MG1918

Eddie thanks - time has now passed since my first enquiry and I know now that that the MG08/15 for armour had an extra trunion stem to fit into a U bracket. So this must have been a factory made addition as it was fitted directly onto the stem of the water jacket. By the way I have some Tank Corps items you might be interested in? Best wishes, Mark

Great AA image. Sorry - cannot to seem to be able to upload iamge from servimg???? My link

http://www.servimg.c...=175&u=15862032 From the users end...............

"]My link Now where is my time machine..................

Many leather MG08 & 08/15 accessories are also 'reproduced'. Although i seek the originals can anyone identify what to look for ref the differences? This is a spare parts case needed for the MG08 I think. Mark

Third 'economy' pattern

Different sled deck configuration

Terrific sled Chris and great date! I will keep an eye out for spare 'sled' parts as occasionally broken/spare parts do turn up. Your photos are superb. Mark

Latest success.

For partridge it is not so bad, I have a boy who adopts a suitable position in order to place the MG on his back. It is a ittle annoying and inconvenient at times though as he cannot get his hands/arms competely around to keep the dam thing slipping off. When he is successful I find he tends to suffocate a little with his face submerged in the dirt. Clearly more training required. Mark

Note first pattern schlitten. I understand there to be 3 patterns manufactured. Mark Happy New Year everybody.

MG08 SKELETON VERSION for DP (DRILL PURPOSE). Attached some images of a ''beautiful' instructional MG 08. Hope it is not too boring.............

For viewing but if different angles needed please ask. I love Chris's outdoor shots which is something I am unable to do just now. Mark My link

As with most collectable pieces repros are being made, and often passed off as originals. I am trying to identify the different patterns of inner shields and more importantly identify fakes. Any help greatly appreciated. Mark My link My link cannot insert images????????

Also trying to identify all the different types of outer and inner shields for the MG08 sled? Any images would be most appreciated. Thanks, Mark

A superb collection nonetheless. My experience with military museums throughout Europe incl UK has been the same. The strict rules with gifting and no doubt in the past loose accounting have ensured now that many curators have to be very rigid. In some ways that is good as I am sure we all agree this is the best method in order to preserve the past. The crime I think is when a curator has surplus, has an opportunity to enhance a national collection but does not have the will or knowledge to pursue an obvious advantage. I am sure we have all come across that!!! I have been lucky to meet some great curators who understand a museum and a collection should grow and improve, and one or two who consider it just a job and a pure 'maintenance' role. Anyway I am not ever going to change that mindset but I would like to think if our NAM were aware of your wonderful pieces thay would be more inclined to engage with you. Ether way happy hunting and you have every right to be proud. Mark

Could the German army have used cut away MGs for their own instruction purposes? As for the red paint, I have a sectioned Mills bomb from between the wars, although the red paint is old I can't say for sure when it was painted. Tony To prove the existance of skeletonised wpns in use by the Imperial Army would be fantastic, but I have just not seen any WWI evidence to confirm. Certainly British MG manuals start talking about DP guns in the late 1920s so maybe even our own military did not 'skeletonise' until after WWI? So although I am hoping that this is period WWI German I cannot confirm, especially as after WWI several nations absorbed/used the plentiful stocks of captured weaponry into their own service. Mark

Thanks Chip for the post. It is amazing that considering how many Imperial Army maschinengewehr truppen there were (exuse my poor Deutsch Chris) that these dragging straps are not more plentiful!! At the moment I think I can identify 4 different patterns from photos etc but still would like to see more images. As an aside well done Germany at the football. One day....one day................ Mark

More images of the items will be displayed in the Collectors Image Gallery but I will show the skeletonised DP pieces as individual threads if of interest. I understand these cut-away German MGs are quite rare and although these came from a museum my research leads me to think they were done after being captured, as Allied instructional tools!! I have cleaned them as best as possible to remove all old grime, rust, oil etc but I am still trying to detemine when for example the British started using 'red' paint to outline weaponry skeletons. On the other hand if anyone can confrm that in WWI the Imperial Army skeletonised pieces then even better!!!! Mark

Stuart superb collection and considering your location an even greater achievement. Have you set ''boundaries'' on period and nation/unit. I am sure the National Army Museum in UK would love to see this display as it must surely rival some of the pieces held there. Best regards, Mark

Chip thanks for taking the trouble to show image, much appreciated. Very interesting. Is it marked or dated in anyway? If you ever you wish to sell ............ Best wishes, Mark

MG08 accessories