This book is a very important text for any student of the development of the machine gun, and contains details of the history of this weapon from its inception to the mid-ppoint of the First World War. The evolution of the machine gun is detailed, followed by examples of the use of the wepon in war, and particularly in the Russo-Japanese War. Tactics are examined in detail, both from the historical point of view and tactics of the First World War, an important part of the book. Training is covered, particularly from the British Army side, and the relevant chapter has much of great value in it. Perhaps the most important part of the book however is the examination of the machine guns of the armies then at war. There is in addition a complete chapter on machine guns in the German Army, which is of specific importance to any study of the tactics on the western front. The book is illustrated with a series of good photographs and a number of line drawings of both early and current machine guns, and there is also a large scale drawing of the Vickers gun.

Despite their extensive service in World War I, few members of the Kansas-Missouri 35th Division left lengthy memoirs of their experiences in the American Expeditionary Forces. But Ward Loren Schrantz filled dozens of pages with his recollections of life as a National Guard officer and machine gun company commander in the “Santa Fe” Division. In A Machine-Gunner in France, Schrantz extensively documents his experiences and those of his men, from training at Camp Doniphan to their voyage across the Atlantic, and to their time in the trenches in France’s Vosges Mountains and ultimately to their return home. He devotes much of his memoir to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, in which the 35th Division suffered heavy casualties and made only moderate gains before being replaced by fresh troops. Schrantz provides a valuable “common soldier’s” view of why the division failed to live up to the expectations of the A.E.F. high command. Schrantz also describes the daily life of a soldier, including living conditions, relations between officers and enlisted men, and the horrific experience of combat. He paints literary portraits of the warriors who populated the A.E.F. and the civilians he encountered in France. Schrantz’s small-town newspaper experience allowed him to craft a well-written and entertaining narrative. Because he did not intend his memoir for publication, the Missourian wrote in an honest and unassuming style, with extensive detail, vivid descriptions, and occasional humor. Editor Jeffrey Patrick combines his narrative with excerpts from a detailed history of the unit that Schrantz wrote for his local newspaper, and also provides an editor’s introduction and annotations to document and explain items and sources in the memoir. This is not a romantic account of the war, but a realistic record of how American citizen-soldiers actually fought on the Western Front.

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Excerpt from Provisional Machine-Gun Firing Manual, 1917 Use of ordnance handbooks and manuals chapter II. - Physical training chapter III. - Sighting, position, . And aiming drills. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Incorporating the lessons learned in the fighting at Passchendaele in the summer and early autumn of 1917, the first part of this official tactical summary of machine gun operations for October 1917 emphasises the importance of machine gun support of infantry operations by barrages. The second part of the booklet takes in the lessons learned in the battle of Cambrai in November 1917, including dealing with harassing aircraft. Taken together, and printed in one volume by the Naval and Military Press, these two official publications give an excellent picture of how lessons learned on the battlefield are quickly absorbed into tactical doctrines. They should be of consuming interest to anyone concerned with the evolving effects of machine guns on the western front in the Great War.