This page will be used to collate the information about how the anniversary of the centenary of the disbandment of the Machine Gun Corps, and the legacy of machine gunnery that it left us, is being commemorated throughout 2022.
Postcards of the MGC
Thanks to Graham Sacker – author of The Suicide Club and creator of the MGC Database – we have access to an amazing collection of postcards of members of the Machine Gun Corps throughout its existence, as well as a few before and after. We have been sharing these every day in 2022 and also sharing a weekly video of photo analysis of what we see in the postcards.
Those videos can be found on the MGC Postcards playlist on our YouTube channel. The latest video in the playlist is shown below. The whole list can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdJVnNwvpcfUJ4EGW3IgZJKdO6-7YdJVs
Events
We have planned our own events to coincide with the anniversary of the Corps’ disbandment in July. These include a commemorative shoot and a showcase exhibition.
Neither of the events received external sponsorship but were supported by friends and members of the Association. If you believe what we do is worthwhile, please join us at www.patreon.com/vickersmg or make a one-off donation at http://paypal.me/vickersmg.
3 July – Commemorative Shoot
Held at the National Rifle Association, Bisley Shooting Ground, near Woking. It was free to access and had an audience of about 800 people. We had 16 Vickers machine guns an 16000 rounds of ammunition. We have several videos available on our YouTube channel. The 20 minute documentary produced by Blackmore-Heal Media is shown below.
There is also a 360/VR video for an ‘on the gunline’ experience:
And if you’d like to watch the whole event and listen to the entire commentary, then please watch the recorded livestream.
We will holding a ‘Q&A’ livestream at some point in the future to talk about how we planned and prepared the event. Given the unique nature of the event, this will cover the legalities and other requirements we had to consider.
15 July – Reflecting on the Machine Gun Corps
On the anniversary of the disbandment itself, Rich Fisher and Sir Andrew Graham presented a discussion of their reflections on the development and legacy of the Machine Gun Corps and how that links to machine gunnery in service today.
This was held in-person at the National Army Museum and they broadcast it online. A replay of the talk can be found by going to Crowdcast. You will need to register to access it.
16 July – Spotlight Saturday
On 16 July, the day after the anniversary, the Vickers MG Collection & Research Association was hosted by the National Army Museum for a ‘Spotlight Saturday’ event that focussed on the Machine Gun Corps and machine gunnery. Around 30 members of the Association along with members of the Machine Gun Corps Old Comrades’ Association presented many different aspects of the MGC and it included several talks which were shown live on our YouTube channel. The recordings of those are below
- Neil Grant – Light Machine Guns – watch at https://youtu.be/2IRm1XD8je8.
- Matt Moss – Indirect Fire – watch at https://youtu.be/tAKAoFzszMc.
- Paul Macro – Men, Motorcycles and Machine Guns on the North West Frontier 1916-1919 – watch at https://youtu.be/Fp0X41xmZHg.
- Jake Andrew-Brown – Uniforms and Equipment of the Machine Gunner – watch at https://youtu.be/IRxUgxMGZ2M.
Victoria Crosses of the Machine Gun Corps
On the annual anniversaries of the actions for which Victoria Crosses were awarded to members of the Machine Gun Corps, RM Military History has prepared a short documentary on each of those. The consolidated version of that was premiered at the National Army Museum on 16 July.
