1st Machine Gun Squadron (New Zealand)

1st Machine Gun Squadron LHM-Vickers-MG-1.jpg Vickers machine gun 15 July 1916 – 30 June 1919 New Zealand British Empire New Zealand Army Squadron New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade First World War Sinai and Palestine Campaign Robin P Harper (1916–1918) Arthur Charles HinmanPowles 1922, p.279 (1918–1919) The 1st Machine Gun Squadron was a sub-unit of the New Zealand Military Forces during the First World War. It was part of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, and served with them in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign from 1916 to 1918. The squadron was formed in Egypt during 1916 by amalgamating three machine gun sections, belonging to three separate regiments: the Auckland Mounted Rifles, the Canterbury Mounted Rifles and the Wellington Mounted Rifles. Each section was initially equipped with two Maxim guns but following their experience in the Gallipoli Campaign, where the value of the guns in attack and defence was realised, their strength was increased to four guns. The squadron primarily fought against the forces of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, first in Egypt during 1916, then in Palestine and the Jordan Valley in 1917 to 1918. Background In common with the other national armies in the British Empire, in January 1916 the New Zealand Expeditionary Force was required to form the New Zealand Machine Gun Corps. The corps would initially have three companies to serve with the New Zealand Division and a squadron to serve with the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade.Luxford 1923, p.22 The origins of the 1st Machine Gun Squadron can be traced back to the raising of three machine gun sections, belonging to three different regiments. These regiments were: the Auckland Mounted Rifles, recruited from the region around Auckland on the North Island of New Zealand;Nicol 1921, p.2 the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, from the Canterbury region on the South Island of New Zealand;Powles 1928, p.1 and the Wellington Mounted Rifles from the region around Wellington, also on the North Island.Wilkie 1924, p.3 In August 1914, when the sections were formed, they each consisted of two Maxim guns, with one officer in command, and twenty-six other ranks, mounted on twenty riding horses and sixteen draught horses.Wilkie 1924, p.3 thumb|Captain Robin Harper Formation On 15 July 1916, the three mounted regiments lost their machine gun sections, which were amalgamated to form the brigade Machine Gun Squadron, commanded by Captain Robin P. Harper, DSO, DCM, MC, who had previously been the Brigade Machine Gun Officer. All the men, horses and their equipment were transferred and were in place by 24 July, when the squadron began training. However, a shortage of equipment meant that they only had six of the newer Vickers machine guns, and six older Maxim guns, which on operations, when not being used, were transported on pack horses.Luxford 1923, pp.178–179 The full establishment of the Machine Gun Squadron was eight officers, 222 other ranks and 321 horses. By way of comparison, the regiments they had come from only had an establishment of 523 all ranks.Powles 1922, p.5 Gun crews normally comprised five or six men. The No.1 in action fired the gun and when needed carried the tripod. The No.2 carried the gun itself, and in action fed the ammunition belt into the gun. Two men, No.3 and No.4, carried all the extra ammunition. There was also a range finder and sometimes a scout or spare man for the gun. Other men in the section were detailed to look after their horses.O'Carroll Brendan 15 August 1918 The Kia Oor Coo-ee http://www.nzmr.org/machinegun.htm The New Zealand Mounted Rifles The Machine Gunners 3 5 December 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131215215638/http://www.nzmr.org/machinegun.htm 15 December 2013 dead So well did they perform during operations, by the end of the war the squadron had earned the reputation of being the "most efficient unit" in the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade.Luxford 1923, p.180 Footnotes 3 References Fewster Kevin Basarin Vecihi Basarin Hatice Hurmuz 2003 Gallipoli: The Turkish Story Crows Nest, New South Wales Allen and Unwin 1-74114-045-5 Gullett Henry Somer Henry Gullett The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine, 1914–1918 Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 VII Sydney Angus and Robertson 1923 59863829 Kinoch Terry Echoes of Gallipoli: In the Words of New Zealand's Mounted Riflemen Exisle Publishing 2005 Wollombi 0908988605 Luxford J H With the Machine Gunners in France and Palestine Whitcombe and Tombs 2003 1923 Auckland 1843426773 Nicol C.G. The Story of Two Campaigns: Official War History of the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment, 1914–1919 2006 1921 Auckland Wilson and Horton 1847343414 Powles Charles Guy The History of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles 1914–1919 2006 1928 Whitcombe and Tombs Auckland 9781847343932 Powles Charles Guy A. Wilkie Official History New Zealand's Effort in the Great War The New Zealanders in Sinai and Palestine III 1922 Whitcombe and Tombs Auckland 2959465 Stack Wayne The New Zealand Expeditionary Force in World War I 473 Men-at-arms series Osprey Publishing Oxford 2011 978-1849088886 Waite Fred Fred Waite (politician) The New Zealanders at Gallipoli Whitcombe and Tombs 2012 1919 Christchurch 1407795910 Wilkie A. H. Official War History of the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment, 1914–1919 Whitcombe and Tombs 2016 1924 Auckland 9781843427964 June 2017 Category:New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade Category:Military units and formations established in 1916 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1918