MG08: The Devil's Paintbrush 

Must be a truly massive pigeon

​@@troyjardine5850 Nah. He just wants to cause a little extinction, of all pigeons.

Reminds me of the catchy old song by Tom Lehrer: Poisoning pigeons in the park 😅

"Negotiations are over."

@@isaacm1929 What's wrong with pigeons? They're wonderful agricultural birds, as well as a form of entertainment for city workers. Not also are they entertaining, but if the US ever seriously started to starve, urban people could make pigeon traps and keep flocks of pigeons to have meat. Pigeons are incredibly clean birds.

This would make for a perfect coffee table book of hundreds of head shots of Ian in all of his fancy hats. No context for your guests, just great photography.

Fancy hats? I am german ( Brittas boyfriend). In german, a hat is a Hut. Which Cavallry units carried a hat/ Hut in 1914? US cavallry, in european standards dragoons / Dragoner, british Dominion troops (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada - including Royal Mounted Police, by european standards a kind of Gendarmerie) and perhaps semiregular latin american Cavallry, see revolutionary Mexico. Then there had been caps, in german Mütze ( or dated Kappe). This headgear was common among british , russian, eastern european,french, austrian and italian light cavallry, Hussars and Cossaks. Third headgear in 1914 was the helmet / Helm in german. Sometimes made of leather, reinforced with brass, sometimes made of steel, brass, or Tombak ( don't know english name of this copperbased alloy). Those helmets had been used mostly by heavy, semiheavy or Guard Cavallry of european and latin american countries. Sometimes hats or caps had some reinforcement with cardboard or metal wires ( in german Drähte), but all cavallry headgear of 1914 only gave some protecion against swords or dated pistols/ revolvers with lead only bullets, but not against modern jacketed rifle bullets, similar to last cuirasses.

Could do a crossover with the History Guy channel. He’s also a hat aficionado.

​Copper alloy? Bronze maybe or stainless bronze but I doubt it was that as they would have had to add 5 percent nickel and 22 percent Chromium and it would have had to be manufactured the same way as stainless steel

@@x_hibernia : The helmets of prussian Guard Cuirassiers had been made of yellowish Tombak, which was also used as fake gold for Theater.

20,000 killed in 20 minutes. Some units kicked soccer balls back and forth as they went forward. Sir John Keegan said that day killed the spirit of optimism in the British thst has never been recovered.

It sums WWI pretty well, in my opinion.

Well, still works for Putin & co!!? Good ol' Russia: humans = just another resource 😕

:-(

@@dallesamllhals9161The memes are wearing thin big guy. Maybe make another few shovel jokes, that will send the orcs running!

Dolf Goldsmith's first Maxim came from his grandmother, who was a Red Cross official and got one as a gift just like that.

I wish they still did that. If they want to give me an M240 as a bonus, I won't say no.

Pew pew the devil out of it.

I don’t know if I would equate Bob Ross and ”the devil” 😅😅

Were there any trees left to paint out there?

*Unhappy little trees

@@autofox1744 this sounds more correct to me, yes 😆

The last point supports my belief that most modern firearms technology was invented by WW1. Everything after that are just refinement on what was already there.

​@_Wiseguy7 Well, the Mag 58 or in modern parlay, the M240 is a modernized of the Browning 1918 automatic rifle to belt feeding machine gun.

the last point isnt valid as its not an issue weapon. its a weapon forced into emergency service. the water cooled maxim was not part of ukraine's TO&E prior to the war the M2 has been continually IN service since 1919

The Maxims in Ukraine are probably old Soviet WW2 given the wheeled trolley and gun shield, and hey if it still shoots then why not use it?

Necessity is the mother of invention, and warfare is the mother of necessity.(Germany seems to somehow be the father of both.) In war, you use what you have, and it turns out that old weapons kill you just as dead. In Vietnam they frequently used crossbow, every military in the world still issue knives, and knives predate Homo Sapiens, so... yeah, nothing surprising about Maxims still being used. It still makes me happy, though, that "obsolete" doesn't mean "useless".

I remember him making deep gouges in a concrete floor at one point - i can't remember which video, but i was hiding behind the sofa watching each new scratch

Let's hope it's actually vinyl flooring

@@donwyoming1936 I don't think so, looking at those existing scratches and marks ;)

Some Belgian made laminate (quickstep) would probably survive that ;-)

Was thinking same thing… I have experience destroying flooring in a similar fashion.

Like "the whole 9 yards" in American English. The standard length of ammo belt was...9 yards.

interestingly, it is unclear what about the 08/15 was it that turned into such an expression - whether it meant that something is totally standard because soldiers were handling 08/15s daily; or whether it meant something that is common and kind of getting bad, because the 08/15s were getting worn out by the end of the war; or whether it meant that something is totally unremarkable and standardised, because the 08/15s were so standardised that by the end of the war parts were made in bicycle factories

@@scottmccrea1873 Stick to feets!

There’s something slightly unsettling about that fun fact lol

The German standardization started with this MG 08/15. The DIN 1 specified a part of the gun. DIN is the German ANSI.

