Machine Gun Corps

Machine Gun Corps
Active	1915–1922
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
March	Quick: The Happy Clown

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The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks in combat and was subsequently turned into the Tank Corps, later called the Royal Tank Regiment. The MGC remained in existence after the war until it was disbanded in 1922.

History

An MGC gun team with their Vickers machine gun

Grave of H Hemming, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry Branch), in Worcestershire

At the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the tactical potential of machine guns was not appreciated by the British armed forces. The Army therefore went to war with each infantry battalion and cavalry regiment containing a machine gun section of just two guns each. These units were supplemented in November 1914 by the formation of the Motor Machine Gun Service (MMGS), administered by the Royal Artillery, consisting of motor-cycle mounted machine gun batteries. A machine gun school was also opened in France.

A year of warfare on the Western Front proved that, to be fully effective, machine guns must be used in larger units and crewed by specially trained men. To achieve this, the Machine Gun Corps was formed in October 1915 with Infantry, Cavalry, and Motor branches, followed in 1916 by the Heavy Branch. A depot and training centre was established at Belton Park in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and a base depôt at Camiers in France.

The Infantry Branch was by far the largest and was formed by the transfer of battalion machine gun sections to the MGC. These sections were grouped into Brigade Machine Gun Companies, three per division. New companies were raised at Grantham. In 1917, a fourth company was added to each division. In February and March 1918, the four companies in each division were formed into a Machine Gun Battalion.

The Guards Division formed its own machine gun support unit, the Guards Machine Gun Regiment.

The Cavalry Branch consisted of Machine Gun Squadrons, one per cavalry brigade.

The Motor Branch was formed by absorbing the MMGS and the armoured car squadrons of the recently disbanded Royal Naval Armoured Car Service. It formed several types of units: motor cycle batteries, light armoured motor batteries (LAMB) and light car patrols. As well as motor cycles, other vehicles used included Rolls-Royce and Ford Model T cars.

The Heavy Section was formed in March 1916, becoming the Heavy Branch in November of that year. Men of this branch crewed the first tanks in action at Flers, during the Battle of the Somme in September 1916. In July 1917, the Heavy Branch separated from the MGC to become the Tank Corps, later called the Royal Tank Regiment.

The MGC saw action in all the main theatres of war, including France, Belgium, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Salonika, East Africa and Italy. In its short history, the MGC gained an enviable record for heroism as a front line fighting force. Indeed, in the latter part of the war, as tactics changed to defence in depth, it commonly served well in advance of the front line. It had a less enviable record for its casualty rate. Some 170,500 officers and men served in the MGC, with 62,049 becoming casualties, including 12,498 killed, earning it the nickname 'the Suicide Club'.

At the end of hostilities, the MGC was again re-organised in a smaller form as many of its soldiers returned to civilian life. However, the Corps continued to see active service in subsequent wars: the Russian Civil War, the Third Anglo-Afghan War, and in the Northwest Frontier of India. It also served prominently in the British force that occupied parts of Germany in the period between the Armistice of 1918 and the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919. Its equipment and training made it possible for a relatively small garrison to control a large population.

By 1920, the headquarters in Belton Park was closed and the War Office was seeking to dispose of the many buildings.^[1] The Corps was disbanded in 1922 as a cost-cutting measure.

Victoria Crosses

The following members of the Machine Gun Corps have been awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for valour in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Herbert George Columbine, 1918, Hervilly Wood, France
Arthur Henry Cross, 1918, Ervillers, France
John Reginald Noble Graham, 1917, Istabulat, Mesopotamia
Allan Ebenezer Ker, 1918, near St. Quentin, France
David Stuart McGregor, 1918, near Hoogemolen, Belgium
Harold Sandford Mugford, 1917, Monchy-le-Preux, France
William Allison White, 1918, Gouzeaucourt, France