Machine Gun Memorabilia: V22N7
By Robert G. Segel
Danish light machine gun qualification badge. First level (bronze) issued on successful completion of light machine gun training circa 1950s. Central image of the Danish Madsen light machine gun within wreath. Sew on type with three sew-on holes in the wreath.
World War I-era helmet badge. Bronze image of a running devil with pitchfork. Engraved on the body is “103D MG BN.” The running devil with the pitchfork was the insignia for the 103rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 26th (Yankee) Division. Screw post on rear for affixing to the front of the helmet. This was done immediately post-war while the troops were awaiting passage home to march in parades.
Shanghai Volunteer Corps police officer’s machine gun section cap badge. Circa 1930s. Silver plate with three lugs to the rear.
British World War I-era crested china of a Talbot-armored car with two Vickers machine guns and the crest of Chelmsford applied to the bonnet (hood). The bottom is maker-marked “Savoy China Stoke on Kent England.”
Pre-World-War-I German reservist’s commemorative picture to a soldier in a machine gun unit. Identified to “Schütze Grotheer, Maschinengewehr—Abt. No. 9, Neu = Breisach” (Marksman Grotheer of Machine Gun Section No. 9, based in Neu Breisach). (As a rank of the Armed Forces of Germany until 1918, Schütze was used for the lowest enlisted ranks in machine gun units.) Soldier photograph-mounted head pasted on three field gray uniforms standing next to a machine gun cart with Maxim gun. Portraits of German royals along top. Center crest below has “Zur Erinnerung an Meine Dienstzeit” (In Memory of My Time in Service) and on one side, “Mitt Gott, Für König und Vaterland” (With God, for King and Fatherland).
Swiss shako cap badge of two crossed Swiss Maxim with Carl Zeiss optical sights and ammunition belts. Made of brass. Four mounting prongs to the rear.
World War II aluminum data plate for the U.S. Martin 250 CE 15a Gun Turret Assembly as manufactured by the Glenn L. Martin Co. The Martin 250 CE top turret was one of the most widely used turrets in WWII. The turret was electrically powered in both azimuth and elevation. The gunner sat between two .50 caliber machine guns and would fire the guns with the trigger buttons on the control grip. The Martin 250 CE was installed on Martin B-26 Marauders, Consolidated B-24 Liberators, Douglas A-20 Havocs, Boeing YB-40s, Consolidated PB4Y-1 and PB4Y-2 Privateers (which carried two) and several British aircraft including the Lancaster.
This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V22N7 (August 2018) |
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