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95-667: The Imperial Camel Corps Brigade (ICCB) was a camel-mounted infantry brigade that the British Empire raised in December 1916 during the First World War for service in the Middle East . From a small beginning the unit eventually grew to a brigade of four battalions , one battalion each from Great Britain and New Zealand and two battalions from Australia. Support troops included a mountain artillery battery,

190-464: A boat-tailed spitzer 'streamlined' bullet, could be used against targets at a range of approximately 4,500 yd (4,115 m). The bullet jackets were generally made of an alloy of cupro-nickel , and gilding metal . Ammunition for the Vickers used colour-coded annuli. Tracer ammunition was marked with a red annulus; armouring-piercing ammunition with a green annulus, and incendiary ammunition with

285-730: A machine gun squadron, Royal Engineers , a field ambulance , and an administrative train. The ICC became part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) and fought in several battles and engagements, in the Senussi Campaign , the Sinai and Palestine Campaign , and in the Arab Revolt . The brigade suffered 246 men killed. The ICC was disbanded in May 1919 after the end of the war. The advantages of camels in

380-454: A pan magazine ) were also used among others in Poland, where 777 of them were converted to 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge in 1933–1937. The larger calibre (half-inch) version of the Vickers was used on armoured fighting vehicles and naval vessels. The Gun, Machine, Vickers, .5-inch, Mk. II was used in tanks, the earlier Mark I having been the development model. This entered service in 1933 and

475-720: A base for many other weapons. For example: The Union of South Africa retained a large inventory of surplus Vickers machine guns after World War II. Many of these were donated to the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) and National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) during the Angolan Civil War . Angolan militants were usually trained in their use by South African advisers. Small quantities re-chambered for 7.62 mm NATO ammunition remained in active service with

570-501: A blue annulus. Explosive ammunition was marked with an orange annulus before the Second World War and was changed to black. The gun and its tripod were carried separately and both were heavy. The Vickers Mk I was 30 lb (13.6 kg) without the water and tripod, and weighed 40 lb (18.1 kg) with the water. The original design did not anticipate it being carried up jungle-covered mountains on men's backs, but such

665-552: A camel corps for his French campaign in Egypt and Syria . During the late 19th and much of the 20th centuries, camel troops were used for desert policing and patrol work in the British, French, German, Spanish, and Italian colonial armies. Descendants of such units still form part of the modern Moroccan , Egyptian armies, and the paramilitary Indian Border Security Force (see below). The British-officered Egyptian Camel Corps played

760-989: A desert environment are well known, and the British Army had raised the Somaliland Camel Corps in 1912. However the British Army forces serving in Egypt at the start of the First World War did not possess their own camel formation. The first units of what became the Imperial Camel Corps were four company -sized formations that conducted long-range patrols around the Suez Canal and the Sinai Desert . The companies were raised in Egypt in January 1916 from Australians returning from

855-416: A headquarters. The 4th (ANZAC) Battalion was raised in May 1917, but instead of increasing the brigade fighting strength, it was decided one battalion would always be resting and refitting, while three battalions served at the front. To complete the brigade structure and supply added firepower, the brigade received some other units: the 265th (Camel) Machine Gun Squadron, with eight Vickers machine guns , and

950-932: A limited local role in the Spanish Civil War during 1936–1939. The Jordanian Desert Patrol still uses camels. The princely state of Bikaner (now Bikaner city in Rajasthan ) maintained a unit called the Bikaner Camel Corps which had fought in China during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, in Somaliland from 1902 to 1904 during the Somaliland Campaign , in Egypt during the Middle Eastern Theatre of

1045-486: A location might be zeroed in during the day, and then attacked at night, much to the surprise and confusion of the enemy. New Zealand units were especially fond of this use. A white disc would be set up on a pole near the MMG, and the gunner would aim at a mark on it, knowing that this corresponded to aiming at the distant target. There was a special back-sight with a tall extension on it for this purpose. The only similar weapon of

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1140-587: A massive force of Libyan charioteers, numbered as many as twenty thousand. Employed from the nomadic tribes of Arabia and Syria, the camel-mounted mercenaries in Persian service fought as skirmishing archers, sometimes riding two to a camel. According to Herodian , the Parthian king Artabanus IV employed a unit consisting of heavily armored soldiers equipped with lances ( kontos ) and riding on camels. The Roman Empire used locally enlisted camel riders along

