German Machine Guns of World War I

MG 08 and MG 08/15

German Machine Guns of World War I cover

German Machine Guns of World War I

MG 08 and MG 08/15

Description

World War I's defining weapon for many, Germany's MG 08 machine gun won a formidable reputation on battlefields from Tannenberg to the Somme. Although it was a lethally effective weapon when used from static positions, the MG 08 was far too heavy to perform a mobile role on the battlefield. As the British and French began to deploy lighter machine guns alongside their heavier weapons, the Germans fielded the Danish Madsen and British Lewis as stopgaps, but chose to adapt the MG 08 into a compromise weapon – the MG 08/15 – which would play a central role in the revolutionary developments in infantry tactics that characterized the last months of the conflict. In the 1940s, the two weapons were still in service with German forces fighting in a new world war. Drawing upon eyewitness battlefield reports, this absorbing study assesses the technical performance and combat record of these redoubtable and influential German machine guns, and their strengths and limitations in a variety of battlefield roles.

Table of Contents

Introduction /Development /Use /Impact /Conclusion /Bibliography /Index

Product details

Published 19 May 2016
Format Ebook (Epub)
Edition 1st
Extent 80
ISBN 9781472815187
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Illustrations 50 b/w; 14 col
Series Weapon
Short code WPN 47
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Stephen Bull

Dr Stephen Bull worked for the National Army Museu…

Illustrator

Johnny Shumate

Johnny Shumate works as a freelance illustrator li…

Illustrator

Alan Gilliland

Alan Gilliland, a contributor to more than 70 Ospr…

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