light weight and tended to warp in flight, leading to sluggish aileron flight controls. Another problem was the engines did not get adequate cooling and significant vibration from the engines while running was felt throughout the aircraft. The Cellon skinning was also a problem. While clear, it was highly reflective which had the opposite effect on reducing the visibility of the R I. In addition, Cellon very quickly yellowed in sunlight and any dirt and grime easily stained the material. Finally, Cellon flexed when temperatures changed, causing shrinking and expansion on control surfaces which impacted performance. Another concern was the poor pilot who, sitting some 20 feet up in the cockpit, had a very difficult time in landing the R I. The R I was found to have a handful of qualities in that the rudder and elevator controls were adequate and the unusual fuselage design did not overly result in reducing the handling in the air. However, it was not anywhere close to what the MLStG study determined would be the resulting benefit. In May 10, 1917, the R I 8/15 was flying at low altitude when the wings collapsed and the aircraft plummeted to the ground. Amazingly, of the six man crew (which included the pilots Dr. Wittenstein and Leutnant Hebart), only two (both mechanics) perished in the crash. The damage was too extensive and so the bomber was written off but work on a second aircraft, R I 40/16, had already been underway (shown in the photograph). Some of the lessons learned in the first prototype were worked into the second with the most notable being the replacement of the Cellon with regular fabric which was painted in a multi-color lozenge pattern (Buntfarbenaufdruck or Lozenge-Tarnung). The handling of the second prototype was marginally better but the overall performance was not to expectations. The end of the R I program came when the second prototype landed hard, broke an axle, and nosed over, crushing the forward portion of the bomber. It was never repaired and although two additional aircraft had been finished by January 1918, R I 41/16 and R I 42/16, it is believed that neither the third nor fourth bomber prototypes were ever flown.

     The dimensions of the R I were huge. The R I had a length of 51.2 feet, a height of 21.1 feet, a wing span of 108.1 feet, and a wing area of 2,851 square feet. Empty, the R I weighed 17,640 pounds and when loaded, 24,696 pounds. The four engines gave the R I a maximum speed of 81 miles per hour with enough fuel to give the bomber a five hour endurance. It took the R I two hours to attain an altitude of 9,840 feet. Defensive armament was not fitted to any of the R I aircraft though dorsal, ventral, and beam machine-gun positions were provisioned.

The Canon de 155 C Modèle 1917 Schneider: Still Seeing Service

(Author's Collection)

     A battery of Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider (abbreviated as C17S) sit at rest on the range, likely during a training exercise. That this is likely the case is that if at the front, such an exposed and tightly packed position would spell disaster if located by the enemy and counter-battery fire brought to bear. In addition, there appears to be a wooden rectangular area which each cannon is sitting within. Finally, having the limbers right up with the guns was something not often done when in combat. The crews seem to be gathered near the second to last gun, perhaps getting instruction or taking a break from firing practice.

     The 155mm caliber C17S was a development of the earlier Canon de 155 C modèle 1915 Schneider (C15S) with the only difference being the breech of the C17S was changed to use bagged propellant rather than a cased shell as used in the C15S. Schneider-Creusot developed the C17S starting in 1915 and the change in the breech was actually done for cost savings as it was cheaper to use bagged charges with the round instead of a cased round which contained both the round and the propellant. Production began in 1916 with the first examples reaching French artillery troops in 1917. Schneider-Creusot continued to build the gun into 1918. Over 3,000 examples were built, including C15S models being converted to C17S standards. In addition to equipping the French, the C17S was used by the U.S. (as the M1917/M1918), Portugal, Russia, Belgium, and Italy during World War One.

     By the start of World War Two, some 2,040 examples of the C17S were still in French service. Prior to the war, the U.S., due to the delay in the 155mm M1 howitzer reaching troops, modernized the stocks of M1917 and M1918 which were still in service by adding air-brakes, using metal wheels, and putting rubber tyres on the wheels. These weapons went to war with U.S. artillery forces until the M1 finally began replacing them in 1942. Surplus M1917/1918 were sent to Britain under the Lend-Lease program. The Russians purchased the gun prior to World War Two but also captured a number of them from Poland. It is believed the Russians re-barreled the cannons to fire 152mm rounds. The Germans, after defeating the French, came into a large number of captured C17S guns and put them into service as the 15.5cm sFH 414(f). These guns remained in France, being used by second-line troops as well as being emplaced along the Atlantic Wall. Captured Russian guns were given the German designation 15.2cm sFH 449(r). Poland had been another heavy user of the 155mm Haubica wz. 1917 prior to the war with 340 in service. Many of these also fell into German hands who used them under the designation 15.5cm sFH 17(p). Italy was another user, having obtained 8 during the Battle of the Alps (which ran from June 10 through June 25, 1940 as part of the invasion of France) and another 96 from the Greeks. In Italian service, they were designated the Obice da 155/14 PB but once Italy surrendered in 1943 and the Germans seized Italian military equipment, the howitzers were given a new name, the 15.5cm sFH 414(i). Yugoslavia had 36 C17S guns in service and Belgium had 134 C17S guns available at the outbreak of World War Two. When the Germans invaded both countries and captured the howitzers, they were designated 15.5cm H 427(j) and 15.5cm sFH 413(b) respectively. Thus, the Germans had some six different designations for what was basically the same gun. Other countries not mentioned that used the C17S were Finland, Argentina, Bolivia, the Philippines, Romania, and Spain. 