Thanks to the fucking ATF.

Well for one, the quality and information gets better and better. Plus I love the history and any extra provonance with guns he covers. I'll probably keep watching Forgotten weapons for years so long as ian keeps posting content.

@nekomasteryoutube3232 ive gone through and rewatched every episode atleast half a dozen times. If not more depending on the gun

On fixed lines?

@@meijiturtle3814 if it’s what I’m thinking it is, yes. When we did range cards, interlocking lanes of fire were key.

Cone of fire, beaten zone, FPL, plunging fires, and many others from machine gunnery training. One of the tripods I was issued in 89 was originally made for 1919 machine gun. M2 tripod, the later was marked M122 tripod, the same but made later.

@@meijiturtle3814 The German's basically wrote the book on proper MG deployment. None of the silly cinematic wild swinging of guns at close range. The trick was to site these heavy beasts out on the flanks and have them firing across the front of "friendly" trenches / positions The guns were, like artillery, "surveyed in". Lines of assaulting enemy troops would have to pass through the "beaten zones" of a number of guns to get "up-close and personal" with their bayonets. Here was the huge contradiction of two combat schools. All major combatants were wedded to the "spirit of the Pike" , (NOT the fish, but a long stick with a pointy end). Why do Lee Enfields have that odd-shaped wrist on their butts? And from the early SMLEs onward, full-length top hand-guards? So the troops could better wield their "pike" in a proper, "gentlemanly" way without getting their fingers burnt or slipping in all the mud and blood. See also the Brit adoption of a variation of the Japanese Type 30 bayonet, complete with hooked quillon, in 1907, to regain the" reach" lost when the Lee Enfield rifle was shortened. So, MG-08s with interlocking arcs of fire were used as "area denial" weapons. And they could do this from well over a thousand yards away. A plunging just-going-subsonic bullet will still do a fair bit of tissue damage.. The Germans also added refinements, like reinforced concrete bunkers and "mutual defence" tactics. If attacking infantry approached too close to one strongpoint, other "pill-boxes" would go to a second or third "fire-mission" setting, and hose down the approach area and, if necessary, the concrete structure itself. Enfilade fire; the machine-gunners preferred practice. Like artillery, they had pre-designated fire-missions; all carefully plotted; often using serious optical gear. For Australian readers, the second battle of Fromelles is a stark lesson on how to NOT deploy infantry in territory infested with MGs producing interlocking arcs of fire from somewhere "off the map". The abundance of Australian dead and wounded dragged off the battlefield, with "side-entry" wounds should have been something of a clue.. The MG-08 was too heavy to use / relocate in an assault, hence the MG-08-15, which was still somewhat "clunky". Hence the German's "adoption" of captured Lewis Guns, generally in .303. These were also one of the tools of German "ready-reaction"/ trench-raiding parties.. The concept of the "machine-gun-centric" infantry squad / section, was a direct result of the experiences of those German "ready-reaction"/ trench-raiding teams. Same deal in the next big show. MG-34s, etc., as the primary weapon, supported and screened by infantry with bolt-action rifles.

@@meijiturtle3814yes, the lines were not a straight line like you might think. They were layered and had interlocking fields of fire. Both sides did it, that’s why at that time there was no mobility and the frontal assaults ended like they did.

I still wouldn't want to be the bloke dragging a 100lb+ MG through WW1 mud under fire. God bless the people who realised a lighter option was needed. And regulated stuff like this to fixed fortfications and vehicles.

@@clothar23 In 1916 that attitude would get you court martialed and then shot😁

@@clothar23 Yeah, the idea of some of the things Ian was describing how the mount was designed to moved gave me the shivers thinking about moving that heavy gun in such a manner.

And the belts were so crude they looked like some leftover from the 1600s.

Beck!

This video was not 08/15 😁

@@jbarninatus5898 it is mentioned several times.

​@@juanzulu1318 he only mentions it, rather offhand, 3 times in the video. This exact comment is plastered on every video remotely about german ww1 mg's

@@Darth_Barnaby if u dont like the info, just move on.

Maxim Guns were also used extensively in the Anglo-Boer War🇿🇦🫡

Very, very professional.

Still doesn't explain why though.

@@M_Northstarbureaucracy

@@M_Northstar Its Germans and serial numbers they dont need a reason. They just need a flat surface.

You misunderstand. The question isn't "why serial numbers", the question is "why indicate the thousands digit with a letter suffix". If you think about it, there are significant disadvantages to this system, and NO advantages over just putting the thousands digit in the place reserved for it by maths. With the suffix system, 1) you have to read out the whole number, then convert it in your head to get the actual number 2) at the higher numbers (maybe as low as f or g) most people would have to stop and count the letters before even getting to the previous step 3) you'll have a problem if you ever make more than 28000 of anything Meanwhile, just writing the number out normally can do exactly everything the letter suffix system can do, with none of the drawbacks.

