London has a whole lot of monuments, but there is one in particular that anyone into firearms history should visit, and that is the official monument to the Machine Gun Corps. The Corps was formed early in World War I as a way to make more efficient use of the machine guns available, rather than have a couple guns organic to each infantry battalion. It suffered tremendous casualties through the War (more than 36% of is 170,500 officers and men were wounded, killed, or lost in action), earning the worrisome nickname of the Suicide Club.
A monument to the Corps was erected in 1925; a bronze statue of the biblical boy David flanked by a pair of Vickers guns (the primary armament of the MGC). Interestingly, the two guns on the monument are actually live weapons that were dipped in bronze. It’s located today in a corner of Hyde Park. It took us a little while to locate it, so at that link you will find the precise GPS coordinates.
What a waste of two good Vickers
I wouldn’t call a memorial to the fallen a “waste”, but that’s just me.
I’ll have a look for it next time I’m in the area.
Dipped in Bronze you say ……hmmmmm
ssssshhhhhhhhhh!
careless talk costs unique monuments
even if they have been given a nasty dose of copper fouling 😉
The print below the dedication, too small to read in this photo, says:
Saul has slain his thousands
But David his tens of thousands
A fitting epitaph to the Machine Gun Corps.