Machine-Gun Tactics

by R. V. K. Applin

Wars against savages or semi-civilised peoples differ fundamentally in principles and tactics from war against a civilised enemy, and the tactics adopted will be governed by the object of the expedition and the tactics and arms of the enemy to be dealt with. Callwell says: “The tactics of such opponents differ so greatly in various cases that it is essential that these be taken fully into consideration. The armament of the enemy is also a point of extreme importance.”

In dealing with machine-gun tactics in small wars, it is obviously impossible to treat with all the situations that may be met with or to attempt to lay down definite rules for their use under all the varying conditions of country, race, and arms before mentioned. It will therefore be sufficient for our purpose to show how machine guns may be used generally in warfare in uncivilised countries, and then to take a single typical campaign to illustrate their employment.

“Against an enemy who fights outside stockades, machine guns are very efficacious; and in any case against all uncivilised people a sudden burst of fire from these is often most paralysing.”[51]

After speaking of the jamming of non-automatic machine guns at Ulundi, Abu Klea, Dogali, and Tofreck, Callwell says: “On the other hand, Maxims, which can be easily handled and moved, have done excellent service in East Africa, in Matabililand, and in the campaigns on the North-West Frontier of India. There can be no doubt that machine guns of an easily portable and thoroughly trustworthy class may be most valuable in small wars, and they will probably be freely used in such operations in the future, especially when the enemy is inclined to attack in mass. In hill warfare these weapons scarcely get a proper chance, as they are not very well suited for picking off individuals and as it is dangerous to thrust them too far to the front with the small parties which are so much used in operations of this class. In bush warfare also the want of a fair target is unfavourable to them, and when the shooting is at short range the detachment is likely to be put hors de combat, as it offers such a good target; this happened at Owikokaro. An open field of fire and a well-defined object to aim at are almost more necessary to machine guns than to artillery. On the defensive, machine guns can hardly fail to be valuable. In laager, zarebas, and detached posts of all kinds they are always likely to be of service, and to a certain extent they may take the place of guns for such work. During the operations in Rhodesia in 1896 they were found very useful as a protection to the small laagers left behind by the columns when they moved out for a fight. Two of them did tremendous execution in Chakdara Fort during the siege of that post in 1897. It is interesting to note that at the fight on the Shangani River in Matabililand after the attempt to capture the king had failed, the troops, although they were in a bad position, could not move to a better one for a while, simply because the machine guns would have been thrown out of action during the change of position. Against rushes of Zulus, Ghazis, or other fanatics the effect of such weapons is tremendous, as long as the fire is well maintained. In the excitement of the moment the best infantry may fire unsteadily; but machine guns can be absolutely trusted to commit destructive havoc in the hostile throng, provided that their mechanism does not go out of order.”[52]

The above is interesting as showing the wide field for their use in small arms and yet how narrow the method of tactical employment. It may be summed up in a few words: a good target, a good field of fire, constant readiness for action, and sufficient protection to enable the gun to be handled with confidence.

Machine guns should form an integral part of the arm to which they are attached, and must be used with them to supplement their fire power. In attack they must seek positions from which to bring to bear a concentrated and overwhelming fire on the main body of the enemy, and against savages this must be from the flanks or rear to be successful, as the object is to prevent flight and insure decisive results. Their real value in small wars lies in their enormous defensive powers, which may be employed in clearing the way for columns in enclosed country, in stopping a charge of fanatics whether mounted or on foot, and in preventing small columns on the march from being overwhelmed by superior numbers.

It will be found that, although it is the invariable rule for the disciplined force in a small war to assume the initiative and attack with vigour on every possible occasion, the uncivilised enemy, by reason of his primitive arms and tactics, generally avoids the encounter until he is able to make an attack at a time and on ground of his own choosing. Thus we find the disciplined force thrown on the defensive in the early stages of the expedition and the very heavy losses inflicted then often directly lead to a speedy termination of the campaign. Callwell says: “The tactics adopted by the Zulus and Mahdists when flushed with confidence were best met at a halt in close formation, even on ground where arms of precision could not tell with full effect. In the jungles of Dahomey the sudden hostile attacks on flanks and rear could be confronted most satisfactorily by the troops on the spot acting on the defence until the edge was taken off the hostile appetite for combat.... Where a small force of regular troops is opposed to great hostile masses, no matter how ill-armed or how deficient in morale the masses may be, circumstances render it almost imperative to act on the defensive.”

For this reason alone machine guns form the most valuable arm in encounters of this nature, and their tremendous effect cannot be better illustrated than at Omdurman, where they literally mowed down the attacking masses in great swathes.

The first consideration when employing machine guns in a small war is the method of carrying the gun and its ammunition, which must be suited to the country in which the operations are to take place.

In the majority of cases it will be found that the usual transport of the country is the most suitable, and a tripod-mounted gun can be adapted to almost any form of carriage. In mountainous open country such as the North-West Frontier of India mules or ponies are suitable; in the desert the camel has been used; while in the forests of East Africa machine guns have been carried by porters on their heads, strapped on their backs, or slung beneath a pole by two men. Whatever method is adopted, it is essential that the gun can be brought into action easily and quickly, and that it is at least as mobile as the troops it accompanies.