     A testament to the soundness of the design is that Finland and Argentina used the guns into the 1980s while Bolivia received enough of the guns from Argentina to equip two artillery regiments who still use a modernized version of the gun to this day.

 

British Mk. IV Tank No.2873 "Blarney Castle": Deadly Day at Fontaine-Notre-Dame

"Blarney Castle" photographed by the Germans following the combat near Fontaine-Notre-Dame.

      The Battle of Cambrai, which commenced on November 20, 1917 and ended on December 7, 1917, was a proving ground for advancements in tactics both on the side of the British as well as the Germans. For the British, air support was a key addition to the battle plans in which the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was assigned ground targets to attack prior to ground forces commencing their advance. In addition, cooperation between tanks and infantry was improved and artillery methods modified (for example, predicted artillery fire) and sound ranging used to conduct counter-battery artillery fire. For the Germans, the battle showed the effectiveness of Stoßtruppen (Stormtooper) tactics which emphasized infiltration, small units which provided support for each other, and mobile heavy weapons (machine-guns, trench mortars, and flamethrowers) which provided the Stoßtruppen with a significant attack advantage. It also showed the Germans how effective their artillery was against British tanks which had the equal effect of showing the British how vulnerable their tanks were to such weapons.

     Cambrai was a vital German supply point for the German's Siegfriedstellung, which was a defensive line known as the Hindenburg Line by the British. If the British could take it and the surrounding territory, especially Bourlon Ridge near the town, it would pose a serious threat to the German rear lines. Included in the attack were 378 combat tanks of the British Tank Corps. All of these tanks were the Mark IV, the main tank deployed by the British during World War One. These tanks came in two versions. The Mark IV Male was equipped with three .303in. Lewis machine-guns (one in the front hull and one in each sponson) and two Ordnance Quick-Firing 6-pounder 6 cwt Hotchkiss Mk I guns, one in each sponson. The other type was the Mark IV Female which was equipped only with five Lewis machine-guns, one in the hull and two in each sponson. The purpose of the two types was that the Male tanks would engage enemy targets (for example, pillboxes) with the 6-pounder guns while the Female tanks would provide protection to the Male tanks by repelling any close assault attacks by enemy infantry and to bring down withering machine-gun fire on any exposed enemy troops that may be flushed out by the Male tanks. One of these Mark IV Female tanks, named “Blarney Castle“, took part in the combat in the commune of Fontaine-Notre-Dame, 2.5 miles west of Cambrai.

