The Vickers machine gun in World War One

The Vickers machine gun was one of the most iconic and reliable weapons of World War I. Its history during the war reflects its critical role in shaping the nature of combat in the early 20th century.

Origins and Development

• The Vickers machine gun was an evolution of the earlier Maxim gun, which was designed by Hiram Maxim in the late 19th century. The Vickers company, a British arms manufacturer, acquired the rights to the Maxim design in 1897 and improved it to a point where it replaced the Maxim machine gun that had been in service with the British Expeditionary Force in 1914.
• The Vickers gun, introduced in 1912, was lighter and more robust than the Maxim. It weighed 33 pounds (15 kg) without its tripod, and its water-cooled barrel allowed for sustained fire.
• It used the .303 British cartridge, a standard round for British firearms, making it logistically compatible with other British Army weapons.

World War One

1. Deployment:
   • The Vickers medium machine gun was adopted by the British Army as its standard heavy machine gun.
   • Each British infantry battalion had a machine gun section equipped with Vickers guns. By 1915, these were centralised into specialised units under the Machine Gun Corps (MGC).
2. Role in Trench Warfare:
   • The Vickers gun’s ability to fire continuously made it invaluable for trench warfare.
   • It provided both defensive fire to repel enemy advances and offensive support during attacks.
   • Teams of 6–8 soldiers operated each gun as a Vicker’s gun team, with roles including firing, feeding ammunition, and maintaining the weapon and carrying the 250-round canvas belt and equipment.
3. Performance and Reliability:
   • Known for its exceptional reliability, the Vickers gun could fire thousands of rounds without jamming when properly maintained.
   • Its water-cooling system enabled sustained fire for long periods, making it a cornerstone of static defence and offensive barrages utilising it’s ability to provide indirect fire.
4. Tactical Impact:
   • Machine guns like the Vickers changed the dynamics of warfare, emphasising attrition and positional battles becoming one of the standard machine guns for the British Army alongside lighter machine guns such as the Lewis gun.
   • They were used in coordinated barrages with artillery to suppress enemy movements and fortifications.
   • During significant battles, such as the Battle of the Somme and Passchendaele, Vickers guns played a pivotal role in holding and breaking enemy lines on the Western Front in British service.

The Vickers MG’s remained in service during the interwar period, and were widely used in World War Two and the Korean War.

Building the Tommy’s War 1/32 scale Vickers Machine Gun

There are two machine guns in the Tommy’s War range:

• TW32EQ01 – German MG08 heavy machine gun
• TW32EQ02 – British Vickers Medium Machine gun

The guns can also be found within the following sets:

• TW32S07 – Vickers machine gun, Passchendaele 1917
• TW32S08 – Crossing the Sambre-Oise Canal 1918 (MG08)

When you receive either of the machine guns, either within a set or as an individual item then it will come in a crate. This is designed to protect the very fine parts of the machine gun in transit.

To clean-up the gun, you will need clippers and a sharp knife. To assemble the gun you will require superglue. I’ve used a Gorilla branded superglue here, but most types will be fine – I use Gorilla as it’s easy to get in the UK and it works very well with resin.

First, I remove the crate by carefully clipping around the base to remove it.Once you’ve removed the crate you’ll be left with the parts for the gun still attached to the base plate.

Carefully, clip the supports away so that you’re left with all of the different parts.

I now very carefully remove any of the remaining supports and clean-up the gun, accessories and tripod.

Using the superglue, I assemble the machine gun. In this case I’ve added the gun to the supplied tripod – if building TW32S07 then the gun can be added into the tripod that’s cast into the base.

The two completed machine guns:

Tips for building your machine gun

• The resin used in 3D printing really does help create a very realistic model, but it can be a little brittle and the print can be very fine. This isn’t really a huge issue, but you do need to careful when clipping the parts from their supports
• The glue I used was effective, but you can get a better bond by “scuffing-up” the pieces that you’ll be joining with a small piece of sandpaper.
• If you need to bend any part to fit, then just place it into warm water and the resin will become a little more malleable. But always be careful not to try to bend parts as they can snap.

Acknowledgements

It’s been a long process getting the machine gun printed to a standard that I’m happy with, if anyone tells you 3D printing is easy then take it with a pinch of salt.

However, a big thank you to everyone that helped including Gordon and Sophie who came to my rescue and printed the machine guns to an extremely high standard. Plus a special mention to Chris Meddings at Inside the Armour who gave me the idea for the crate. Chris has his own range of digitally sculpted weapons which are well worth viewing at: https://www.insidethearmour.com