Use of MG08 in WWII

[MG1918]

[MG1918]

[MG1918]

WWII MG usage

[MG1918]

Post WWI use

[MG1918]

WWII carry

[MG1918]

Nice inter war adapted MG08/15

[MG1918]

MG08 Nest great view

Nice view of the gunners end of the inter war set up.
Long range sight and new range plate clearly seen.

[MG1918]

Into action

pre-WWII trg manual:

[MG1918]

into action

[Larrister]

Dunkirk, 1940.


Cheers,
Larry

[MG1918]

Manual AA extension post.

[MG1918]

Larrister

Amazing photo and I wonder what is lying on the water jacket. Some form of padding/cushioning for picking up a 'hot' gun?

[r_hufschmied]

Amazing photo and I wonder what is lying on the water jacket. Some form of padding/cushioning for picking up a 'hot' gun?

Looks like a pair of socks drying in the sunshine to me ... dry feet, clean socks; soldiering 101.

[Wilhelm]

Yep, socks. Boot nearby, barefoot in the sand. Always great.

[Craig W.C. Brown]

Anecdote re MG08s (?) in WW2: Some years back when I had a Volkssturm weapons, uniforms and documents exhibit running an American WW2 vet stopped by and proceeded to tell me a long tale about his unit being pinned down by MG fire somewhere in southern Germany in the last few days of the war. No matter how they maneuvered the MGs kept them down; they couldn't get tactical air or armor; they spent a full day trying to get around the Germans who made really good use of terrain and interlocking fields of fire. They could see them; he described them as "old men with watercooled guns." They did manage to maneuver some of them out of their positions but found only empty brass in the positions afterwards. The vet said his and his buddies' impression was that they were toying with the Americans: "They never hit anybody but they always came s--t f---ing close." Overnight they disappeared. The vet said that it was the scariest experience he had during the war.
My read: WW1 machinegunner veterans, perhaps Volkssturm, making a point.