@@M_Northstar Using a letter pre or suffix is very normal in productions. It allows the producer to "shorten" whole blocks or dedicate a serial number space for specific customers or variants. And all the downsides you listed are irrelevant. 1) Nobody who has to deal with the serial number has to count them in the head. He simply writes down 1234 A and carries on. He doesnt care if the number is 123456 or 1A2B3CXXXX001 or ABC321 or what ever 2) see 1 3) you simply add another letter. Series 29 becomes AA. All of this is pretty much standard one way or another. See: Todays Glock Serial numbers, they started with AB12345 system and now run a ABC123 system.

It could be that this gun was one of those memorial guns, and was NFA registered sometime before 1968.

@@k.r.baylor8825 Ian stated that this gun was a vet bring back.

​@@Celebmacilthe duffel cut must have taken a while

@@KR-hg8be Obviously it would have to!

Blame Ian. Show her this as evidence of previous.

Maxim 1910 is bigger and better 😁

​@@mikespurg8006vickers is better than both of them! 🇬🇧💪

​@@nickjohnson710 No. Just... No. Read more

@mikhailarutyunyan4126 Read more? .....why don't you learn to write English properly!

@nickjohnson710 Actually, both are about the same in fire power. I own and shoot both. Cloth belts are not ideal when it comes to a Vicker's.

Pretty sure they're French, not German. Presumably after the war. The guys carrying them on their backs are Germans.

If you do it all the time, maybe not...at first though yeah

My PC picture is bad but in the first Pictures i saw only French Infantry carrying the MG!!

@@Sturminfantrist I bet you're right. My PC is pretty bad too. I took out the word "German" from my comment. All is right with the world now.

I haven't watched the WWII series. Is the name of the series also the name of the channel like it was for the great war?

@@russianbear0027 Yep, the channel name is simply "World War Two". You'll uh, have a bit of catching up to do, as next episode is VE Day. :P

@@BleedingUranium thanks xD I guess I better get started lol

@@russianbear0027 Nah, it's not the Great War channel. it's the BBC documentary from the 60's - ru-vid.com/group/PLucsO-7vMQ00twBJvRZKs1KNUKUVClo6C&si=8m-mYyrRdV0Qc7aL

@@russianbear0027 The WW2 series is on here in full too: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0b4g4ZZNC1E.html

Your info seems off..

Imagine the first time a bunch of men on horses rode into a bunch of these guns set up with interlocking fire. Imagine being the one guy who survived after watching hundreds of your closest friends get cut down in front of you. Wild.

@@Joe-hz1nw Artillery would do the same that's why you did not ride into them unless you was Australian

"The means of destruction are approaching perfection with frightening rapidity." I can't source the quote, but some noblemen said it at the demonstration of the machine gun.

Good god.

Yes, they are from an Allied manual on how to operate captured German guns.

I think it was actually shooting you in the chest

@@jeffkeith637 That would be the "dead man's party" dance. ^-^

Just looked it up. What an awesome cover, with such an accurate depiction of the weapon.

The Edgar Rice Burroughs story in which Tarzan tangles with the Germans in East Africa is "Tarzan the Untamed" (1920). Its depiction of them as ravening Boche lost Tarzan his market in postwar Germany..

pretty much what they did. Some were actually spares, but a gazillion were "we have 800 machine gun assembled, honest. Nah, that's just a pile of of spare parts to reassemble 25.000 of them, nothing to see there"

@fabiogalletti8616 that's what I expected; I just haven't studied the treaty disarmament in any real detail (unfortunately).

Yeah, there were a lot, some were "lost" in demobilisation and were used in civil unrests years after... They were quite usual in the beginning of WW2 for second line troops, I still have a photo of my grandfather training with it in Summer 1939 in East Prussia as part of the "Grenzwacht" a name given to troops in that area to conceil the strength of armed forces in the border regions... the MG-squad wear M18 helmets as well 😂

I think the Napoleonic Wars and the fabulous cavalry charges at the time still casted a shadow in military thinking at the time. The more interesting minds were caught up to the American Civil War. The latest mental update was the Russo-Japanese War, as Ian mentioned. But -- my suspicion here, no hard evidence -- both were uncool wars "over there, in the colonies, and not REAL wars among CIVILIZED nations." The REAL wars would come to CIVILIZED Europe soon enough. To her sorrow. And there would be no more fancy hats.

I think he was mocking horsey boys on their own faults.

@@clothar23 horsey boys just traded their flesh and blood horses for Iron ones

@@graveperil2169 Yeah too bad they run the minute any form of combat shows up. Was always hilarious seeing the tanks heading the opposite direction us infantry were during my time in Afghanistan. Nothing like assaulting a fixed enemy position without tank support. Seriously what the hell do those 60 ton war machines even do ?

@@clothar23 Boil tea, but only for the crew.

I've always been interested in ergonomics, and the designers of this device were too!

Have you seen the fan made Sabaton music video for it?

@@NareshSinghOctagon I have not. I will look for it later this evening, I have to go for my run first.

Tu tu tu tu tu tu tu tu, reload, tu tu tu tu tu tu 😂😂

It definitely happened at least once. Uneven ground, mud, etc. guarantees it.