     The tank was part of 6th. Company, 12th. Section, of B Battalion. It carried the serial number of 2873 and was commanded, alternatively, by either 2nd. Lieutenant Julian Cecil Lazonby or 2nd. Lieutenant Thomas Henderson. The tank's crew number was B57. As was tradition at the time, tanks were named by their commander and the name had to start with the letter of the battalion the tank belonged to. Thus, Henderson got to select the name and he chose “Blarney Castle“. This was because his parents were land owners in Ardrum, Inniscarra in County Cork in Ireland. Ardrum was where the owners of the famous Blarney Castle resided at the time. For the combat to come, “Blarney Castle“ was commanded by 2nd. Lt. Lazonby while 2nd. Lt. Henderson was in command of a tank from the 10th. Company, “Behemoth II“ (crew number B54; Serial No. 4516). The tanks, along with four others, sought to enter the village on November 23, 1917 and came under fire by elements of K.Flak Batterie 7. The German unit was equipped with Krupp 7.7cm L/27 anti-aircraft guns that were mounted on Daimler-Benz trucks. While normally used against enemy aircraft, German forces requested two of the trucks to be brought forward to contain the British tank attack. The 7.7cm gun was able to hurl a shell to a velocity of 1,520 feet per second and when used in the direct fire role, had a maximum range of 4.9 miles. This hitting power was more than adequate to punch through the thin armor of a Mark IV tank which was 12mm thick in the front, 8mm on the sides, and 6mm on the rear of the tank. The two vehicles from K.Flak Batterie 7 were supported by a company of troops from Reserve Infanterie Regiment 52. Together, they destroyed seven tanks in all, which included the wiping out of the 6th. Company. “Blarney Castle“ was struck multiple times by the accurate fire of the German gunners. Hits to the tank are evident on both sides which suggests the two trucks were not together and thus were able to engage the tanks in a cross-fire. The eight man crew had no chance. The interior of the Mark IV was open which meant fuel tanks, the engine and its components, crew positions, guns, and ammunition were not compartmentalized. Thus, the penetrations by the 7.7cm shells turned the inside of “Blarney Castle“ into an inferno and those crew fortunate enough to be killed outright were spared the agony of being incinerated. This grim photograph was taken by a German in the aftermath of the combat and shows one of the crew on the ground and at least one other crewman visible in the open hatch below the sponson. “Blarney Castle“ was a heavily photographed tank and another picture shows that on the other side of the tank, another charred crewman was on the ground and two others perished trying to get out through the hatches beneath the sponson. “Behemoth II“ also did not survive the battle, being destroyed with a loss of all crew.

Army Hospital Corps Radiologist: Early Personal Protective Equipment

A British Army Hospital Corps radiologist with the rank of sergeant wearing protective equipment to ply his trade.

      The man credited with discovering X-rays was German physics professor Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895 and it would earn him a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. His X-ray of his wife's hand made in December 1895 was the first of a human body part. The first discussion of using X-rays in combat medicine came from the Prussian War Ministry but it would be the Italians during the First Italo-Ethiopian War who used the X-ray to locate bullets in two Italian soldiers who had been injured during the Battle of Adwa in 1896. The British started their foray into military radiology when the British Red Cross set up an X-ray station during the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 to provide medical support for Greek forces. A prominent radiologist in England at the time was Dr. John Francis Hall-Edwards and in 1900, he joined the Warwickshire Regiment during the Second Boer War and became the chief radiologist at the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital at Deelfontein, South Africa. By this time, X-ray equipment was standard issue to British military hospitals. Dr. Hall-Edwards spent 14 months at the hospital, performing X-rays on some 280 wounded soldiers. Up until World War One, the apparatus to perform X-rays was stationary, being located at hospitals with fixed locations. That changed in 1914 when Madame Marie Curie created “radiological cars” that were standard lorries donated to her from private sources and converted to become mobile X-ray labs. Nicknamed “Little Curies”, some 20 lorries were fitted with the X-ray apparatus and support equipment plus a dark room for the processing of the photographic plates. Curie herself trained a total of 150 women volunteers to crew the lorries which operated in the front lines with French field hospitals. Not content to lead from behind, Curie operated her own “Little Curie” in support of the effort. The first such lorry was deployed during the First Battle of the Marne which commenced in September 1914. Soon, other warring powers deployed their own mobile X-ray trucks to the front lines.

     The dangers of X-rays were known from the very outset of their discovery and subsequent experimentation with them. The majority was burns caused by long exposure to the rays but other ill-effects were documented. Despite this, some physicians claimed that there was no consequences to X-ray exposure at all. Typically, neither the radiologist or the patient was protected in any way during an X-ray examination and in part this was due to the still (at the time) debated side-effects of exposure which contributed to a lack of reliable safety protocols and training. Nevertheless, some steps were taken and this rather curious photograph shows one of them. This was a World War One British radiologist with the rank of sergeant (as denoted by the three reverse chevrons) in the Army Hospital Corps (as denoted by the circular Red Cross insignia) who is wearing a protective apron, gloves, and hood. Although it might appear that the rank is on the actual protective garment, the sleeve seam for the apron can be seen just above the rank and branch insignia. The protection was derived from lead within the apron, gloves, and the hood. It is possible that the hood's vision ports may be leaden glass. The protrusions coming off the hood could be straps or fasteners. There does appear to be a tie at the waist for the apron which suggests it may be more open in the back. It is unknown if this was a prototype or a piece of protective equipment that was put into production and issued to British military radiologists.

The Holt 55–1: The Beginning of U.S. Self-Propelled Guns

 

The Holt 55–1 fitted with the Vickers BL 8in. Mk. VIII howitzer under test at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland in 1917. Retouched photograph by Underwood & Underwood.

