Bergmann MP18.1

[bob lembke]

Here are the Kaiser and General Oskar von Hutier reviewing a line of submachine gunners from several different units, including, infantry, pioneers, Jäger, the flamethrower regiment, and Sturmbataillon Nr. 5 (Rohr), date and place unknown. Was this a Maschinenpistolen-Kursus? Is it just an honor guard? No idea.

Thanks to Tom for again posting his great photo. Note that the weapons are slung over the troops' right shoulder, but the barrels are so short that I, for one, cannot see a single barrel peeping over the level of the shoulder. Also note the bulging blouse pockets; we may surmise that each pocket contains a 32 round "snail shell" magazine; I have never heard of a carrier pouch having been designed for this complicated and delicate magazine. The two cavalrymen in the left of the picture are the two men of the Kaiser's Life Guards who always followed him about at formal field occasions, such as reviews. One is carrying the Kaiser's personal ensign. (It should be noted that when the Kaiser's life was actually in danger, in the last days of the war, they did not send for the Life Guard Curassiers, but rather for the Sturm=Bataillon Nr. 5 (Rohr) to protect him. Sic transit gloria.)

Bob

[Tom W.]

Postwar use of the MP.18, by the Freikorps unit II. Marine Brigade Erhardt. As in the wartime photo, the barrel of the weapon doesn't protrude above the man's shoulder, and he appears to be carrying spare ammo drums in his tunic pockets.

[pelle]

Nice photos! I'm really impressed that you could pick out the weapon in the top photo. Was that just because no barrel was visible, or are there any other cues I'm missing?

[Tom W.]

I'm really impressed that you could pick out the weapon in the top photo. Was that just because no barrel was visible, or are there any other cues I'm missing?

The main clue is that some of the men in the second row are armed with Kar 98AZ carbines, the barrels of which are visible above their shoulders. I've marked one out with a white arrow here. So, you can clearly see that the men in the front row (and some in the second row) have slung weapons which have barrels too short to protrude above the shoulder. The MP18.1 is the only weapon that fits that description.

[Tom W.]

You can also see the butt of the weapon protruding below the skirt of the tunic. (The man on the right, by the way, is a flamethrower pioneer, which is why I believe this photo shows either an honor guard or the completion of some kind of course, either an assault course or a submachine-gun course.)

[Tom W.]

Here's Kapitänleutnant Manfred von Killinger, commander of the Freikorps unit II. Marine Brigade Erhardt, with a slung MP18.1. Again, you can see the lack of a protruding barrel, while the butt of the weapon hangs down fairly low. I think that in the wartime photo of the honor guard, or whatever it is, the men were ordered to extend the sling of the SMG to its greatest length and grip it near the top so that the weapon would hang more vertically and present a more military appearance.

Note that the man in front of von Killinger has a slung Kar 98AZ, which shows you how prominent the barrel is.

[Latze]

Hi all,

Pelle posted the question about the combat use of the MP18 in the ConSimWorld forum and asked for a cross-post. Here we go:

The regimental history of Infantry Regiment 58 (written by Major Walter Schmidt et al, printed 1934 in Zeulenroda) says that a British attack against Maucourt (east of Amiens) was defeated using MP18s on August 10th 1918. Unfortunately the book does not say when the new weapons were issued and makes no further mention (or rather I did not find any as the text is in Fraktur so skimming it is a bit hard). The unit in question is not (!) the divisional assault battalion nor a Jäger unit but just regular infantry in an 'attack division'.

I think the best text discussing the MP18 is Robert Bruce "Machine Guns of World War 1". The book describes the submachinegun in actual operation (the author fired it life, field stripped it, etc.) and concludes "All told, the MP18/I is too big, too heavy, too akward, and unsafe." Interesting conclusion. Equally interesting I did not find any references to the submachine-gun in the following three books: Balck 'Development of Tactics, World War', Seeßelberg 'Der Stellungskrieg' ("Position Warfare" hands down the best book on the subject, printed 1925) or Kraft von Dellmensigen 'Der Durchbruch'. So I think it is save t say that the impact of the weapon on tatcical thinking was rather limited.

regards

Latze

[pelle]

Thanks, again, Latze! The many non-mentions of the gun is also interesting, as you say.

[bob lembke]

Postwar use of the MP.18, by the Freikorps unit II. Marine Brigade Erhardt. As in the wartime photo, the barrel of the weapon doesn't protrude above the man's shoulder, and he appears to be carrying spare ammo drums in his tunic pockets.

II. Marine Brigade Erhardt was quite an organization. Seasoned observers who had contact with the unit described it as the most impressive military unit they had ever seen.

Bob Lembke