Mystery German light MG

[Tom W.]

Looking through my photos, I found an air-cooled light machine gun in the background of one. The photo is dated May of 1917 and depicts a course taught to Austrian officers and NCOs by German Assault Battalion No. 12.

I initially thought it was an lMG08/18, but the barrel is too long, and the pistol grip is the wrong shape and in the wrong position. The pistol grip is almost directly below the belt ejection port, while it's much further back in the lMG08/18. Also, if the photo was taken in May of 1917, it would be far too early for it to be an lMG08/18.

It has a flimsy bipod that seems to be attached to the barrel; you can see that the slotted cooling jacket continues on the right side of the human leg in the center of the photo.

Any ideas?

[bmg17a1]

Very indistinct, but it appears to be the 7.92mm Bergmann LMG 15 n.a. on its very small tripod with tubular legs. It has the distinctive MG08/15 flash-hider/booster, which was used on a number of different MGs, including the Dreyse and the Bergmann. It was equipped with a pistol grip which is visible in the pic. These are exceptionally rare MGs, especially in the US, where none seem to exist in private collections. The Pattern Room has some nice examples of the air and watercooled Bergmanns, though, as one would expect.

Bob Naess

Black River Militaria CII

USA

[centurion]

I agree that it looks like a Bergmann nA but there are some odd things. The tripod looks wrong and too far forward (on the Bergmann it wasn't attached to the barrel jacket but to the main body of the gun just forward of the drum). The Bergmann had a prominent fore sight at the muzzle end and this isn't showing. However the KuK (Austro Hungary) air service did try the Bergmann as an observers gun but it proved unsuitable in this role and some were converted into infantry weapons and issued to KuK "special forces" on the Italian front. Given that the men under instruction are Austrian it's possible that this gun is an even rarer avis - a KuK Bergmann

[Robert Dunlop]

It is doubtful, IMHO, that a tripod has been used. While the bipod was normally positioned just in front of the pistol grip for one Bergmann variant, the n.A had a different style of bipod was located further down the barrel. This bipod had a locking device that enabled the bipod to moved along the barrel as required. Pictures of both variants, with the different bipod types, can be seen here.

Robert

[centurion]

It is doubtful, IMHO, that a tripod has been used. While the bipod was normally positioned just in front of the pistol grip for one Bergmann variant, the n.A had a different style of bipod was located further down the barrel. This bipod had a locking device that enabled the bipod to moved along the barrel as required. Pictures of both variants, with the different bipod types, can be seen here.

Robert

The Bergmann LMG 15 n/A could have both a tripod or a bipod attached to the same point in front of the grip and I have seen photos of both. The bipod looks very much like the one fitted to the MG08/15 The one fitted to the perforated barrel casing (not to the barrel) is tubular and shown much further forward and the ones to which it is so fitted do not have the carrying/barrel change handle fitted to the barrel casing. Moreover they are not captioned as a/N but merely as Bergmann LMG 15. Indeed there is one photo showing a Bergmann with the tripod and carrying handle captioned with the a/N suffix above one with the forward bipod and no carrying handle captioned without the suffix. Both the German and KuK air forces used the Bergmann LMG 15 as an observers weapon but found it unsuitable (the g forces of manoeuvre could cause misfires and/or jams) and both released their weapons to the infantry. The airborne version would need neither tripod or barrel handle and I think the ones with the forward bipod on the barrel casing and no handle represent these adapted for infantry use.