| 1. Its fire effect | 50 rifles at least. |
| 2. Its mobility | Cavalry. |
| 3. Its visibility | A file (2 men). |
| 4. Its vulnerability | Unaffected by 50% of loss. |
Before discussing their place in battle and tactical use it will be necessary to say a few words on the best methods of grouping the guns and organising their detachments and the training of the personnel in peace for the duties they will have to perform in war. In our service two machine guns are issued to each regiment of cavalry and battalion of infantry, and the detachment consists of:
| Cavalry. | Infantry. | |
| Subaltern | 1 | 1 |
| Sergeant | 1 | 1 |
| Corporal | 1 | 1 |
| Privates | 12 | 12 |
| Drivers | 8 | 2 |
| Bâtmen | 2 | - |
| — | — | |
| 25 (1 officer) | 17 (1 officer) |
This section of two guns is therefore the smallest tactical unit, and the officer in command is solely responsible for the training and efficiency of his section. It is therefore absolutely essential that the machine-gun section commander should be a subaltern of not less than three years’ service, specially selected for his keenness, efficiency, and self-reliance, who has passed the examination “C” for promotion, and who holds the special machine-gun certificate from a School of Musketry. A “destroyer” in the Royal Navy is commanded by a very junior officer, but he is most carefully selected for similar qualities to those mentioned, and is in addition required to possess the necessary professional qualifications—consequently it is a command much sought after, and competition enables the authorities to appoint the pick of the service and thus obtain the maximum efficiency where efficiency is the essence of successful employment in war. The best and nothing but the best is necessary to the successful employment of machine guns, and the importance of obtaining the very best officers as section commanders is so great that there is reason to doubt the utility of having machine guns at all if they are not commanded and handled by those who are in every way expert in their use.
In order to enable machine-gun sections to be trained in tactics and to co-operate with larger units in war, it is essential that they should be trained under a senior officer during peace. The late Colonel Henderson said of the Volunteers in Mexico: “The ideal of the battle is a combined effort directed by a well-trained leader: as individuals they fought well; as organised bodies capable of manœuvring under fire and of combined effort, they proved to be comparatively worthless.” This is precisely the case of regimental machine guns. It is easy enough to use a section or even a single gun apart from its battery should occasion require, but it is impossible to improvise a battery from a number of separate sections. It is therefore essential before attempting the tactical training of machine guns, much less their tactical use, to organise them in batteries during peace. For this purpose it is suggested that when a battalion is brigaded with others, either for administration or training, the six or eight guns should be formed into one or two batteries, under a selected field officer, who would be solely responsible for their peace training and tactical efficiency, and who would command them on manœuvres and on service. There would be little or no innovation in this, as our regimental signallers are at present trained and commanded on similar lines under the divisional signalling officer. A cavalry brigade under the present organisation (1909) would have one battery of six guns, and an infantry brigade two batteries of four guns each. The batteries of a Division would be commanded by the divisional machine-gun commander. While such organisation would in no way prevent the regimental machine-gun section being used with its own unit as at present, it would ensure a very high standard of tactical training, and enable the Divisional General to have a splendid reserve in his own hands for use at the critical moment of the fight as mobile as cavalry, in fire action more powerful than infantry, occupying the smallest possible front, yet capable of delivering a storm of some 10,000 bullets a minute with the maximum of accuracy and concentration.
The tactics in this book are based on the understanding that the machine guns are trained on this system, and that they are mounted on light, adjustable tripods and carried on trained pack-horses with the entire detachment mounted.
The failure of machine guns is due to two principal causes: (1) Insufficient training in working the guns. (2) Improper tactical employment.
It will be obvious that unless the gun can be depended upon to open fire with certainty and accuracy, and maintain it continuously without jamming or mechanical failure, it is useless to consider its tactical employment. The mechanism of the Maxim is somewhat complicated and delicate, and depends for its proper working upon the exact adjustment of each part; but no more so than any other piece of modern machinery—it is far less complicated and certainly far less delicate than the modern motor-car. Indeed, the comparison is analogous in several respects, as both require highly trained operators to ensure their smooth and continuous working, and each individual machine, whether gun or motor, has its own peculiarities and requires special study to obtain the best results. Both are capable of hard and constant employment for long periods, without breakdown or failure, in the hands of an expert.
No one would think for one moment of engaging a chauffeur for a high-class motor-car who had less than six months’ training and experience, and who was not capable of stripping and adjusting the motors and effecting minor repairs. It would be difficult to find a machine-gun detachment with a single man who possessed even these minimum qualifications. Apart from the mechanical knowledge it must be remembered that the man who fires the gun, known as No. I. in our service, has in his own hands the fire from 50 rifles, and on his own judgment and skill as a shot will entirely depend the effectiveness or otherwise of this fire; it stands to reason therefore that he should be chosen primarily for his good shooting, but, in addition to his skill in aiming, he must be a good judge of distance and possess considerable intelligence, initiative, and self-reliance; for although he will usually receive orders as to target, range, rate of fire, and the moment for opening or ceasing fire, it will often happen that he has to use his own judgment in these very important matters.