| Motor Machine Gun Service | |
|---|---|
 Badge of the Motor Machine Gun Service | |
| Active | 1914–1915 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Army |
| Garrison/HQ | Bisley, Surrey |
The Motor Machine Gun Service (MMGS) was a unit of the British Army in the First World War, consisting of batteries of motorcycle/sidecar combinations carrying Vickers machine guns. It was formed in 1914 and incorporated into the Machine Gun Corps in October 1915 as the Machine Gun Corps (Motors).
Although the usefulness of the machine gun had not been fully appreciated by the British Army before the outbreak of the Great War, it soon became apparent that highly mobile machine gun units would be of considerable value in the fluid warfare that characterised the first few weeks of the war. Accordingly, the formation of batteries of motorcycle-mounted machine guns was authorised in November 1914, under the command of Lt-Col R.W. Bradley, DSO, South Wales Borderers. These batteries were designated part of the Royal Field Artillery, one battery being allocated to the divisional artillery of each division of the British Expeditionary Force. [1] Each battery consisted of 18 motorcycle/sidecar combinations, carrying six Vickers machine guns, ammunition and spare parts, eight motorcycles without sidecars, and two or three cars or trucks.
However, as the war became bogged down in the stalemate of trench warfare, few opportunities arose to exploit the tactical mobility of the MMGS batteries. The units did perform useful service on occasion, for example during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle (March 1915); [2] and the MMGS received an official acknowledgement from BEF HQ in April 1915 of the "invaluable" work it had rendered in the fighting line. [3] Nevertheless, up to that date, only seven MMGS batteries had been deployed on the Western Front. [4] Their potential for future use continued to be acknowledged, and by the date of the Battle of Loos (September–October 1915), there were 18 MMGS batteries serving with the BEF. [2]
The motorcycle combinations used by the MMGS were originally Scotts. Royal Enfields and Clynos were also later used. Solo units were usually Triumphs. [5] Early in 1915, following trials (the decision allegedly being taken by Winston Churchill, as First Lord of the Admiralty), the army settled on the Clyno as its standard machine for MMGS outfits. [6] However, other marques of cycle already in service were retained. The sidecars used for both the Scott and Clyno combinations were designed in consultation with Vickers for their specific role. [7]
Members of the service were initially recruited from motor cycle clubs and other bodies of enthusiasts, [8] with officers seconded from other regiments.
On the creation of the Machine Gun Corps in October 1915, the MMGS was incorporated into it as the Machine Gun Corps (Motors) (MGC(M)). Most MGC(M) batteries on the Western Front were disbanded in the course of 1916. [4] Nevertheless, the surviving mobile batteries eventually came into their own during the advances of 1918, [9] as well as in other theatres of the war, notably Palestine, Mesopotamia and East Africa. From 1916, many men of the MGC(M) were transferred to the Heavy Section, MGC, which later became the Tank Corps. [10] In 1922, the Tank Corps absorbed all remaining units of the MGC(M).
A military armoredcar is a lightweight wheeled armored fighting vehicle, historically employed for reconnaissance, internal security, armed escort, and other subordinate battlefield tasks. With the gradual decline of mounted cavalry, armored cars were developed for carrying out duties formerly assigned to light cavalry. Following the invention of the tank, the armored car remained popular due to its faster speed, comparatively simplified maintenance and low production cost. It also found favor with several colonial armies as a cheaper weapon for use in underdeveloped regions. During World War II, most armored cars were engineered for reconnaissance and passive observation, while others were devoted to communications tasks. Some equipped with heavier armament could even substitute for tracked combat vehicles in favorable conditions—such as pursuit or flanking maneuvers during the North African Campaign.
An Ammunition Column consists of dedicated military vehicles carrying artillery and small arms ammunition for the combatant unit to which the column belongs, most noted as being the Artillery Brigade or a Divisional Artillery. Thus the Ammunition Columns of a division, formed of the brigades of field artillery, carry reserve ammunition for the guns, the machine guns of the infantry and the rifles of all arms. Generally speaking, the Brigade Ammunition Column of the Artillery Brigades furnishes ammunition for its own batteries and for one of the brigades of infantry, and each is supported by a Divisional Artillery.
