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# That picture's in my history text book from last year.
Vickers Mk1 Machine Gun, initially underestimated by the generals who believed WW1 would be a war of movement, rather than the entrenched fighting that developed.
2 were issued to each battalion at the start of the war, and each could fire 450-550 rounds per minute with a team of 3 working it.
By the end of the war, each division of the BEF had 64 Vickers.
(, Sat 29 Aug 2009, 21:51, archived)
# Best way to combat them :
Walk slowly towards them, in a line, ideally in daytime.

Worked wonders.
(, Sat 29 Aug 2009, 21:58, archived)
# Ho ho!
Now now, Hague was far more than the 'Butcher of the Somme'.
Ok, 19,000 deaths on the first day of the battle is still the biggest British military disaster in history, but he did eventually develop the 'Bite and Hold' tactic for taking Bosh trenches, which eventually lead to the 46th (North Midland) Division crossing the St. Quentin Canal and breaking the Hindenburg Line on 28th September 1918. The same Territorial Division which had suffered so much at the Somme!

I apologise for lack of humourousness.
(, Sat 29 Aug 2009, 22:07, archived)
# ^ despite the spelling
Haig has been stringently criticized by many modern historians for the obvious appalling losses on the Somme and at Passchendaele and for his so-called 'lack of imagination,' but in this respect was no worse than his contemporaries and somewhat better than many. He commanded the largest British army in history and led it with great success in the summer of 1918 to tear the heart out of the German Army

Which combined with the Royal Navy's dominance over the German fleet, and the subsequent effects on the German economy, made Germany sue for an end of hostilities
(, Sat 29 Aug 2009, 22:42, archived)
# There was an additional factor in there beyond the expectations of battle style.
Rate of manufacturing of ammo. If they had supplied the guns at the same level
as they did at end of the war, they would have run out of bullets after a few hours.
Moreover, even if they did have the bullets, in supply, they were still moving it
to the front on fucking ox carts and donkeys. Train lines and roads favored the
Germans and they had a much easier time resupplying their units. But they too
had a hard time keeping up. Many of the lulls in that war were due to this alone.
(, Sat 29 Aug 2009, 22:13, archived)