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Emmageeman’s Corner: Machine Gun Memorabilia

by SAR Staff

November 6, 2020

in Articles, Articles by Issue, Search by Issue, V24N9 (Nov 2020), Volume 24

Emmageeman’s Corner: Machine Gun Memorabilia

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By Robert G. Segel

World War I German Model 1916 Stahlhelm (German for steel helmet) identified to the 15th Royal Grenadiers Machine Gun Gruppe. This helmet has hand-painted insignia on both the left and right sides. On the left is the MG 08 Maxim machine gun in an oval denoting a machine gun sharpshooter level, and on the right is the number “15” above an iron cross. Maker marked on the inside. Complete with padded liner.

World War I-era Machine Gun Corps NCO Wolseley pith helmet from a corporal or sergeant stationed in India, Malta, Egypt, Gibraltar or Hong Kong. Cotton puggaree wrapped around a cork helmet. Stitched to the puggaree on the left side is the Machine Gun Corps formation patch of a diamond split in two with yellow on the left and green on the right with white “M.G.C.” stitched in the center. The meaning of this color combination for a specific unit/location has been lost over time. Chin strap marked “T.J. Weeks & Sons Ltd. 1917.” Partial remains of helmet maker inside helmet.

World War I U.S. M1917 helmet attributed to the 366th Machine Gun Company of the 92nd “Buffalo” Division. Purple and black painted circle with “Machine Gun AEF Company 92nd Division.” Inside the circle is a buffalo with “366th” on the body. The 92nd Division was a segregated Black unit who fought valiantly in the Meuse–Argonne offensive and Defense Sectors. The buffalo insignia reflects the “Buffalo Soldiers” of earlier days.

World War I-era cavalry felt campaign hat. Correct era with five rows of stitching along the brim. The hat has a leather buckled chin strap and yellow hat cord with red acorns denoting a cavalry machine gun troop. (There are many hat cord and acorn color combinations all denoting a specific unit. Yellow represents cavalry, and the red represents machine gun. Alternately, a blue cord represents infantry, and a red acorn denotes a machine gunner.) The hat has a leather sweatband with the size marked 6 7/8. Maker-marked “John J. Conlon, New York, Inspected.”

Swiss officer’s Model 1910 shako for a 1st Lieutenant as denoted by the two small gold braided bands around the body, for the 29th Machine Gun Company. The front visor, neck and top are leather, and the helmet body is covered with beaver fur cloth with leather chin strap. The brass helmet plate consists of two crossed Swiss Maxim MG11 water-cooled machine guns. (A shako is typically a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a visor and sometimes tapered at the top and usually adorned with some kind of ornamental plate or badge on the front.)

World War I British Brodie helmet painted by a Machine Gun Corps (MGC) veteran in the immediate post-War era. Elaborately painted with the insignia of the Machine Gun Corps with the King’s crown over crossed Vickers machine guns and “MGC” to the top of the helmet along with the dates of 1914-18. Surrounding the bowl of the helmet along the sides are laurel leaves and battle ribbons for Somme, Cambrai, Ypres, Passchendaele, Thiepval and Gallipoli and a single red poppy denoting the remembrance of the fallen. Boldly painted along the brim reads “Faithful to the Empire.”

Austrian World War I mountain field cap. Standard, summer weight, “Pike Grey” color, field cap with heavy twill sweatband to the inside. The standard Austrian field K (KuK) badge to the front with period metal machine gun with “16” below sewn to the left side (16th machine gun company.) KuK refers to the dual Imperial and Royal monarchy (1867-1918) indicating that the Habsburg Monarch reigned simultaneously as the Kaiser (Emperor of Austria) and as Konig (King of Hungary).

World War I U.S. M1917 Brodie-style helmet for a machine gun company of the 27th Infantry Regiment of the A.E.F.S. (American Expeditionary Force Siberia). Painted in white winter camouflage with the A.E.F.S. insignia to the front of an “S” superimposed upon a standing bear within an artillery shell. On the right side of the helmet is painted “27th” over “MG,” and on the left side is painted “AEFS” over a “27 INF” ribbon banner. Nearly 8,000 men, mostly from the 27th and then the 31st Infantry Regiments, were sent to Vladivostok, the Russian Empire during World War I (1917-1920), to help relieve the 30,000 Czech Legion members trying to get to the Western Front to fight the Germans, held up by the Russian revolutionaries, and protect the Trans-Siberian Railway and U.S. war supplies given to Imperial Russia from falling into the hands of the communists after the revolution in 1917.

This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V24N9 (November 2020)

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SAR Staff

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Tags: 2020 EmmaGee Machine Gun Memorabilia Robert G. Segel Robert Segel V24N9 World War I WWI

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