Machine gun mount

Whilst recovering in hospital during 1917 Walton Maughan invented a new gun mounting for the  0.303 Vickers gun, in his opinion the existing system was far from perfect and he sought to better it. The device was trialled by Sir WG Armstrong Whitworth & Company at Whitley Bay, Northumberland and were used by American Expeditionary Force and the Italian Military Mission. The British though were reluctant to adopt it, one of the documents outlines its performance and Maughan's frustration at this.

Maughan was a Lieutenant, F Battalion Tank Corps, British Expeditionary Force, France. He was Commander of the tank 'The Fighting Fifth'.

View the full collection description on our archive catalogue: WHW/5/2