     Even as far back as 1915, the U.S. Army Ordnance Department was investigating the mechanization of field artillery beyond simply using tractors to move artillery pieces about the battlefield. During World War One, the Holt Tractor Company was the largest producer of tractors and supplied not only the U.S. Army but also the armies of Britain and France with all three nations using the tractors to pull their respective heavy artillery pieces across the battlefield where horses and trucks could not tread. It would be the British that beat the U.S. to the punch with the development of the Gun Carrier Mk. I, the world’s first production self-propelled gun. Using components from the original British Mk. I tank, the fully tracked Gun Carrier Mk. I was designed to carry either the Ordnance BL 6in. howitzer or the Ordnance BL 60-pounder gun. The vehicle was meant to move the guns to firing positions where they would be dismounted and set up but if need be, the 6in. Gun (not the 60-pounder) could be fired while still on the Gun Carrier. Deliveries of the Gun Carrier Mk. I started in mid-1917 and in all, some 48 vehicles were delivered by the end of the war. As it was, in practice, the Gun Carrier Mk. I was used more as a supply vehicle and rarely as a self-propelled gun. Two major occasions where the Gun Carrier Mk. I functioned as a self-propelled gun was during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge (that ran from July 31, 1917 to August 2, 1917) and the Battle of Amiens (from August 8 through August 12, 1918) and in both cases, the crews fired the howitzers then shifted positions in order to avoid any German counter-battery fire. This is a tactic used even today by self-propelled artillery.

     Returning to the U.S., the Ordnance Department was looking to mount the new 3in. M1917 anti-aircraft gun on a tractor and the Holt Tractor Company stepped up to the plate and suggested a proposal by Pliny E. Holt for just such a mount. Authorization was received to commence development and construction of a prototype and sometime in 1917, the all caterpillar tracked Holt 55–1 was completed and submitted for testing. The Holt 55–1 was a relatively simple affair, consisting of a rectangular riveted metal chassis with the engine, fuel tank, and driver’s station in the rear and the M1917 gun fitted to a high-elevation pedestal mount in the center of the chassis. There was no armor or shielding to protect the power-train, crew or gun though the 55–1 did have outriggers that were deployed to stabilize the vehicle during firing. Testing showed that the 55–1 did have some problems but nevertheless, it demonstrated that the concept of a self-propelled artillery gun was worthwhile. The 55–1 was refitted to carry the heavy Vickers built BL 8in. Mk. VIII howitzer and that is what is shown in this picture distributed by the news photography division of Underwood & Underwood. The mount for the howitzer was made of thick oak planking and does not appear to have had any elevation capability. However, as it was simply a test mount, the Holt 55–1 performed adequately, being able to absorb the recoil of the howitzer without any difficulty. Like the previous gun mount, the revised Holt 55–1 had two extendable outriggers on each side though in this retouched photograph, they appear to be missing. Very few actual photographs exist of the 55–1 and those that do don’t show any camouflage paint applied. In addition to the two gun mounted variants, the 55–1 was also tested as a unarmed (and unarmored) transport, the driver’s station having been moved to the front of the vehicle. The Holt engine along with it’s radiator can be seen with the driver sitting in front of it. On the other side of the driver is the fuel tank for the engine. It appears that there is another man with steering levers on the front of the 55–1 but he is likely just holding on to the outrigger components as there was no room for a driver station in front with the gun mounting. Thus, the driver worked both the speed control as well as the steering levers for the vehicle. The driver actually had no seat and instead, he is sitting on the oak planking that went around the top of the vehicle. Likewise, the three standing men are also atop the oak planks, one of them holding on to a metal brace supporting the gun. It is unknown what the crank is for as an original photograph of the 55–1 doesn’t show such an apparatus so it may have been added to the photograph.

     The 55–1 weighed 11 tons, was 20.6 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 9.5 feet high. Power came from a single Holt 4-cylinder engine that developed 75 horsepower. The engine was tied into a Clark 5-speed transmission. This gave the 55–1 a maximum speed of 5mph. The 8in. Mk. VIII howitzer fired a 200 pound high-explosive shell at a muzzle velocity of 1,500 feet per second. This gave the gun an effective range of just shy of 7 miles. The normal elevation of the gun was 0 degrees to a maximum of 45 degrees and a traverse of 4 degrees to the left or right. The breech was of the Welin interrupted screw type with a Asbury Breech Mechanism that opened the breech by combining the unscrewing, withdrawing, and swinging clear movements of the breech into one continuous action. Likewise, the closing of the breech after the round and charge was loaded was also one action. This sped up the loading and unloading of heavy guns which allowed for a increase in the rate of fire. Recoil was absorbed by a hydro-pneumatic recuperator and hydraulic buffer.

