I bloomin' well do!
If you can identify all of these upcoming TWDC pack then award yourself a small break.
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Camel - Can only mean one thing -Anzac Camel Corp?
Looks like Turkish infantry throwing grenades in the mix too.
If those are Ottomans in Arab Kefiyehs (and I think they are)then sign me up! I
Lewis gun in there too...but who/what is carrying it, Tommy, Digger or Johnny?
Hi Soapy,
Please remember that the British Yeomanry, ANZAC LH and Indians had the Hotchkiss Automatic in lieu of the Lewis LMG. Early on in the campaign they were equipped with lewis guns, but these were eventually replaced.
The Asienkorps were equipped with Bergmann LMG 15 n/A. This is confirmed by our own captured spoils in the Australian War Memorial Annex and numerous entires in the military history diaries. Photo upon request. You may have seen the photo before.
The Turks were equipped with some captured Lewis and most probably some Bergmanns too.
Here is some additional info:
The LH MG Sections did start with the Maxim/Vickers in the1914/15, but in late 1916 these were used to form the LH MG Sqn's and to replace these the Regt MG Sect were reformed using the new Lewis guns.
We used these at Magdhaba and Rafa and they were replaced by the Hotchkiss in early 1917.
All the time the LH Bde MG Sqn's still used the Vickers gun, the idea being the HMG's were with the Bde MG Sqn's while the LMGs were with the Regt MG Sections.
I've never heard of the Turks using Madsens. Most of the Madsens that Germans captured from the Russians went to the two Musketen battalions that served on the western front from late 1915 to late 1916.
Originally the Madsen was used strictly defensively, to prevent breakthrough. Each Musketen Company had 30 weapons, each served by a four-man squad. The companies were mobile, being sent wherever a breakthrough was deemed most likely. Madsen operators suffered extremely heavy casualties during the Battle of the Somme, which led to the weapon being judged obsolete. It was mostly withdrawn from service by the spring of 1917, but on the other hand you've probably seen that photo of a line of prone German assault troops using Madsen’s in the Battle of Caporetto, October of 1917. So I guess it's not wise to be too pedantic about these things. If the Turks used the Madsen, they may have issued it to their assault troops rather than their regular line infantry.
Of cause the Storm Bn of the 19th Turkish Div was made up of Companies from both the 20th and 19th Divs, as it was the Corps storm Bn when formed.
We have gone into this before but I believe at least a company of this storm Bn was still with the 20th Div and assaulted the Bald Hill between 27th Nov and 5th Dec.
Lewis guns were used of a short period in 1916 by the ALH but they were replaced in early 1917 with the Hotchkiss and none were lost by Australian units during the short time we had them.
But we should remember that the Lewis was with the British Infantry Div's and they suffered badly particularly at 2nd Gaza in April 1917 and more then one gun was lost there. Could these have been used by the Turkish units that captured them, why not
But remember to use a British MG you need to have a good supply of ammo as the lewis can use up the bullets.
We should also remember that the Turkish Army was short of MG's and had only 4 Maxims per MG Company and none at Company level, so some extra firepower even if short on ammo would help the defences.
I think its already been mentioned that the Bergmann was air cooled, more ideal for a desert environment than the heavier, water cooled Spandaus.
Also issued to Turkish storm troop detachments.
This Bergmann LMG appears to have been used by Turkish storm troopers. I suspect this pic was taken after the El Burg raid Saturday, 1 December 1917.
Here is the post battle report:
Quote:
A captured Medical Officer stated that the attacking forces consisted of an assault battalion of the 19th Division and that exclusive of the wounded that had been evacuated by him early in the fight, there was none of the Battalion left. A few days later, three men, who said they belonged to this battalion, came in and surrendered saying that their comrades were either killed or with us as prisoners and that they were lonely and wanted to join the latter. This assault battalion consisted of specially picked troops; their physique was the best we had ever seen amongst Turkish prisoners. The battalion had only arrived a few days before from the Galician front. They were all armed with bombs and most of them wore German type of steel helmet. One man had thrown 92 bombs [as was evident by the number of metal clips], before he was shot through the head. Included in the captured material were eight automatic rifles, similar in pattern to our own Hotchkiss Rifles.
Have seen a photo of Turks with Lewis guns during the campaign in Palestine. They had their own version of the Maxim, as well as the Bergmann, and they used captured Russian machine guns as well.
The Lewis guns were so coveted that I doubt the Germans would give any to the Turks. Maybe to Turkish assault units, but certainly not to the ordinary line infantry. The 19th Division was one of the best-trained and equipped Turkish outfits, and its assault company (maybe later it became a battalion?) definitely wore steel helmets. It was trained by the Germans at a camp in Rohatyn, Galicia.
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