The strength of the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) reached a total of 6,000 officers and 120,000 soldiers. This badge was worn by both cavalry squadrons and infantry battalions. The MGC has a splendid memorial at Hyde Park Corner, London, with the motto 'Saul has slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands'!
The MGC would have been equipped initially with Vickers and Lewis guns right through to disbandment in 1922. The Vickers gun was nicknamed the Old Lady of No Man's Land and fired from a tripod with a water-cooled system working on the evaporation principle, being belt fed; the Lewis gun was air-cooled and had a drum magazine of 50 or 100 rounds mounted on top of the breach.
This is a die-struck gilding metal badge, with a brass slider brazed to the centre reverse of the crown. Its condition is still reasonably sharp, with minor distortion consonant with its age.
If you want to comment on this item—re quality, age, etc—please email me.
[Militaria : Badges : British : 20th Century]
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