Lewis gun

“ He was No. 2 of a Lewis Gun Section, and at the commencement of our advance his Company met with determined resistance from Pear Trench strong point, which was strongly garrisoned and manned by numerous machine guns. This strong point, undamaged by our artillery fire, was protected by strong wire entanglements. A heavy concentration of machine-gun fire caused heavy casualties and held up our advance. His Lewis Gun came into action and silenced enemy guns in one direction, when another enemy gun opened up from another direction. ”

“ There was a thirty yards' range in a ravine just in the rear of the camp, where some very interesting competitions took place. Rifle sections were pitted against Lewis gun sections and it was found that, in some platoons a rifle section of eight men was able to get as many shots on the target as the Lewis gun, and it was noticed incidentally that after two hundred rounds the Lewis gun became far too hot to handle. It was a much over-rated weapon, and was only effective in the hands of highly trained men. ”

“ USING THE BULLET TO FAN THE GUN
The most ingenious part of the Lewis gun is the cooling-system. On the barrel of the gun are sixteen flanges or fins. These, instead of running around the gun, run lengthwise of the barrel. They are very light fins, being made of aluminum, and are surrounded by a casing of the same metal. The casing is open at each end so that the air can flow through it, but it extends beyond the muzzle of the barrel, and there it is narrowed down. ”

“ It was while in those trenches that we first started to use the Lewis gun and the Stokes trench mortar.
The Lewis machine gun is a wonderful weapon. Like a rifle it can be fired from the shoulder and the discharge is at the rate of about 500 rounds a minute. The Stokes gun is much like a stove pipe; and as fast as the shells, which weigh 13 lbs., are dropped into it, they go flying through the air right to their object, and then burst and create an awful havoc. The Germans have invented quite a [22] number of trench mortars, but nothing to come up to this. ”

“ In the smaller guns used in warfare there are many varieties of interest. The United States prior to and with their entrance into war, particularly during the period of the trouble along the Mexican border, experimented with almost every known make of rapid fire machine and field gun, and there was for a time much criticism because the government did not adopt for army use the Lewis gun, which was adopted by some of the foreign countries. ”

“ A Machine-Gun Company at this time formed part of each brigade. The guns were distributed in depth in the trenches, but much further forward than was the case later on, when the number of Lewis guns with the infantry had been increased. Such subtleties as machine-gun barrages, indirect fire, the linking of guns by telephone to battalion headquarters, had as yet scarce been conceived. Machine gunners and infantry had their ammunition and bombs in boxes let into the parapet, these stores increasing in size from front to rear. ”

“ The Lewis-guns (a machine gun firing 700, or slightly over, shots a minute—in theory, 500 in actual practice) in the fields found that the German retreating line was by force of circumstance brought into that most-deadly fire, enfilade (e.g., firing across a line from a point of vantage at the flank) . The guns opened without warning on the three waves, more or less in mass due to the involuntary retreat. No more adequate simile can convey the picture of the fast-falling figures than that of grass beneath the scythe. ”

“ The rifle grenade was described as the howitzer of the infantry, and was used to dislodge the enemy from behind cover and to drive him below ground. The section was trained to a rifle-grenade barrage.
The Lewis gun was the weapon of opportunity. Its mobility and the small target it presented made it peculiarly suitable for working round an enemy’s flank.
In each section sufficient ammunition was carried for immediate requirements. Every man (except bombers, signallers, scouts, runners, and Lewis gunners who carried 50 rounds) carried at least 120 rounds of rifle ammunition and 2 bombs. ”

“ These planes, being of a late design, had a device whereby the aim of the Lewis gun could be instantly altered from a horizontal to a perpendicular slant. Moreover both Blaine and Bangs had repeating rifles, and revolvers. Great dexterity was shown by each as their machines, slackening their speed to that most suitable for accurate firing, their motors roaring right over the assaulting columns, poured down a spray of bullets that inevitably found a human mark. ”

