Otago Battalion receiving Lewis gun training at Sling Camp, England. 1918. 1
The Lewis Gun, was a light machine gun (12kg), developed in the United States in 1911. In 1915 the British Army decided to purchase the gun for use on the Western Front and it became the standard support weapon for the infantry during the First World War. It used either a 47 or a 97 round cylindrical magazine.
References:
- Reference No. 1/2-014038. Part of Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association: New Zealand official negatives, World War 1914-1918 (PA-Group-00051). Alexander Turnbull Library