1235-403: A meeting on March 15, 1913 to consider the adoption of a new type of machine gun. ... The Board is of the opinion that, with the exception of the Vickers gun, none of the other guns submitted showed sufficiently marked superiority for the military service, in comparison with the service [Benét–Mercié] Automatic Machine Rifle to warrant further consideration of them in the field test. The Board is of

1330-596: A quarter. However it was soon discovered that camels were not as nervous as horses when faced with artillery and rifle fire, and one man would look after twelve to sixteen camels once the troopers had dismounted. In March 1916 six new companies were raised from British yeomanry regiments. Then in June another four Australian companies were raised from reinforcements intended for the Australian Light Horse regiments. Reinforcements from New Zealand intended for

1425-478: A red band to differentiate it and restricted it to Home Guard use. The weight of the gun itself varied based on the gear attached, but was generally 25 to 30 pounds (11 to 14 kg) with a 40-to-50-pound (18 to 23 kg) tripod. The ammunition boxes for the 250-round ammunition belts weighed 22 pounds (10.0 kg) each. In addition, it required about 7.5 imperial pints (4.3 L) of water in its evaporative cooling system to prevent overheating. The heat of

1520-587: A reputation for great solidity and reliability. Ian V. Hogg , in Weapons & War Machines , describes an action that took place in August 1916, during which the British 100th Company of the Machine Gun Corps fired their ten Vickers guns to deliver sustained fire for twelve hours. Using 100 barrels, they fired a million rounds without breakdowns. "It was this absolute foolproof reliability which endeared

1615-413: A significant role in the 1898 Battle of Omdurman ; one of the few occasions during this period when this class of mounted troops took part in substantial numbers in a set-piece battle. The Ottoman Army maintained camel companies as part of its Yemen and Hejaz Corps, both before and during World War I . The Italians used Dubat camel troops in their Somalia Italiana , mainly for frontier patrol during

1710-461: A soldier, his equipment, and supplies. The camel companies consisted of a small headquarters and four sections , each of seven groups of four men. The establishment of a company was 130 men, all armed with Lee–Enfields , the standard British bolt action rifle of the time. However the move from patrol to a more active combat role in August 1916 led to a re-organisation. Each company added a machine-gun section of fifteen men with three Lewis guns ;

1805-818: A subsequent attempt to convert the 13th Grenadiers battalion and the 24th Rajput battalions into camel-mounted units. Camels are still used by the Border Security Force for patrolling the remote areas of the Thar Desert lying along the India–Pakistan border in Rajasthan . Camels are purchased between the ages of 5 and 6 and trained at the Camel Training Centre at the BSF Frontier Headquarters at Jodhpur . They serve for 15–16 years and are retired from service at

1900-541: A trained team. The Vickers gun could sustain fire for long durations of time exceeding the recommended 10,000 rounds an hour due to the water-cooled barrel and hourly barrel swaps. One account states that a Vickers fired just under 5 million rounds in a week as a test in 1963 at Strensall Barracks and was still operable. The muzzle velocity was 2,440 ft/s (744 m/s) ±40 ft/s (12 m/s) with Mark VII(z ) ammunition and 2,525 ft/s (770 m/s) with Mark VIIIz ammunition. The Mark VIIIz cartridge, which had

1995-562: Is a water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited , originally for the British Army . The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more men to move and operate it: one fired, one fed the ammunition, the others helped to carry the weapon, its ammunition, and spare parts. It was in service from before the First World War until the 1960s, with air-cooled versions of it on many Allied World War I fighter aircraft . The weapon had

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2090-451: Is fired from a closed bolt . When ready to fire, a round is in the chamber and the breechblock assembly and working parts are forward. It has a recoil operated , floating action with a toggle lock similar to a Luger pistol . However, unlike the Luger, the mechanism is totally contained within the receiver or body of the Vickers. When operated, the floating action, which consists of

2185-573: Is the British L7 variant of the FN MAG general purpose machine gun. In 1913, a Vickers machine gun was mounted on the experimental Vickers E.F.B.1 biplane , which was probably the world's first purpose-built combat aeroplane. However, by the time the production version, the Vickers F.B.5 , had entered service the following year, the armament had been changed to a Lewis gun. During World War I,