     Only one Holt 55–1 was constructed and it was not put into production. Pliny Holt was lured away from the Holt Tractor Company and went to work for the Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, Illinois and while there, he oversaw the development of a series of self-propelled guns, the Mark I through the Mark X between 1918 and 1922. Fifty Mark I (with the 8in. Mk.VIII howitzer), fifty Mark II (with a 155mm M1918 gun), and a total of 250 Mark III and Mark IV (with a 240mm Schneider TR M1914 howitzer) self-propelled guns were contracted but the end of World War One saw the contract drastically cut back to only a handful of vehicles for experimentation use only. Despite none of Holt’s vehicles making it into production service with the U.S. Army, they did provide significant knowledge in design that would come into play when war once again loomed on the horizon.

The Canon de 305 Modèle 1893/1896 TAZ: France’s “Colony” Railway Guns

 

A Canon de 305 Modèle 1893/1896 TAZ sending a round downrange. (Author’s Collection)

     In 1918, the French withdrew the eight Canon de 305 Modèle 1893/1896 TAZ (Tout-Azimuth) railway guns which had been in service since 1916 in order to refit them. The main reason for this was that the 305mm guns were simply too large a caliber for the carriages and so it was decided to replace them with a smaller gun. Chosen were eight Canon de 240 de Côte Modèle 1893 coastal defense guns that had originally been installed in French forts located in Dakar, Senegal and Saigon, Vietnam. The St. Chamond company, who constructed the 305mm railway gun carriage, handled the required modifications in order to fit the 240mm guns. The work was completed and in 1918, the Canon de 240 Modèle 1893/1896 TAZ railway guns were deployed and served out the remainder of World War One.

     The guns, sometimes nicknamed the “Colonies” due to them having been taken from French colonies, fired a 357lb. high-explosive shell to a maximum range of 15 miles. The shell used a separate powder charge and a trained crew could fire one round every three minutes. The gun sat on a turntable which could traverse 360 degrees but in practice, it was never traversed more than 10 degrees from either side of the centerline of the carriage due to instability caused by the recoil. When traversed, the gun had an elevation of 15 degrees up to 35 degrees but if the gun was parallel to the carriage, maximum elevation was only 29 degrees. Any higher and the breech would strike the carriage during recoil. The carriage, once a firing position was chosen, was ground anchored in place to help absorb some of the vertical forces created by firing. In addition, outriggers and screw jacks were used to create stability in the carriage. Finally, to lessen some of the recoil forces, there was a 4 degree elevated ramp the gun cradle rode up on before returning to battery. Loading the gun was accomplished by a elevated shell trolley at the rear of the carriage.

     The photograph depicts one of the Canon de 240 Modèle 1893/1896 TAZ guns, having just fired. Each of the gun crew visible are wearing the metal canister that held the Modèle 1917 Appareil Respiratoire Spécial (ARS 17) gas mask and so this can date the photograph to at least 1918 when the gun was in service or possibly in the immediate post-WW1 years as the ARS17 continued to be issued until it was replaced with the Modèle 1920 Appareil Respiratoire Spécial. This suggests that, despite the rather exposed firing position, the gun was in action rather than firing on a range. The crew has traversed the gun 90 degrees and has only deployed four of the eight outriggers. It is possible the powder charge was lessened to reduce the chance of the recoil tipping the carriage over or the crew was simply taking their chances. As was usual, none of the men remained on the carriage when the gun was fired. The man nearest the carriage was the gunner, having been the one who pulled the lanyard which fired the cannon. The box car held the powder and ammunition for the gun as well as other supplies. Wheelbarrows and railroad ties can be seen, the latter likely used during the construction of the ground anchors.

     When World War Two started, the eight guns were still in service with the 374e Regiment Artillerie Lourde sur Voie Ferrée (ALVF; Heavy Artillery on Railroad), four guns with the 10e Bataillon ALVF and four with the 11e Bataillon AVLF. These guns were situated in the south of France and all of them fell intact into German hands following a brief period of combat against Italian forces in June 1940. As was common practice for the Germans, they were pressed into service as the 24cm Kanone (E) 558 (f) and all eight were incorporated into the Atlantikwall (Atlantic Wall) coastal defenses that ran from the continental European coast all the way up through the Scandinavian coast. Four guns were positioned in Saint-Nazaire, France while the other four were sent to Narvik, Norway in 1942 before moving to Nærbø, Norway sometime in 1944.