“ The Maxim, and even the Vickers machine gun had been found for many reasons unsuitable for infantry work, being too heavy and cumbersome for rapid movement, too conspicuous for easy concealment. It was therefore decided to form Brigade Machine Gun Companies, who would be armed with Vickers guns, while Battalions would have Lewis guns only, on a scale of two per Company, for they were to be considered a company rather than a Battalion weapon. This light gun had no tripod, was air-cooled, and fired a pan instead of a belt of ammunition. ”

“ The stoutly fortified men did not budge but worked every death dealing weapon with great severity. Rifle grenades came into use as the enemy by sheer weight of masses surged within their 200-yard range. The machine guns faltered only once and then a Yankee Corporal, William Russell, Company “M” 339th Infantry, won for himself a posthumous American citation and D. S. C. for his heroic deed in regaining fire control by engaging the enemy machine gun which crawled up to short range in the thick woods with his Lewis gun. ”

“ You must at once place look-out men to give you warning of any sign of the enemy assembling in the edge of the wood to your front and be prepared to open on them with rifle grenades.
The real advantage that a machine gun or Lewis gun has over a rifle is that from a small point of vantage one of these weapons can pour a tremendous hail of fire, and in such circumstances66 as those depicted above there is no doubt but that the first consideration should be to get your Lewis guns into position. ”

“ These Lewis-gun sections should be followed by rifle sections which, directly opposition is broken down by the tanks and the Lewis gunners, should move rapidly forward several hundred yards in front of the tank and infantry firing line, forming to it a protective screen of sharpshooters. This formation should then be maintained until the rifle sections get hung up, when the tank and Lewis-gun firing line should pass through them to renew the attack, the rifle sections forming up in support in rear. ”

“ Patrols pushed forward, but little was seen of the Turk; only small groups could be seen in the distance running away as fast as their legs could take them.
In clearing the trenches to our right flank, Private E. J. Cook, “C” Company, the last unwounded member of his Lewis gun team, greatly distinguished himself. Crawling out of the trench he engaged a German-manned machine gun point-blank, and although the Lewis gun was hit and he was twice severely wounded, he continued to serve his gun until the enemy gun was knocked out, whereupon it was promptly captured by a bombing party. ”

“ For the time being there is no doubt that the ordinary machine-gun is the most serviceable and effective weapon available. Taking, for example, the Lewis gun with its self-contained magazine, the weight of the weapon mounted in place is under 30 lb., and the service ammunition runs 17 to the pound. ”

“ Machine-gunners and Lewis-gunners were sorely tried by the need to carry their guns a distance of seven miles or more into action before undergoing the sufficiently severe strain of continuous fighting. The M.G. Battalion, splendidly led by its Commander, Lieut.-Colonel W. K. Tillie, D.S.O., had done its full share in the gallant and successful resistance made at Ervillers, Bucquoy, Ablainzevelle and elsewhere. The efficacy of the Lewis-gun was clearly brought out, and was enhanced by the initiative of the personnel who used it. ”

“ The inventor of the Lewis gun was not the only American who played an inconspicuous but none the less important part in the War of Nations. A certain American corporation doing business in Belgium placed its huge Antwerp plant and the services of its corps of skilled engineers at the service of the Government, though I might add that this fact was kept carefully concealed, being known to only a handful of the higher Belgian officials. This concern made shells and other ammunition for the Belgian army; it furnished aeroplanes and machine-guns ”

“ We're chums, Orry; we work together all right. There is no one in this camp can handle a fighting machine better than I; nor do I want a better, truer backer at the Lewis than you."
The Lewis gun was the one then most in use at this aerodrome station, which was somewhere on that section near where the British and French sectors meet. ”

