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Preface By MAJOR-GENERAL SIR HENRY RAWLINSON, Bart., C.B., C.V.O. THE data collected and reproduced in this little book will be of value to all those interested in the development of machine guns. That they will play a vastly more important part in the wars of the future than they have done in the past is generally admitted, but the lines in which the development will take place and the principles of their tactical employment, have yet to be confirmed by the experience of war. The sustained rattle of a machine gun has an immense moral effect in proportion to the actual damage which it inflicts, and to make full use of this moral power it is desirable that it should come as a surprise when the success or failure of the combat hangs in the balance. Hence both in attack and defence it will probably be wise to reserve a proportion of the machine guns available, for use at close and decisive ranges where the terrain favours their being brought into action as a surprise. A point which the writer has touched on and upon which I should like to lay stress, is the fact that when massed in batteries they to some extent lose their moral effect. When the rapid fire of 8 guns is at full blast the rattle of the guns is lost in the roar of the battery; so that except in the close defence of defiles such as the ditches of a fortress or the defence of an important bridge, the dispersion of the guns and the concentration of their fire will usually give the best result. Moreover dispersion favours concealment, and as the present tripod mounting enables the gun, if well placed, to be almost completely hidden, there should be small risk of its discovery by the opposing artillery. On the other hand the battery formation has many advantages. For purposes of training, discipline, supervision and general efficiency it is essential that guns should be organised in batteries of eight. The instruction can be carried out far more thoroughly than in pairs, but it must never be forgotten that for tactical work, each group of two or four guns, must be capable of independent action either by itself or in conformity with the general dispositions of the battery or group of batteries. This requires a high standard of training for the N.C.O.'s commanding pairs of guns, and it is only by careful instruction under a battery commander that this object can be attained. If we glance at the equipment now extant in our service, we find, I think, that it is capable of improvement. The existing wagon in which the gun and ammunition is carried, does not favour concealment nor is it well adapted to countries deficient of roads. All the Japanese machine guns, and they have largely increased their numbers since the war in Manchuria, are carried on pack mules, and in the manoeuvres of 1909 these guns were freely used right up in the firing line of the attack, to which position they had been skillfully conducted without the pack mules being exposed to fire. To do this with the wagon now in the British service would not have been possible, though if the draft animal which draws the wagon carried a pack saddle, capable of carrying the gun and tripod, good results would be attained. Similarly during the French Cavalry Manoeuvres of 1909, the use made of machine guns was most striking. The gun itself (called the St. Etienne) which is air cooled and has three rates of fire with ball and blank, is mounted on a limbered carriage and drawn by four horses. Whenever the opposing regiments or brigades joined issue in the charge, the machine guns were always on the spot pouring a rapid fire from a flank for a minute or so just before impact took place, and there can be no question that such fire would have been very effective. It is abundantly clear that all armies are paying increased attention to their machine guns, impressed as they have all been by the reports of their effect, both morally and physically, at the battle of Mukden. It is a subject which we require to carefully study, for other nations are improving the mechanisms, and mobility, of their weapons and training their detachments to the value and importance of invisibility. It is by no means certain that the best type of gun has yet been invented, but there are several that from the point of view of handiness, lightness and equipment, are superior to our present maxim. The shortcoming from which we suffer most is our inability to fire rapid with blank ammunition, for it is one which renders the training of both officers and detachments extremely difficult, and deprives Machine Guns of the power of making themselves properly appreciated at manoeuvres. Efforts are being made to overcome this disadvantage but these efforts have not yet been crowned with success. I have referred to the above points as they may, perhaps, be of interest to readers of this valuable little book, the contents of which are worthy of careful study by all infantry and artillery officers. HENRY RAWLINSON. MARCH, 1910. Contents
PREFACE INTRODUCTION Chapter I. SOME OF A MACHINE GUN OFFICER'S DIFFICULTIES A FEW SUGGESTIONS Chapter II. ORGANIZATION, ETC. Chapter III. TRAINING IN THE BATTALION Chapter IV. TRAINING WHEN BRIGADED Chapter V. TACTICAL NOTES FROM OFFICIAL TEXT BOOKS WITH ADDENDA Chapter VI. NOTES ON TACTICS IN FOREIGN ARMIES End of Preview.
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