2280-586: The 14th and 15th Light Horse Regiments . The New Zealand troops formed the 2nd New Zealand Machine Gun Squadron . All three units became part of the 5th Light Horse Brigade . The six British companies remained part of the ICC for a while longer. Two of them fought with T.E. Lawrence in the Arab Revolt , and in July 1918 carried out operations sabotaging the Hejaz railway line. However, no reinforcements were assigned and

2375-600: The Arabian Peninsula . As early as the 1st Century AD Nabatean and Palmyrene armies employed camel-mounted infantry and archers recruited from nomadic tribes of Arabian origin. Typically such levies would dismount and fight on foot rather than from camel-back. Extensive use was made of camels during the initial campaigns of Muhammad and his followers. Subsequently, the Arabs used camel-mounted infantry to outmaneuver their Sassanid and Byzantine enemies during

2470-579: The Battle of Thymbra in 547 BC, between Cyrus the Great of Persia and Croesus of Lydia . According to Xenophon , Cyrus' cavalry was outnumbered by six to one. Acting on information from one of his generals that the Lydian horses shied away from camels, Cyrus formed the camels from his baggage train into an ad hoc camel corps with armed riders replacing packs. Although not technically employed as cavalry,

2565-569: The Border Security Force (BSF) upon its conception in the aftermath of the 1965 war. In 1966, the Grenadiers added another camelry battalion, the 17th battalion led by Lieutenant Colonel KS Harihar Singh. In 1967, a camel artillery regiment, the 185 Light Regiment (Pack) , was also raised. The 185 Light Regiment (Pack) gave away its camels to the Border Security Force in 1971 on the insistence of Major General J. F. R. Jacob ,

2660-575: The Ceylon Army in the 1971 JVP insurrection . By the early 1900s, the U.S. military had a mixed collection of automatic machine guns in use that included M1895 "potato diggers" , 287 M1904 Maxims , 670 M1909 Benét–Mercié guns, and 353 Lewis machine guns . In 1913, the U.S. began to search for a superior automatic weapon. One of the weapons considered was the British Vickers machine gun. The Board of Ordnance & Fortifications held

2755-622: The Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948 . Both the camelry units were handed over to the Indian Army 's Grenadiers Regiment during the 1951 merger of the local Rajasthani armies with the Grenadiers and were incorporated into the regiment as its 13th battalion. They were used by the Grenadiers for both transportation and fighting during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 where they prevented Pakistani forces from infiltrating and capturing territory intended to be used as negotiating chips in

2850-636: The Muslim conquests . The Göktürks used camel cavalry according to the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang , who visited the western Göktürk capital Suyab in modern day Kyrgyzstan and left a description of the Khagan and his army. … The rest of his military retinue [was] clothed in fur, serge and fine wool, the spears and standards and bows in order, and the riders of camels and horses stretched far out of [sight]. Napoleon employed

2945-636: The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade formed two companies, one created in August and the second in November. The Imperial Camel Brigade was formed on 19 December 1916, under the command of Brigadier General Clement Leslie Smith VC . The brigade originally comprised three battalions, 1st (Australian), 2nd (British), and 3rd (Australian), plus supporting units. Each of the battalions had an authorised strength of 770 men and 922 camels. A battalion comprised four companies and

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3040-665: The Senussi had attacked British and Egyptian outposts along the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean coast. The resulting Senussi Campaign was largely over by then, but the patrols were to show the Senussi that the British were watching them, and to protect the border areas. Around the same time long-range patrols, each of about thirty men, went into the south and south-east of the Sinai desert to detect any Ottoman incursion into

3135-499: The South African Defence Force until the mid-1980s, when they were all relegated to reserve storage. Six were withdrawn from storage and reused by a South African liaison team operating with UNITA during the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale , after which the weapons were finally retired. In the mid-1960s, the Vickers machine gun remained in service in countries such as India, Israel and Egypt. It saw action with

3230-765: The Thames Embankment in London. On one side it is inscribed with the names of all the members of the corps who died during the war, while on the front is the sentiment; To the Glorious and Immortal Memory of the Officers, N.C.O.s and Men of the Imperial Camel Corps ;– British, Australian, New Zealand, Indian – who fell in action or died of wounds and disease in Egypt, Sinai, and Palestine, 1916, 1917, 1918. The monument also lists all

3325-700: The World War I in 1915 where they destroyed the Turkish forces during the Raid on the Suez Canal with a camel cavalry charge and in the Middle Eastern Sector of the World War 2 . The auxiliary defense forces of the princely state of Jaisalmer , which had by then become a part of India, also established a camel-mounted defense battalion in 1948. They were used for transportation purposes during

