For photographs of specific ‘carrying’ items in the collection, please visit Accessories – Carrying.
The method of moving the Vickers MG that remained unchanged throughout it’s service, and largely irrespective of which country of the world used the gun, was that of the ‘Long Carry’.
This was employed when other transport could not reach the intended destination because of terrain or exposure to enemy fire.
In such cases, the loads of the gun were split between the team members. The loads carried generally aligned with the duties of the team members. In summary, they were:
- No. 1 – Tripod and normally plus at least one ammunition box
- No. 2 – Gun and normally plus one ammunition box
- No. 3 – Ammunition boxes
Dependant on the period of usage, the number of members of the gun team varied:
1912 – 1938 |
1939 – 1942 |
1943 (Airlanding) |
1943 – 1968 |
| Sergeant / Corporal | Lance Sergeant / Corporal | Lance Sergeant / Corporal | Corporal / No. 1 |
| No. 1 | No. 1 | No. 1 | No. 2 |
| No. 2 | No. 2 | No. 2 | No. 3 |
| No. 3 | No. 3 | No. 3 | Driver |
| No. 4 | No. 4 | No. 4 | |
| No. 5 | Driver | ||
| No. 6 | |||
| Rangetaker | |||
Allocating the different roles was on merit in the different skills. Generally, this was conducted by the section commander.
In allotting the various duties, section officers should select the men who show a particular aptitude for each duty, and the next best should be those who would probably be most quickly available on service to replace a casualty. The results obtained in Table “C,” in Range Takers’ Tests, and in Tests in Belt filling, will assist section officers in detailling the numbers, and for this purpose they will keep careful record of the characteristics and particular aptitude of each man. Nos. 1, 2 and 3 should be the best in that order of merit at laying and holding, Nos. 5 and 6 at range taking, and No. 4 at belt filling. In peace, the numbers should frequently change round, so that each may be trained in the duties of all numbers under various conditions.
The serjeant should similarly be practised in the duties of section officer and the corporal in the duties of the serjeant.
