Perhaps no better example of this was the machine guns ability to break infantry charges.
For the German army, the MG08 was the tool of choice.
This concept of providing greater firepower and mobility was born in thetrenches of the First World War.
Germans with an MG08 on what appears to be a captured Vickers machine gun tripod Image: LoC
Then there was the machine gun.
Yet, his name is remembered today for the weapon he developed.
The result was theMaschinengewehr 08(or MG08), named for 1908, the year of its adoption.
German troops training with the MG08 prior to the start of World War I. Image: Private collection
The concept was that with this system nothing could be forgotten or misplaced.
Additionally, you could fold the sledge flat and two soldiers could carry it like you would a stretcher.
Two additional soldiers would carry the water can and ammunition boxes.
The German Maschinengewehr 08 was a devastatingly capable World War I machine gun. Image: Private collection
Yet, it wasnotwhat could be considered a mobile weapon.
However, it was heavy.
Along with the nearly 60-lb.
A New Zealander with captured MG08 at the end of the First World War. Image: Private collection
gun, the MG08 unit weighed in at nearly 140 lbs.
The water can and ammunition only added to the weight.
It was portable at least in theory.
The German troops that trained with the MG08 prior to the start of World War I did not fully understand how devastating the weapon would be.
Rather than the traditional spade grips at the back of the weapon, it had a pistol grip.
Added to it was a short rifle-style buttstock and a bipod.
In addition, it was still water-cooled and the MG08/15 still fired from a belt.
A comparison of the MG08 and MG08/15 – the latter was a more mobile version, but it was still a beast to carry by today’s standards. Image: Author’s collection
The resulting design was still a heavy weapon that weighed upwards of 60 lbs.
However, the notion that someone could run and gun with the MG08/15 is certainly not accurate.
Any operator would be as likely to hit his own advancing troops as he would the enemy.
This is the World War I idea of “compact” and “portable” – the MG08/15 with belt drum magazine and water can. Image: Author’s collection
By November 1918, more than 130,000 of the MG08/15s were manufactured.
It featured a changeable, heavier barrel to cut down on the problem of overheating.
Of course the British didnt use the gun, so it was likely a stand-in for the Maxim.
The MG08/15’s belt drum held 100 rounds, which provided a semblance of mobility to the German stormtrooper in World War I. Image: Author’s collection
MG08/15 machine guns get even less big screen treatment and are usually only seen in the background.
The MG08/15 can be seen in the 2017 movieWonder Woman. Image: Warner Bros.