3420-408: The firing pin and trigger mechanism. The firing pin, under spring tension, strikes the primer of the cartridge through a hole in the extractor block. It must therefore be retracted before the extractor block moves down as part of the loading cycle. Once retracted, the firing pin is held in a cocked position by a sear , ready for the next firing cycle. As the breechblock assembly fully closes on

3515-560: The horses of conventional cavalry . The smell of the camel, according to Herodotus , alarmed and disoriented horses, making camels an effective anti-cavalry weapon of the Achaemenid Persians in the Battle of Thymbra . The first recorded use of the camel as a military animal was by the Arab king Gindibu , said to have employed as many as 1,000 camels at the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC. They were reportedly later used in

3610-542: The "Balloon Buster", and was adopted by the Allies as a standard anti-balloon armament, used by both the British and French in this role until the end of the war. The famous Sopwith Camel and the SPAD XIII types used twin synchronized Vickers, as did most British and French fighters between 1918 and the mid-1930s. In the air, the weighty water-cooling system was rendered redundant by low temperatures at high altitude and

3705-742: The 1920s and 1930s. These Dubats participated in the Italian conquest of the Ethiopian Ogaden in 1935–1936 during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War . The colonial authorities in Spanish Morocco used locally recruited camel troops in the northern part of the protectorate, mainly for frontier patrol work from the 1930s until 1956. Forming part of the Tropas Nomades del Sahara , these camel-mounted units had

3800-540: The Arabian frontier during the 2nd century. The first of these was the Ala I Ulpia Dromoedariorum Palmyrenorum , recruited under Emperor Trajan from Palmyra . Arab camel troops or dromedarii were employed during the late Roman Empire for escort, desert policing, and scouting duties. The normal weaponry included long swords of Persian style, bows, and daggers. The camel was used as a mount by pre-Islamic civilizations in

3895-522: The Armistice) but most of the French aircraft Vickers machine guns were British-made. By 1917 it had been determined that standard rifle calibre cartridges were less satisfactory for shooting down observation balloons than larger calibres carrying incendiary or tracer bullets; the Vickers machine gun was chambered in the 11mm Vickers round, known as the Vickers aircraft machine gun and sometimes

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3990-514: The Bikaner and Jaisalmer sectors both before and after the ceasefire. A camel-mounted raid was carried out by Major Jai Singh deep inside the Pakistani post of Ghoriwala , while another camel-assisted Indian attack at Tanot led to the deaths of 102 Pakistani soldiers, including two officers, and successfully regained a large amount of Indian territory. Many Indian Army camels were also given to

4085-403: The British were unable to break through the Ottoman defences around the city and had to withdraw. The 4th (Anzac) Battalion did succeed in capturing Hill 3039 overlooking the city and managed to hold out for twenty-four hours in the face of artillery and infantry attacks, until ordered to withdraw. During the Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt , the camel brigade were assigned

4180-412: The Colt–Vickers machine gun, and many aircraft were armed with the weapons as well (2,888 guns were converted). 7,653 guns were issued during the war out of 12,125 produced in total. War damage losses reduced the number of M1915s in the U.S. Army inventory from 9200+ to about 8,000 total. After World War I, the Colt–Vickers machine guns were kept in reserve until World War II. Several hundred were sent to

4275-413: The Dutch East Indies and the Philippines, and were all eventually lost to enemy action. In 1940 and 1941, a total of 7,071 M1915 guns were purchased by the United Kingdom to re-equip their forces after the Dunkirk evacuation , which depleted the weapon from the U.S. inventory before their entry into the war. Because the M1915 Colt–Vickers was not chambered for the standard British .303, it was painted with

4370-432: The Hong Kong and Singapore (Mountain) Battery, armed with six BL 2.75 inch Mountain Guns . Despite their title, the battery was formed by men from the British Indian Army . The brigade also had its own Royal Engineers (the 10th (Camel) Field Troop), a signal section , the Australian (Camel) Field Ambulance , and the 97th Australian Dental Unit, which with only four men was the brigade's smallest unit. The brigade included

4465-409: The ICC Mobile Veterinary Section, and the brigade's logistic units were the ICC Brigade Ammunition Column and the ICC Brigade Train, which carried enough supplies for five days. The total brigade strength was around 4,150 men and 4,800 camels. In March 1916, after two months of training, the first camel patrols left their depot at Abassi on the outskirts of Cairo to patrol the Libyan Desert . In 1915