“ The plan of using the Lewis gun as a reserve of fire, kept well back to cover the retirement of the remainder, was undoubtedly sound. Had the commanding heights not been first secured, it is difficult to see how the patrol could have withdrawn in the face of the enemy without confusion and without casualty.
On the 27th March the whole line moved forward. The advance was only intended to be for a depth of about a mile, in order to secure a better tactical line for defence. None of the objectives were believed to be held by the enemy. Accordingly, the advance was carried out by night. ”

“ As usual, the gunmen were billeted so many in each farm, and after being badly harassed for some time in the south, Glenmuck seemed like Paradise to them. The nights were spent in dancing, card-playing, and drinking poteen. 231Somewhere about noon the gunmen got up, and after breakfast visited each other in their different billets after the fashion of our troops in France, walking about openly with their rifles slung over their shoulders. The Lewis gun team passed their days teaching the boys and girls of the village the mechanism of the Lewis gun. ”

“ She could seize on no one element as distinct and separate from a whirling whole, made up of blur and smoke and yell and rifle crash, with feathers dancing and little ponies charging like meteors! She was sure only of the rock-bound fact to which she clung that Mr. Masterson never moved from where he stood. She heard the spitting, whip-like crack of the Winchester, so different from the menacing voice of the buffalo gun, as working it with the rapidity of a bell-punch he fired it faster than she could count. ”

“ But a gun that has to have a spare barrel and that has to have its barrel changed in the midst of a hot engagement is not an ideal weapon, by any means. And this brings us to still another invention—that, too, by an American. Colonel I. N. Lewis, of the United States Army, conceived of a machine-gun that would be cooled not by still air but by air in motion. ”

“ There is no method of gauging the losses of the enemy upon such occasions, but when one knows that the machine-guns fired as many as 9000 rounds each, and that a single Lewis gun discharged 30,000 bullets, one can say with certainty that they were very heavy. ”

“ Now the last supports pressed into the firing line, and as one leader fell, another took his place. One platoon changed commanders six times in as many minutes, but a lance-corporal led the remaining men with the same dash and judgment as his seniors.
THE MONEY CHANGER
It (p. 075) was at this time our Lewis gun teams lost so heavily. The weight of the gun and the extra ammunition carried renders their movements slower than that of their comrades, and consequently the teams offer a better target as well as one specially sought for by the enemy. ”

“ Tom and Jack had been given a map of the front, their own and the German lines being shown, and the probable location of the hidden Hun battery marked. This they now studied as they started over the front, Jack being in front, while Tom sat behind him, to work the swivel Lewis gun.
Their Spad machine was one that could be controlled from either seat, so that if one rider was disabled the other could take charge. There were two guns, one fixed and the other movable, and a good supply of ammunition. ”

“ Here we spent ten days, being fitted out with gas helmets, and passed through gas, a form of warfare of which we had had no practical experience out East, and in bayonet fighting also, under experts who found we had not very much to learn in that line. Our number of Lewis guns were doubled, and we started lots of classes of new Lewis gunners to form the new gun crews and provide a large nucleus of trained men as reinforcements. Our transport establishment was also completed here. ”

“ Time drags along lamely; five minutes masquerade as half an hour, and only by repeated glances at the watch do I convince myself that we [Pg 130] cannot yet have reached the next objective. I study the map for no particular reason except that it is something to do. Then I decide that the Lewis gun ought to be fired as a test whether the working parts are still in good order. I hold the spade-grip, swing round the circular mounting until the gun points to the side, and loose five rounds into the unpleasant vapour. The flight-commander, startled at the sudden clatter, turns round. ”

“ A GUN THAT FANS ITSELF
The next marked step in the development of the machine gun was to make it fan itself and thus keep its barrel cool. Col. I. N. Lewis designed a gun operated by gas pressure somewhat on the principle of the Colt gun and around the barrel he fitted sixteen deep flanges or fins of aluminum that ran lengthwise of the gun. Around these fins he fitted a casing, thus forming 16 long narrow chambers about the barrel. The casing was open at the breech end, but at the outer end was contracted into a narrow mouthpiece that extended beyond the muzzle. ”