Jockbhoy67 Posted 29 December , 2015 Share Posted 29 December , 2015 I picked this up a couple of days ago, only thing i can find on it on the net is that it was used by the AEF to carry the Hotchkiss gun over the shoulder, the book "War Record of the 4th Battalion K.O.S.B." mentions the Lothians & Border Horse as using the Hotchkiss Gun but this is marked 2.Gor i presume for 2nd Gordons, does anyone know if the 2nd Gordons have a Machine Gun Section...or used the Hotchkiss.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thGordons Posted 29 December , 2015 Share Posted 29 December , 2015 I cannot speak specifically to the the 2nd Gordons but the 1/4th certainly did have a Machine Gun Section and I think it was quite normal prior to the formation of the MG Corps. The Hotchkiss (Portative) MG was generally used by cavalry units I think although I suppose early on it may have been used by infantry units prior to the widespread introduction of the Lewis (here is a US manual) I am not sure why a shoulder pad (if that is what it is) would have been restricted to one particular type of MG. It would seem to me to be a useful addition whatever weapon was being carried, there was certainly a padded garment / waistcoat issued One of the MG experts might know more specifics, the late Joe Sweeney published an article on MGunners' special clothing mentioned in the thread above, this might be worth tracking down. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jockbhoy67 Posted 29 December , 2015 Author Share Posted 29 December , 2015 Thanks for the input Chris, I did find the 1/4th were a Machine Gun Battalion, but no mention of the 2nd Gordons which started me wondering if it was pre-WW1 as the Vickers seems to be the preferred weapon in WW1 for MG Sections. I found some other snippets of info saying it was used by the AEF in conjunction with chain Mail Mits for the Hotchkiss Gun in WW1, but i take your point it may not have been restricted to one particular type of weapon. This is where i found the info regarding the AEF showing the pad and mits. http://www.firstdivisionmuseum.org/museum/online/toward_the_front/warfare_in_the_trenches/artifacts/entry2.aspx I'll take a look and see what else i can find on the forums...thanks for your reply. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 29 December , 2015 Share Posted 29 December , 2015 Thanks for the input Chris, I did find the 1/4th were a Machine Gun Battalion, but no mention of the 2nd Gordons which started me wondering if it was pre-WW1 as the Vickers seems to be the preferred weapon in WW1 for MG Sections. Cheers. The 1/4th Gordons weren't a "machine gun battalion". Like all infantry battalions, they would have started the war with a machine gun section (Maxims, later Vickers). In 1915 these were Brigaded and transferred to the Machine Gun Corps, with the battalion receiving Lewis Guns instead. As noted by Chris, the Hotchkiss was a cavalry weapon; I'm not sure infantry units used it as a routine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scall38 Posted 29 December , 2015 Share Posted 29 December , 2015 An example of a hotchkiss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill24chev Posted 29 December , 2015 Share Posted 29 December , 2015 Thanks for the input Chris, I did find the 1/4th were a Machine Gun Battalion, but no mention of the 2nd Gordons which started me wondering if it was pre-WW1 as the Vickers seems to be the preferred weapon in WW1 for MG Sections. I found some other snippets of info saying it was used by the AEF in conjunction with chain Mail Mits for the Hotchkiss Gun in WW1, but i take your point it may not have been restricted to one particular type of weapon. This is where i found the info regarding the AEF showing the pad and mits. http://www.firstdivisionmuseum.org/museum/online/toward_the_front/warfare_in_the_trenches/artifacts/entry2.aspx I'll take a look and see what else i can find on the forums...thanks for your reply. Cheers. The 1/4th Gordons weren't a "machine gun battalion". Like all infantry battalions, they would have started the war with a machine gun section (Maxims, later Vickers). In 1915 these were Brigaded and transferred to the Machine Gun Corps, with the battalion receiving Lewis Guns instead. As noted by Chris, the Hotchkiss was a cavalry weapon; I'm not sure infantry units used it as a r Steven you are of course right. I think Jockbhoy67 is, I think referring to the reincarnation of 1/4th Gordon's for the second round that started in 1939 when 1/4th Bn. Gordon's was a Machine Gun Battalion in the BEF commanded by Lord Gort. bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 30 December , 2015 Share Posted 30 December , 2015 Ah: I thought that, but wasn't sure of my facts. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Finneran Posted 11 February , 2016 Share Posted 11 February , 2016 French hotchkiss v British hotchkiss? To complicate things these shoulder pads appear in Europe all the time and are French issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 11 February , 2016 Share Posted 11 February , 2016 Hotchkiss as used by the British Cavalry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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