4560-417: The Mark II. Intended for British light tanks , some were used during the war on mounts on trucks by the Long Range Desert Group in the North Africa Campaign . The Vickers machine gun was produced, between the wars, as the vz.09 machine gun . The Vickers was widely sold commercially and saw service with many nations and their own particular ammunition. It was also modified for each country and served as

4655-399: The Mk I 600 rounds of continuous fire to boil the water in the jacket, evaporating at a rate of 1.5 pints (0.852 L) per 1,000 rounds. The steam would reach the top of the jacket and enter a steam tube which led to a port that was situated under the jacket near the muzzle. A hose was connected to this, which released the steam into a metal water can allowing it to be vented away from the rest of

4750-450: The U.S. entered World War I in April 1917, Colt had not manufactured a single M1915. Production began in late 1917 with shipments to the Western Front in mid-1918. The first twelve divisions to reach France were given French Hotchkiss M1914 machine guns , and the next ten had M1915s. The next twelve divisions were to have Browning M1917 machine guns, but there was a shortage of parts. By August 1918, thirteen U.S. divisions were armed with

4845-437: The Vickers gun as part of a widescale change from rimmed to rimless rounds; one of the contenders was the 7.92mm Besa machine gun (British-built Czech ZB-53 design), which eventually became the British Army's standard tank-mounted machine gun. However, the Vickers remained in service with the British Army until 30 March 1968. Its last operational use was in the Radfan during the Aden Emergency . Its successor in UK service

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4940-404: The Vickers gun became a standard weapon on British and French military aircraft , especially after 1916, initially in a single gun configuration ( Nieuport 17 , SPAD VII , Sopwith Triplane ), increased to a twin-gun standard in later war fighters ( Nieuport 28 , SPAD XIII , Sopwith Camel ), with exceptions such as the S.E.5 , which had a single synchronized Vickers and a Lewis gun mounted above

5035-439: The Vickers in 1914, and the gun was unanimously approved by the board for the army under the designation "Vickers Machine Gun Model of 1915, Caliber .30, Water-Cooled". One hundred twenty-five guns were ordered from Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1915, with an additional 4,000 ordered the next year, all chambered for .30-06. Design complexities, design modifications, and focus on producing previously ordered weapons meant that when

5130-414: The Vickers to every British soldier who ever fired one. It never broke down; it just kept on firing and came back for more." The Vickers machine gun was based on the successful Maxim gun of the late 19th century. After purchasing the Maxim company outright in 1896, Vickers took the design of the Maxim gun and improved it, inverting the mechanism as well as reducing its weight by lightening and simplifying

5225-422: The action and using high strength alloys for certain components. A muzzle booster was also added. The British Army formally adopted the Vickers gun as its standard machine gun under the name Gun, Machine, Mark I, Vickers, .303-inch on 26 November 1912. There were shortages when the First World War began, and the British Expeditionary Force was still equipped with Maxims when sent to France in 1914. Vickers

5320-403: The age of 21. The camels used by the BSF are from three different breeds. The Jaisalmeris and the Bikaneris are used for border patrol, while the Nachnas are used for ceremonial duties. The BSF is also known for the yearly participation of its camel contingent in the Delhi Parade for the occasion of the Indian Republic Day since 1976. Inspector General KS Rathore is credited with enhancing

5415-426: The area. When the patrols discovered Ottoman outposts, the brigade organized a company-strength raid against the outposts. The ICC undertook similar patrols in the north to protect the rail and water lines, which were vital for any British attack. The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) went over to the offensive in the Sinai Desert in August, winning the Battle of Romani . In support of these operations in December

5510-502: The band's capabilities during his years as an inspector general from 1986 to 1989. The camel contingent has two groups, one consisting of camels ridden by border guards and the other being Border Security Force Camel Band , consisting of camels walking along with musicians who march on foot. Both of these elements perform together during the march of the camel contingent. The contingent generally consists of 90 camels Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun

5605-451: The barrel boiled the water in the jacket surrounding it. The resulting steam was taken off by a flexible tube to a condenser container—this had the dual benefits of avoiding giving away the gun's location, and also enabling re-use of the water, which was very important in arid environments. In British service, the Vickers gun fired the standard .303 inch cartridges used in the Lee–Enfield rifle , which generally had to be hand-loaded into

