German Soldiers Chained To Machine Gun

[SiegeGunner]

Egbert's research is very revealing. During intense bombardments only look-outs remained exposed, with reserves close by, ready to take their place if they fell, and virtually everyone else, including MG teams, with their guns, was under cover, either in shelters within the trench or in deep dugouts where available. At Fromelles, for example, a MG team and their officer (attached to RIR17) failed to leave their mined dugout in time, when the British attack went in, and were coaxed out with grenades and forced to surrender. They were obviously tardy (actually very tardy) in hitching themselves up to their gun.

[egbert]

.... a MG team and their officer (attached to RIR17) failed to leave.....

Are you sure you mean 'attached to RIR17' and not chained to......

[Robert Dunlop]

Mick, looks like you have to change all of that translation work you did Or should we just find a way to chain egbert (just kidding, egbert. Really )

Robert

[egbert]

Well guys I see there is still resistance to accept the fact that all German MGunners were indeed chained . I understand the myth that they were not chained is hard to accept. Only facts, facts , facts are necessary here. A great example w/r to the chained gunners is the fact that even some of the elite troops were not only chained to their MG , but in addition to their ammunition. This sample was found in No-Mans-Land between Serre and Luke copse

[Robert Dunlop]

Sorry, egbert. I have to respectfully disagree. There is no evidence of machine gunners being chained to ammunition, at least not from this photo. You can't always trust German sources I'm afraid:

Robert

[Pete1052]

Ich habe zwei Fragen. Does the Heeresdienstvorschrift on Truppenführung have a chapter on when it is right and proper for an officer or NCO to put his soldiers in chains to make sure they do their jobs? Also, in 1918 when the war began going against Germany and there were supply shortages, did the messenger dogs have to give up their leashes and chains so the machine gunners wouldn't run away?

Hauptmann Peter Eisen und Blut von West Virginia

Regiment 9 Totenkopf Feld Artillerie

[truthergw]

Well guys I see there is still resistance to accept the fact that all German MGunners were indeed chained . I understand the myth that they were not chained is hard to accept. Only facts, facts , facts are necessary here. A great example w/r to the chained gunners is the fact that even some of the elite troops were not only chained to their MG , but in addition to their ammunition. This sample was found in No-Mans-Land between Serre and Luke copse

Sorry, Egbert. This is quite obviously the Mark III earring, 2 of which were issued to each Freiwilliger for easy identification in the field.

[phil@basildon]

Were the female snipers at Galipoli chained to their guns?

[egbert]

I see at least Tom, Pete and Robert want to challenge my research. The subject of this valuable thread comes up each year persistently. So the subject matter must be true -they were chained! And it does not help you guys challenging me with the myth that German MGunners were not chained. The many pals who bring up the subject constantly is proof enough that they must have been chained.

@Pete: the Ausbildungsvorschrift (see scan) very well mandates the chaining of MG crews. This enhanced their effectiveness and gave them a boost of morale. The manual also says that even for a potty run in the heat of the battle they were not allowed to be unchained but instead had to urinate on the barrels- chained! Especially on July 1st 1916 this was of such advantage because they could cool the overheated barrels.

@Robert: some folks misidentify friendship bracelets with actual MGunner's chains. So please do not fall into this simple trap.

[egbert]

@Tom and others who are non believers: the German tactics of chaining MG crews was so succesful, that even 90 years thereafter the procedure is copied by Brit and Commonwealth navies as seen her on an Australien war ship. You see the chain(ed)gun attached(sorry Mick) chained to the 2 sailors. I do not know though whether they are allowed to be unchained when the ship sinks. Anyway- the tactic is no myth it is very well alive.

P.S. I admit, I cannot see whether the crew is also chained to their ammo

[Cnock]

Egbert,

You forget one thing :

chains were only used in open air, when the Germans had bunkers, they simply locked the gunners up in their concrete prisons and threw the key away!