The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was the six-divisions the British Army sent to the Western Front during the First World War. Planning for a British Expeditionary Force began with the 1906–1912 Haldane reforms of the British Army carried out by the Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane following the Second Boer War (1899–1902).
A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. A motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a combination, an outfit, a rig or a hack.
The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, as Kitchener's Mob, was an (initially) all-volunteer portion of the British Army formed in the United Kingdom from 1914 onwards following the outbreak of hostilities in the First World War in late July 1914. It originated on the recommendation of Herbert Kitchener, then the Secretary of State for War to obtain 500,000 volunteers for the Army. Kitchener's original intention was that these men would be formed into units that would be ready to be put into action in mid-1916, but circumstances dictated the use of these troops before then. The first use in a major action of Kitchener's Army units came at the Battle of Loos.
The 49th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division fought in the First World War in the trenches of the Western Front, in the fields of France and Flanders. During the Second World War, the division fought in the Norwegian Campaign and in North-western Europe. After the Second World War, it was disbanded in 1946, then reformed in 1947. It remained with Northern Command until finally disbanded in 1967.
The 17th (Northern) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, a Kitchener's Army formation raised during the Great War.
The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The machine gun typically required a six- to eight-man team to operate: one fired, one fed the ammunition, the rest helped to carry the weapon, its ammunition, and spare parts. Not to be confused with the Maxim machine gun, it was in service from before the First World War until the 1960s, with air-cooled versions of it on many Allied World War I fighter aircraft.
The 46th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force, that saw service in the First World War. At the outbreak of the war, the 46th Division was commanded by Major-General Hon. E.J. Montagu-Stuart-Wortley. Originally called the North Midland Division, it was redesignated as the 46th Division in May 1915.
The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the designation of the field force created by Canada for service overseas in the First World War. The force fielded several combat formations on the Western Front in France and Belgium, the largest of which was the Canadian Corps, consisting of four divisions.
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.
The Rolls-Royce Armoured Car was a British armoured car developed in 1914 and used during the First World War, Irish Civil War, the inter-war period in Imperial Air Control in Transjordan, Palestine and Mesopotamia, and in the early stages of the Second World War in the Middle East and North Africa.
The Scott Motorcycle Company was owned by Scott Motors (Saltaire) Limited, Shipley, West Yorkshire, England and was a well-known producer of motorcycles and light engines for industry. Founded by Alfred Angas Scott in 1908 as the Scott Engineering Company in Bradford, Yorkshire, Scott motorcycles were produced until 1978.
The 2nd Infantry Brigade was a regional brigade of the British Army, active since before the First World War. It was the regional formation of the Army in the South East of England–the Brigade commanded and administered soldiers throughout Kent, Surrey and Sussex–but also Brunei. In December 2014 the Brigade merged with 145 (South) Brigade to form Headquarters 11th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters South East.
MMG may refer to:
The Warwickshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794, which served as cavalry and machine gunners in the First World War and as a cavalry and an armoured regiment in the Second World War, before being amalgamated into the Queen's Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry in 1956. The lineage is maintained by B Squadron, part of The Royal Yeomanry.
A despatch rider is a military messenger, mounted on horse or motorcycle.
The British Army during World War I fought the largest and most costly war in its long history. Unlike the French and German Armies, the British Army was made up exclusively of volunteers—as opposed to conscripts—at the beginning of the conflict. Furthermore, the British Army was considerably smaller than its French and German counterparts.
The British Army used a variety of standardized battle uniforms and weapons during World War I. According to the British official historian Brigadier James E. Edmonds recorded in 1925, "The British Army of 1914 was the best trained best equipped and best organized British Army ever sent to war". They were the only army to wear any form of a camouflage uniform; the value of Drab (color) clothing was quickly recognised by the British Army, who introduced Khaki drill for Indian and colonial warfare from the mid-19th century on. As part of a series of reforms following the Second Boer War, a darker khaki serge was adopted in 1902, for service dress in Britain itself. On the whole, the British military authorities showed more foresight than their French counterparts, who retained highly visible blue coats and red trousers for active service until the final units received a new uniform over a year into World War I. The soldier was issued with the 1908 Pattern Webbing for carrying personal equipment and he was armed with the Short Magazine Lee–Enfield rifle.