5700-413: The barrel, breechblock assembly and toggle mechanism, reciprocate as a unit within the body of the gun. The mechanism is held together by recoiling plates, that connect the breech end of the barrel to the rear of the toggle mechanism. The breech is locked closed when the toggle is straight. The crank cocking handle is part of the floating action. It acts through the rear pivot of the toggle lock. Pulling

5795-421: The battles and engagements fought by the corps; The strength of the brigade/corps in the field was around 3,380 men and 3,880 camels, with one battalion resting. Camel cavalry Camel cavalry was a common element in desert warfare throughout history in the Middle East , due in part to the animals' high level of adaptability. They were better suited to working and surviving in arid environments than

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5890-423: The belt during the return cycle of the feed pawls. The breechblock assembly is roughly as high as the receiver of the gun. On its front face is the extractor block. Levers cause this to move up and down as the action is cycled. It has a slot with two grooves which allow the rim of the cartridge to be held from each side, much like a stripper clip does. With the breechblock assembly closed and ready to fire,

5985-421: The belt from right to left, pull the next round out of the belt and into the chamber, fire it, then send the fired brass cartridge down and out of the receiver while the cloth belt would continue out the left side. During sustained fire, the barrel would heat up which heated the water in the jacket until hot enough for the water to evaporate or boil thereby cooling the barrel releasing the heat through steam. It took

6080-404: The breech, the sear disengages but the firing pin is held rearward by the trigger. The end of the trigger protrudes from the top of the breechblock assembly. To fire the loaded gun, the gunner depresses a paddle at the rear of the gun. Through a lever, this pulls on a sliding bar that trips the trigger to release the firing pin. The weapon then cycles to load the next cartridge for firing. If

6175-415: The breech. It accepts the canvas belt loaded with ammunition. With each firing cycle, it advances the belt by one round so that a fresh cartridge is presented ready for loading. The belt is advanced by pawls which move from side to side. The pawls are operated by a linkage that engages with the floating action. A second set of spring-loaded pawls tilt up and down as the belt passes over them. These hold

6270-415: The brigade moved into the Sinai; their first large battle came during the Battle of Magdhaba on 23 December, two days after the brigade was formed. On 9 January 1917 the ICC was involved in another victory during the Battle of Rafa , which forced the Ottomans to withdraw the Sinai outposts towards Gaza . This also reduced the need for independent camel patrols across the Sinai; in May the EEF consolidated

6365-434: The cloth ammunition belts. There was also a 0.5 in calibre version used as an anti-aircraft weapon and various other calibres produced for foreign buyers. The gun was 3 feet 8 inches (112 cm) long and its cyclic rate of fire was between 450 and 600 rounds per minute. In practice, it was expected that 10,000 rounds would be fired per hour, and that the barrel would be changed every hour—a two-minute job for

6460-421: The cocking handle causes the toggle to rise. This unlocks the breech and then draws the breechblock assembly rearward. While firing, the opposite end of the crank handle cams on a round lug fixed to the body. Rearward movement of the floating action tips the cocking handle and unlocks the toggle. The recoil that unlocks the toggle is gas assisted . Propellent gases leaving the muzzle are partly contained within

6555-408: The company headquarters also received extra staff. All this increased company strength to 184 men. The four companies were expected to operate as independent units that travelled by camel but then dismounted to fight as infantrymen. Following the practise of cavalry and mounted infantry units, one man of each group of four held the camels when the team was in action, which reduced a team's firepower by

6650-457: The constant stream of air passing over the gun (and lack of any need for sustained fire such as employed by ground troops); but because the weapon relied on boosted barrel recoil, the (empty) water-holding barrel jacket or casing was retained. Several sets of louvered slots were cut into the barrel jacket to aid air cooling, a better solution than that which had initially been attempted with the 1915-vintage lMG 08 German aircraft ordnance. In 1918

6745-422: The extractor block grips the base of two cartridges: the lower cartridge in the chamber ready to fire and an upper cartridge held in the canvas belt within the feed block. When the breechblock assembly unlocks after firing, the extractor pulls the spent cartridge from the chamber and, once clear, this falls through an ejection port in the underside of the gun's body. Unlocking the breechblock assembly also withdraws

6840-413: The failed Gallipoli Campaign . The Indian princely state of Bikaner supplied the first camels as the Bikaner Camel Corps already used camels. These camels were later only used as draught animals and the lighter Egyptian camel became the mount chosen for carrying troops. The camels could cover an average distance of 3 miles (4.8 km) an hour, or 6 miles (9.7 km) an hour trotting, while carrying

