Hotchkiss Machine Gun

The French army's standard heavy tripod mounted machine gun throughout the war was the Hotchkiss 8mm M1914 machine gun. Although it proved reliable in use it was unquestionably heavy at 23kg (40kg with its mounting). Initially adopted in 1900 a number of models were produced until a gas-powered, air-cooled model was unveiled in 1914.

Although the gun was generally well regarded Hotchkiss' metal magazine strip - which fired 8mm Lebel rounds - was considered a notable design flaw, holding a maximum of 30 cartridges. This was corrected the following year when a 249-cartridge belt was introduced in 1915.

Even with the increased belt the gun was unable (for obvious reasons) to meet the theoretical cyclic rate of 600 rounds per minute. The gun's maximum effective range was approximately 3,800 metres.

From the empty cases in the bottom of the trench, it looks like that there has been some heavy fighting