C. E. Crutchley - Machine Gunner, 1914–18

MACHINE GUNNER

19141918

MACHINE GUNNER

19141918

Personal Experiences of the
Machine Gun Corps

Compiled and edited by

C. E. Crutchley

First published in 1973 & 1975 by
C.E. Crutchley on behalf of
The Machine Gun Corps Old Comrades Association

Published in 2005
and re-printed in this format in 2013 by

Pen & Sword Military
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS

The right of C.E. Crutchley to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.

Copyright C.E. Crutchley, 2005, 2013

ISBN:- 978-1-78346-178-3

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the
Publisher in writing.

Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CRO 4YY

Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the Imprints of Pen & Sword Aviation,
Pen & Sword Family History, Pen & Sword Maritime, Pen & Sword Military, Pen
& Sword Discovery, Wharncliffe Local History, Wharncliffe True Crime,
Wharncliffe Transport, Pen & Sword Select, Pen & Sword Military Classics, Leo
Cooper, The Praetorian Press, Remember When, Seaforth Publishing
and Frontline Publishing.

For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England
E-mail: enquiries@pen-and-sword.co.uk
Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

To the undying memory of officers and other ranks of
the Machine Gun Corps and the Regimental Machine
Gunners who gave their allfor their countryin the
Great War of 19141918, this book is reverently and
respectfully dedicated.

Contents

During recent years the work of recovering the Regimental and the Army records of the Machine Gun Corps, lost in two separate disasters, has been proceeding.

A new Corps banner of unique character was laid up forever in St. Wulframs Church, Grantham, Lincolnshire, in 1967.

A Book of Remembrance, in which the records are set forth for posterity, was similarly enshrined in 1968. A reference copy has since been completed, and on 7 April 1972, at a special ceremony held in London, this copy was accepted by Sir Peter Masefield and Dr Noble Frankland, D.F.C., for the Imperial War Museum.

Upon the completion of the Book of Remembrance there came a renewed urge to compile a history of the Corps, based on the experiences of officers and men who served as front line machine-gunners in the most ghastly soldiers war of all time. Old records and diaries ware dug out, and dormant memories awakened, and from these sources this book has been compiled.

* * *

In March, 1973, the first edition was published as a private venture, and quickly sold out. As the demand for the book continued, the publishing house of Bailey Bros. and Swinfen Ltd. have undertaken to produce this second edition, which contains added reading matter and illustrations.

* * *

This book is not intended to glorify warbut to pass on the spirit and message of REMEMBRANCE in the hope that by so doing, it may help to point the way along the road to future world peace, more vital in this atomic age than ever before. If it succeeds in its object it will be because of the contributors whose names appear at the end of this book. To them I extend my warm thanks.

C. E. Crutchley

* * *

Royalties received from the sale of this edition will be given to the Machine Gun Corps Boy David Fund, which is affiliated to the Army Benevolent Fund.

BY COLONEL SIR GEORGE WADE, M.C., J.P.,
Chairman, M.G.C. Old Comrades Association

Those who served in the First World War have many reminiscences. These are always full of interest, and the recollections of Machine Gunners are particularly so because of their unique function in active operations.

They wore always at the centre of things. Wherever trouble most threatened, or an attack was planned, there they had to be, right amongst it all.

They had tremendous fire power, and the moment they started they were the targets of every enemy weapon within range. No wonder the Machine Gun Corps was nick-named the Suicide Club!

As they were so mobile and so much in demand they saw more of what was happening than any other Arm.

Machine-gunners had to be highly skilled, not only mechanically but tactically, and their devastating fire power gave them a deep sense of responsibility which never left them to the bitter end.

In a few years there will be no survivors of World War One to tell the story. Soon all their experiences which have not been recorded will be lost for ever.

All lovers of history should be grateful to the veteran machine gunner who has, while there is still time, painstakingly collected the memoirs of his comrades.

To old soldiers the following pages will awaken vivid pictures already etched deeply in their memories.

Comradeship such as could exist only between serving soldiers, and the bravery, the kindness, the sacrifice, the suffering, the agony will all come back. Even the smell of cordite and blood will return, together with the stale atmosphere of charcoal and earth which pervaded every dug-out.

Those who were not bora when these stirring events took place will read between the lines of the grim determination which actuated the men of the Machine Gun Corps through long years of bitter warfare in conditions of extreme hardship, icy cold or insufferable heat, against enemies of many nationalities.

In those days every man was firmly convinced that we were fighting for Freedom, as indeed we were, but nowadays old soldiers wonder if those who enjoy freedom now appreciate what sacrifices were made to keep it, and what vigilance is still called for to preserve it.

In World War One the machine-gun was the most deadly of weapons. When war broke out (August 4th, 1914) every British infantry unit had its own machine-gun section of two Maxim guns served by one officer and twelve other ranks. The section was divided into two gun teams. The men chosen to serve in the machine-gun section were mostly marksmen with the rifle.

Although the machine-gun officer had a certain amount of freedom relating to the training of his men, the Battalion machine-gunner enjoyed certain privileges. The Command Officer of a Unit usually had the first and last word in the placing of the guns in actual battle.

In the first year of the war the fire power of the Maxim gun (500 rounds per minute) gave vital support to attacking infantry and also in defensive actions. Even so, two Maxim guns supporting a battalion of eight hundred men, often on a wide frontage of varied depth, could not possibly be everywhere at once. The British High Command soon became aware of these limitations and it was decided to form a Corps of Machine Gunners.

The Corps was created by Royal Warrant on October 14th, 1915, His Majesty King George V being Colonel-in-Chief. Its Infantry, Cavalry, Motor, and Heavy branches grew into formidable self-contained units in every theatre of war. A total of 170,500 officers and men served in the Corps, which suffered 62,049 casualties.