6935-542: The grenadiers as well as the BSF, who fought alongside the army in the Eastern Theatre. The 13 and the 17th camel-mounted Grenadier battalions fought in the Bikaner and Gadra sectors where they captured a significant amount of territory. Five BSF camels were killed in the Battle of Longewala , one of the most significant battles of the war. The Indian Army finally stopped using camels in 1975. A local officer rejected

7030-410: The gun hiding the steam cloud and the gun's position. This also allowed any condensate to be reclaimed from the steam. Before the can got too full, it would be emptied back into the jacket to replenish the water level which would have fallen as the water evaporated and boiled away. If the water jacket needed to be emptied, a plug under the jacket could be unscrewed to drain the entire jacket. The Vickers

7125-470: The gun. This problem was addressed using an insulating water jacket cover, introduced in 1918 but still in use during the Korean War. Some crews added vehicle antifreeze, others drained the water jacket, or simply fired a few rounds periodically to keep the water from freezing. The loader sat to the gunner's right, and fed in belts of cloth, into which the rounds had been placed. The weapon would draw in

7220-471: The hands of the new Machine Gun Corps (when heavier 0.5 in/12.7 mm calibre machine guns appeared, the tripod-mounted, rifle-calibre machine guns such as the Vickers were further re-classified as "medium machine guns"). After the First World War, the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was disbanded and the Vickers returned to infantry units. Before the Second World War, there were plans to replace

7315-447: The muzzle cap and act on the muzzle cup (attached to the barrel) to assist in propelling the floating action rearward to the point where the toggle mechanism is unlocked. The breechblock assembly then opens fully while opposed by a spring which ultimately returns it to the closed position. The spring under tension acts on a crank mounted on the opposite side of the body to the cocking handle. The feed block assembly sits directly above

7410-678: The now-surplus companies into a new unit, the 4th (ANZAC) Battalion. The intensity of operations grew and the ICC were next involved in the capture of the Turkish force at Bir el Hassana , the defeats during the First Battle of Gaza in March, and the Second Battle of Gaza in April and a raid on the Sana redoubt in August. They then had a break to refit. Subsequently, they participated in

7505-400: The six remaining companies were reduced in strength to two before they were eventually disbanded in May 1919. Brigadier-General Claude Stuart Rome took over as Colonel of the corps in June 1918. Over two years of service cost the ICC 240 deaths: 106 British, 84 Australians, 41 New Zealanders, and nine men from India. A memorial to the Imperial Camel Corps was unveiled on the 22 July 1921, on

7600-502: The slotted modified original barrel jacket was replaced with a slimmer jacket on the Mk. II version, and in 1927 a muzzle flash suppressor was added on the Mk. II*. As the machine gun armament of US and UK fighter aircraft moved from the fuselage to the wings in the years before World War II , the Vickers was generally replaced by the faster-firing and more reliable Browning Model 1919 using metal-linked cartridges. The Gloster Gladiator

7695-586: The smell and appearance of the camels were said to be crucial in panicking the Lydian cavalry and turning the battle in Cyrus' favour. More than sixty years later, Persian king Xerxes I recruited a large number of Arab mercenaries into his massive army during the Second Persian invasion of Greece , all of whom were equipped with bows and mounted on camels. Herodotus noted that the Arab camel cavalry, including

7790-420: The then-commander of the army's Eastern Command and a major advocate for mobile warfare who found camels to be too old fashioned for modern military use and had them replaced with gun-towing vehicles, however the 13th and 17th Grenadier battalions and the Border Security Force continued to use camels for infantry purposes. In the same year, camels were once again used in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 by both

7885-483: The time to use indirect fire was the German MG 08 , which had a separate attachment sight with range calculator. A British World War II Vickers medium machine gun platoon typically had one officer in command of four guns, in two sections of two, each with a crew and a small team of riflemen whose job was to protect the gun and keep it supplied with ammunition. The Vickers is a fully automatic belt-fed firearm which

7980-550: The unanimous opinion that the Vickers rifle caliber gun, light model, stood the most satisfactory test. As to the merits of the Vickers gun there is no question—it stood in a class by itself. Not a single part was broken nor replaced. Nor was there a jam worthy of the name during the entire series of tests. A better performance could not be desired. Captain John S. Butler, Office of the Chief of Ordnance Field tests were conducted of

