The Lewis Gun

Ah!........the Lewis gun !

When I was in Civil Defence just prior to being called up in 1942 we trained with the Home Guard and learnt to fire the bloody thing.

When I eventually landed at the Basic Traing Unit I thought my training would stand me in good stead but we got, instead, the .30 Browning and I was just another beginner !

Lovely gun but so bloody heavy !

Ron

 

Lewis Automatic Machine Gun - Operation and Use Of, 1917

 

Looking for something on shoulder-rested Lewis Guns for Soren, I pottered onto this:
HyperWar: The Machine Gun (Vol. I/Part IV)

"A Device for the Lewis Gun Allowing It to be Fired from the Shoulder with Ease."


Well you live and learn. Wonder if it actually made service... I'm guessing not.

That's taking the bullpup concept to the extreme

 

Portuguese troops training with the Lewis (Louisinha locally, Little Louise)



A sorry affair all round.

 

The cooling jacket was so big that when, in Northern Ireland quite some years ago, a Lewis Gun was found in someone's house after a (probably vindictive) tip-off - the gun had obviously been buried since about 1920 to judge by the mud and rust - the guys who found it thought they'd found a mortar!

Chris

 

Note the complete lack of sights.

Regards

AlanD
Sydney

 

There's something a bit suspect about that piucture, it's been heavily retouched.

Look at the portion of the Lewis Gun behind the man's head....the fine brush and black paint has been applied liberally. Compare the outlining to the edges of the man's clothing...they're VERY indistinct.

This is a period technique very familiar to anyone used to looking at 1940s, '50s and '60s motorcycle and motorcar catalogue shots; the item to be photographed would be shot...often against the background provided by a white sheet...then the photograph was so heavily retouched that it would appear almost to be a high quality artist's illustration rather than a photograph!

Also....the small portion of the Lewis Gun's cooling jacket you can see behind the man's head.....is BIGGER than the bit in front of him!!!

...but the identifiably "Lewis Gun" bit behind him seems to have been stuck on afterwards. And noone gave any thought as to the differing scales...

 

The stormtroopers also had some kind of Sterling, while Han Solo's blaster was a Mauser C96.

 

No expert but the absence of the barrel shroud would indicate Mk111. Fore grips were fitted to Mk111 Lewis guns issued to Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships. Ties in with photos showing naval ratings using the guns.

Tim

 

Here is a picture of my late father holding a covered Lewis Gun in Palestine on return from a patrol whilst serving with Coldstream Guards in early 1939.

The chap in the background is Peter Wright who was awarded VC in Italy Sept 1943.

Steve

 

UK, Victoria Cross Medals, 1857-2007
Name: Peter Harold Wright
Birth Date: 10 Aug 1916
Birth Place: Mettingham, Near Bungay, Suffolk
Death Date: 5 Apr 1990
Death Place: Ipswich, Suffolk


TD