Images from WWI

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"And now I have become Death, the destroyer of Worlds!"
 
Thanks Wurger. You got some to post?

Three Irish Guardsmen try out German body armour while examining a German machine gun...

 
I would say all is fine witrh the MG. That's the German MG 08 that was nothing more like the water cooled Maxim gun. The operating handle and the firing mechanism aren't seen in the pic because the guy is holding it with the barrel nozzle and the asked parts of the gun were at the back of the MG. So.. these are put on the ground. Actually, the dirt and mud make them hidden or just less visible. The enlarged pic shows it better.



And a couple shots more...





 
Thanks- that clarifies my questions-and allowing for the photography-film- etc. of the WW1 era--better detailed. Looks like a MG-08 Maxim gun- with the "knuckle busting" charging handle that indexed whenever the gun was fired- causing some problems for the gunner who let his knuckles get too close-ahead or forward of the grip. Flash suppressor on muzzle? Cloth feed belts?-- wonder what the weight of the entire gun on the T&E base was? And why are some of the loops in the cloth ammo belt empty, but next to several loops containing rounds??
 
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German WWI 7.92-mm Maxim Spandau MG 08/15 Machineguns carried by German Prisoners of War captured by Canadians, June 1917.

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I would guess that they drained out the coolant water from the barrel shroud, to "lighten their load"- still way heavier on their shoulders than a WW11 era MG-34 and late, the MG-42 would have been. As wars progress over centuries, so does the increased technology of man's ability to kill his fellow man. I look the fotos of the German Soldaten, and wonder- any one of them could have my next-door neighbor- in "another point in time". Hansie
 
The British Vickers was more commonly known for the knucklebusting. One was instructed to ensure the thumbs rested on the top part of the handle lest it get mangled if curled around the handle as one normally would be inclined to do. However, that said, the Maxim would also make the careless pay a price.
 
Thanks- other than the difference between the Maxim and the Vickers as to caliber, are they fairly similar in design and configuration??
 

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