Lewis Mk 1

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 12:19 Written by Administrator Thursday, 02 July 2009 03:20

The Lewis Mk1 was a pre-World War I light machine gun that was used mainly by the British. The gun was used extensively in World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Though the initial designs of the gun were made by an American—Colonel Isaac Newton Lewis, it was largely manufactured by Birmingham Small Arms Co. and Savage Arms Co. both British companies.

The design of the Lewis Mk1 was based on an earlier design by Samuel Maclean. Colonel Lewis made several changes to the earlier design making it more effective. However, the American military was reluctant to adopt it. In 1913, Colonel Lewis retired from service and moved to Belgium to establish a company to commercially manufacture the gun. Simultaneously, he also began to work with BSA to improve production of the gun. The outbreak of World War I led to a sudden increase in the demand for the gun and BSA started manufacturing the gun designating it as “Model 1914”. The design was officially accepted in 1915.

The Lewis Mk 1 had a distinctive appearance because of the cooling shroud fitted around the barrel and the drum magazine above it. The muzzle blast would cause air to get sucked into the cooling shroud which would cause the internal mechanism to cool down. However, the effectiveness and necessity of this mechanism is questionable in light of the fact that guns with the shroud removed were found to be equally functional in a diverse range of conditions.

The loading mechanism of the Mk 1 was gas operated. Weighing only 28 lbs, it was much lighter than other light machine guns of that period. It used the .303 cartridge and also the .30-06 Springfield cartridge. With a firing rate of 500-600 rounds per minute, it was fairly effective against targets in the range of 880 yards. It made use of a 47 or 97-round drum magazine.

The Lewis gun was widely employed by the British during the First World War. It was also used to replace the Vickers and Hotchkiss guns used on the British Mark IV guns. In addition, the Lewis was the gun of choice for use on British and French aircraft during the First World War.

Other countries also used the Lewis gun to some extent. For example, the Russian Empire procured 10,000 Lewis guns from the British in 1917 and another 10,000 from the US. The Germans also used Lewis guns that were captured from the British during both the world wars.

By the time of the Second World War, the Lewis Mk 1 lost its popularity to newer guns such as the Bren gun and the Vickers K gun. However, after the Fall of France, the British lost a large amount of their ammunition and thus had to put the Lewis Mk1 back into use to arm the Home Guard to protect air fields. It was also widely used in the pacific theatre by the British, New Zealand and Australian forces.

The Lewis gun was officially retired from service in the year 1945 and production was discontinued. However, it continued to be used in the Korean War, and various conflicts such as the Indochina War and the Vietnam War.  Its design also influenced later guns such as the German FG42 and the M60 machine gun.

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