Cheers,

Cnock

[Pete1052]

What about the messenger dogs? Were they allowed to wander all over Siegburg and water trees because their chains had been sent to the front?

[martinclift]

Found this in 'War Illustrated' Volume 2 page 506

Caption:

Evidence of the failing spirit of the German soldier and the brutalit

of his officer was recorded by a French commander fighting in the

neighbourhood of Rheims, and graphically illustrated in the drawing

on this page. After French artillery had effectively shelled the

German trenches, the infantry charged them with the Irresistible

dash characteristic of our Allies. All the Germans fled in disorder,

with the exception of the gunners, who were unable to move,

being chained to their guns. It appears that the famous French

11 75's " so scared German gunners that their officers chained

them to their guns In order to hold them in the firing-line

Propaganda or fact?

Martin

[truthergw]

Well it's got the genuine whiff of second rate propaganda to me. A fairly ropey sketch of a sort of machine gunny thing. The German machine gunners terrified of the French 75s. Yes, all things considered, I'd go for propaganda.

[William Webb]

Well it must be true then! the camera cannot lie

[SiegeGunner]

I take it the artist wasn't actually there in person. The gunner appears to have a long open loop of chain around his waist that he could quite easily step out of, and the grips of the MG-thingy are about 6" above his head ...

What was the date of this issue of 'War Illustrated'? If nothing else, it would be interesting to try and nail down the first claimed encounter with a chained machine-gunner.

Incidentally, am I the only one who thinks that the early-war infantry Pickelhaube looks so ridiculous (particularly in drawings) that it distorts one's perception of the man wearing it?

[William Webb]

No, I have often thought that.

[egbert]

Well it must be true then! the camera cannot lie

Exactly! As I have hopefully proven before: this is no myth, they were always chained to their guns. Shame on those who do not trust...How can such a reveiling picture lie? Also the substantiated text below the picture should be evidence enough. Despite the Germans, the Brits could not afford to misguide their citizen with ugly propaganda.

[SiegeGunner]

Let's try a new tack. Are there any contemporary reports of chained machine-gunners (any side) in theatres of war other than the Western Front? Or of machine-gunners chained to any type of MG other than heavy 'Maxim-type' guns? Did the practice die out after the Great War, or did it continue in later conflicts, perhaps up to the present day?

[truthergw]

Has anyone ever seen a reason for chaining one of the crew to his gun? Any hint as to who did the chaining or why? Is there a memoir from a crewman or any other soldier, mentioning the practice?

[Steven Broomfield]

I think you're making a reall Hoo Hah out of this.

[truthergw]

So now we know there were gangs in America making chains. Would the embargo have covered chains? Would they have been seen as war supplies? Were they perhaps smuggled into the Fatherland, hidden inside bags of Blue Circle cement?

[James Kastner]

Another reference, provided by skipman:

 

The backwash of war; (1916)

[truthergw]

No doubts on this one. American anti-war propaganda. I didn't raise my son to be a soldier. Incidentally, for those who read on to the next chapter. In 1915, old trousers were more likely to be red than blue.

[Rob Connolly]

Found this in 'War Illustrated' Volume 2 page 506

Caption:

Evidence of the failing spirit of the German soldier and the brutalit

of his officer was recorded by a French commander fighting in the

neighbourhood of Rheims, and graphically illustrated in the drawing

on this page. After French artillery had effectively shelled the

German trenches, the infantry charged them with the Irresistible

dash characteristic of our Allies. All the Germans fled in disorder,

with the exception of the gunners, who were unable to move,

being chained to their guns. It appears that the famous French

11 75's " so scared German gunners that their officers chained

them to their guns In order to hold them in the firing-line

Propaganda or fact?

Martin

I'd go for propaganda - a "drawing" but no corresponding photograph, and a drawing that seems unfamiliar with what a German machine gun looks like. I also doubt an MG team would still be standing when within rifle or bayonet range of those they had been dousing with fire just seconds before!