8075-399: The upper round (the next round to be chambered) from the belt. When there is sufficient clearance, the extractor block lowers the new round until it is aligned with the chamber. Forward movement of the breechblock assembly then chambers the round. Near the very end of the forward cycle, the extractor block rises to engage the next round ready to be loaded. The breechblock assembly houses

8170-658: The upper wing. Although heavier than the Lewis, its closed bolt firing cycle made it much easier to synchronise to allow it to fire through aircraft propellers . The belt feed was enclosed right up to the gun's feed-way to inhibit the effect of wind. Steel disintegrating-link ammunition belts were perfected in the UK by William de Courcy Prideaux in mid-war and became standard for aircraft guns thereafter. From 1917 to 1919, French Manufacture d'armes de Châtellerault produced under license .303 Vickers machine guns (240 were delivered before

8265-518: The victories in the Battle of Beersheba , the Third Battle of Gaza , and at the Battle of Mughar Ridge during October and November. By the end of the year the advance had crossed the Sinai and entered Palestine. Early in 1918, the ICC moved to the area of the Jordan valley and took part in the attack in March and April. The First Battle of Amman was unsuccessful; after three days of battle

8360-583: The western defence of the Jordan River ford at Umm esh Shert defending the left flank of the 4th Light Horse Brigade . The camel brigade was unable to support the light horsemen, which were attacked on the left flank and forced to withdraw. When the EEF advanced out of the Sinai and into Palestine, the change in terrain led to the disbandment of the ICC. In June 1918, the Australian troops were used to form

8455-532: Was good for 1,500 yd (1,400 m) range. Maximum rate of fire for the Mark III was about 700 rpm from a 200-round belt carried in a drum. They were fitted from the 1920s onwards, but in practical terms, proved of little use. During the Second World War, the naval 0.5 in (12.7 mm) version was also mounted on power-operated turrets in smaller watercraft, such as Motor Gun Boats and Motor Torpedo Boats . The Mark IV and V guns were improvements on

8550-498: Was obsolete in 1944. Firing either single shot or automatic it had a pistol type trigger grip rather than the spades of the 0.303 in (7.7 mm) weapon. The Gun, Machine, Vickers, .5-inch, Mk. III was used as an anti-aircraft gun on British ships. This variation was typically four guns mounted on a 360° rotating and (+80° to −10°) elevating housing. The belts were rolled into a spiral and placed in hoppers beside each gun. The heavy plain bullet weighed 1.3 oz (37 g) and

8645-453: Was the last RAF fighter to be armed with the Vickers, later replaced by Brownings. The Fairey Swordfish was fitted with the weapon until production ended in August 1944. Several British bombers and attack aircraft of the Second World War mounted the Vickers K machine gun or VGO, a completely different design, resembling the Lewis gun in external appearance. Vickers machine guns, designated as models E (pilot's) and F (observer's, fed from

8740-431: Was the weapon's popularity that men were generally content to pack it to all manner of difficult locations. The tripod would be set up to make a firm base, often dug into the ground a little and perhaps with the feet weighted down with sandbags. The water jacket would be filled with about 4 litres (1.1 US gal) of water from a small hole at the rear end, sealed by a cap. The evaporative cooling system, though heavy,

8835-539: Was threatened with prosecution for war profiteering , due to the exorbitant price demanded for each gun. As a result, the price was much reduced. As the war progressed, and numbers increased, it became the British Army's primary machine gun, and was used on all fronts during the conflict. When the Lewis Gun was adopted as a light machine gun and issued to infantry units, the Vickers guns were redefined as heavy machine guns, withdrawn from infantry units, and grouped in

8930-400: Was used for indirect fire against enemy positions at ranges up to 4,500 yards (4,115 m) with Mark VIIIz ammunition. This plunging fire was used to great effect against road junctions, trench systems , forming up points, and other locations that might be observed by a forward observer, or zeroed in at one time for future attacks, or guessed at by men using maps and experience. Sometimes

9025-419: Was very effective and enabled the gun to keep firing far longer than its air-cooled rival weapons. If water was unavailable, soldiers were known to resort to using their urine. It was sometimes claimed that crews would fire off a few rounds simply to heat their gun's cooling water to make tea , despite the resulting brew tasting of machine-oil. In extremely cold weather, the cooling water could freeze and damage

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