Lewis gunner - Part 2

The Lewis Gun was the first light machine gun of the British Army. It’s quite simple to use, the magazine contains forty seven rounds and is loaded onto the gun like so, the bolt is then pulled to the rear and released as it travels forward it picks up one of the bullets from the magazine and pushes it into the breach, as the bullet is fired gas pushes back a rod to reload the gun and on it goes, forty seven rounds in about four seconds. The British Army realised that short bursts were the best way to keep the gun firing. The Lewis gunners were trained to fire into groups of soldiers rather than at individuals. So with this in mind the Lewis guns were used in the trenches as a means of defence, often in pairs with one gun crossing over the other guns arc of fire, in this way they could cover a whole area from the trenches. Often Lewis guns would be deployed in No Mans Land to support troops in the attack on the Germans.