In the trenches-

[JBinIll]

http://i1154.photobucket.com/albums/p529/OldGussie/135654.jpg

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world-war-1/464060/Forbidden-World-War-1-images-saved-from-a-bonfire

[SMOKEY]

Damn, isn't that goo? Visual proof that he is older than dirt.:bootyshake:

[JB White]

Those periscope rifles had to be awful to fire. Always wondered how many actually fell to one of those.

[John Sukey]

I an sure quite a few germans fell to those rifles or they wouldn't have bothered to construct them. Sticking one's head over the parapet was an excellent way to get a hole in it. In fact dummy heads on a stick were used to locate the enemy snipers

[dave]

And who raised there head to see where the sniper was???

[Johan412th]

What a bizzare war for R&D, to say the least. It's amazing how much war changed over the following 20 years...

[JBinIll]

McBride's A Rifleman Went to War has quite a bit on how they located snipers in WW1 and sniping in the trenches.

[Johan412th]

That would be interesting to read. The First World War has always troubled me when it came to the concept of "modern" warfare. It was still such wholesale slaughter. Infantry tactics couldn't outmaneuver the machine gun.

[BruceHMX]

Also note the Long Lee beside him.

[John Sukey]

And who raised there head to see where the sniper was???

That's why they had trench periscopes. I have one in the collection. The only thing sticking over the parapet is a one inch diameter pipe with a mirror in it. There were also wood periscopes with larger mirrors.
Once the sniper was located the usual reply was an artillery round.
There is a book on the subject called "Sniping in France"

[JB White]

I thought if a sniper round came in someone would yell, "Hey Hans, is that you?"

The sniper would stand up and reply, "No, it's Me...Fritz!!"

[John Sukey]

If you can find it on the net, the book "A rifleman went to war" by McBride is well worth reading

[PhillipM]

I spoke with a friend the other day whose father was in a machine gun platoon with a potato digger. His father said that one had to be really careful going down into a trench or shell hole after a gas attack because the gas was heavier than air and would just sit there. Many found out the hard way.

[John Sukey]

The reason we had "Potato diggers". The then chief of ordnance HATED Col. Lewis, and did his best to block adoption of the Lewis gun. His excuse? We need to test it, despite the fact it had been in use by the British since the start of the war!!!!!!
Yes, the Lewis was in .303 while we were using the 30-06 round, BUT that was a minor adjustment that could easily have been done at the factory.

[mike webb]

The Lewis gun was actually a pretty good light machine gun, much better then the Colt Browning. The Lewis also shot down a huge number of German aircraft as it was used extensively by the RAF in fighter aircraft.

[John Sukey]

The Lewis gun was actually a pretty good light machine gun, much better then the Colt Browning. The Lewis also shot down a huge number of German aircraft as it was used extensively by the RAF in fighter aircraft.

Plus it shot down Richthofen but they gave the credit to the wrong guy. It was a Canadian Lewis gunner from the trenches NOT the camel pilot. The post mortem proved he was shot from below, NOT from behind!

[BruceHMX]

Plus it shot down Richthofen but they gave the credit to the wrong guy. It was a Canadian Lewis gunner from the trenches NOT the camel pilot. The post mortem proved he was shot from below, NOT from behind!

Wonder if the guy that shot at his plane knew he had killed him?

[John Sukey]

I think he did find out, but later.

[Shooter5]

The Lewis gun was actually a pretty good light machine gun, much better then the Colt Browning. The Lewis also shot down a huge number of German aircraft as it was used extensively by the RAF in fighter aircraft.

My granpa qualified on a Lewis gun during basic training Jan-May 1942 in California.

[leeshall]

IIRC the only Coast Guardsman to receive the Medal of Honor used the Lewis gun protecting Marines during a landing/pickup on a Pacific island.

[Father Ted]

I can't imagine how the recoil was transferred on these different periscope rifle designs. Like anything in the trenches it couldn't have been "comfy".

[Shooter5]

IIRC the only Coast Guardsman to receive the Medal of Honor used the Lewis gun protecting Marines during a landing/pickup on a Pacific island.
Yes, according to the article SM1c Douglas A. Munro, USCG:: "...Munro and Evans were in separate LCVP's, each with an air cooled Lewis .30 caliber machine gun and ammunition." His MOH citation does not mention the weapons used (although sometimes they do, for example, a 1911 or a Thompson.)

http://www.uscg.mil/history/weboralhistory/EvansOralHistory.asp

[John Sukey]

Lets not forget the U.S. Gunboat Panay on the Yangzte river that was sunk by the Japs. Many years ago I met one of the crew of the Panay who fired his Lewis at the jap aircraft.
By the way, the Marines used the Lewis in WW1. General Crozier may have kept the army from getting it but he had no authority over the Marines