Chauchat

US .30-06 version (top) and French 8mm version (bottom).

While rate of fire restrictions (250 rounds/minute) made the gun manageable in its 8mm Lebel version, the U.S. .30-06 version fired more powerful cartridges that exacerbated the problems of overheating. Furthermore, the 18,000 Chauchats in .30-06 delivered to the A.E.F. were not conversions of the French model. Rather, they were newly manufactured guns which had been delivered directly to the A.E.F. by the Gladiator factory. As documented from the original American and French military archives, most of these Mle 1918 Chauchats in .30-06 were flawed from the beginning due to incomplete chamber reaming and other dimensional defects acquired during the manufacturing process at the Gladiator factory. Very few .30-06 Chauchats reached the front lines of northern France; however, when they did, it was reportedly not uncommon for U.S. units to simply discard their Chauchats in favor of M1903 Springfield rifles and cease to function as an auto-rifle squad altogether.[9] Whereas instruction manuals in both French and English for the 8mm Lebel Chauchat are still commonly found today, instruction manuals for the US 30-06 "American Chauchat" have never been seen in U.S. and French military archives or in private collections.

Soldiers of the American 308th and 166th Infantry Regiments liberate a French town in 1918. The soldier on the left is carrying a Chauchat slung over his shoulder.

After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) arrived in France without automatic weapons or field artillery. Consequently, it turned to its French ally to purchase ordnance. General Pershing chose the Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun and the Chauchat machine rifle (designated as "Automatic Rifle, Model 1915 (Chauchat)" by the AEF and nicknamed the "Sho-Sho" by the troops) to equip U.S. infantry. Between August 1917 and the November 11, 1918 Armistice with Germany, the Gladiator factory delivered to the AEF 16,000 Chauchats in 8 mm Lebel and, late in 1918, 19,000 Chauchats in .30-06.[6]

While the performance of the M1915 Chauchat in 8 mm Lebel was combat-effective, judging by the numbers of decorated U.S. Chauchat gunners found in the U.S. Divisional Histories, the performance of the M1918 Chauchat in .30-06 was soon recognized as abysmal (and in large part the reason for the gun's bad reputation). The most common problem was a failure to extract after the gun had fired only a few rounds and became slightly hot. A modern-day test firing of the M1918 .30-06 Chauchat was performed at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in July 1973, but no particular problem was described in the official report, which is accessible on open file. Conversely, an exhaustive firing test of the M1918 Chauchat in .30-06 was also carried out in 1994 near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, by R. Keller and W. Garofalo. Their testing, which is reported in "The Chauchat Machine Rifle" volume, did expose severe extraction problems caused by incorrect chamber measurements and other substandard manufacturing. During World War I, in 1918, the preserved U.S. archival record also documents that American inspectors at the Gladiator factory had rejected about 40% of the .30-06 Chauchat production,[6] while the remaining 60% proved problematic when they reached the front lines. Supplies of the newly manufactured and superior M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) were allocated sparingly and only very late, during the Meuse-Argonne offensive, which began in late September 1918. Therefore, about 75% of the U.S. Divisions were still equipped with the Chauchat – in its original French M1915 version in 8 mm Lebel – at the time of the Armistice of November 11, 1918. It is also well documented that General Pershing had been holding back on the BAR until victory was certain, for fear it would be copied by Germany.[10] However, it is also known that the very first BARs delivered had improperly tempered recoil springs, and had these guns been prematurely introduced during the summer of 1918, their employment may also have been problematic. One of the most significant accounts of the Chauchat's poor performance was from then-lieutenant Lemuel Shepherd, who was quoted saying:

I spent the last few weeks [of World War I] back in the hospital, but I'll tell you one thing the boys later told me: The day after the Armistice they got the word to turn in their Chauchats and draw Browning Automatic Rifles. That BAR was so much better than that damned Chauchat. If we'd only had the BAR six months before, it would have saved so many lives.[11]

As documented by World War I veteran Laurence Stallings (in The Doughboys, 1963) and by U.S. Divisional Histories, the Medal of Honor was awarded to three American Chauchat gunners in 1918:[12]

1. Private Nels Wold (35th Division, 138th Infantry, KIA, posthumous)
2. Private Frank Bart (2nd Division, 9th Infantry)
3. Private Thomas C. Neibaur (42nd Division, 107th Infantry)

Several prototypes of dirt-proof, fully enclosed Chauchat magazines were successfully tested in May and June 1918, but came too late to be placed into service. Stronger open-sided standard magazines, as well as tailored canvas gun covers protecting the gun against mud during transport, had previously been issued in late 1917; as well as a flash hider. The initial two-man Chauchat team was considered effective and grew to a four-man squad by October 1917 (the squad leader, the gunner, the first ammo bearer who handled the magazines plus one additional ammo bearer). Both the gunner and the assistant gunner (pourvoyeur, ammo bearer) carried at all times a .32 ACP Ruby pistol with three magazines, each one loaded with 9 rounds, as part of their regular equipment. The squad leader and the magazine carrier were both equipped with a rifle or with a Berthier carbine. The additional men provided assistance in carrying loaded magazines, helping manage malfunctions, and protecting the gunner, but mainly to carry more ammunition; thus boosting the combat load. This is still the basic layout of a modern infantry squad or fire-team, with the suppressive fire as the center of its combat formations.

French Chauchat gunner (left) and VB grenade launcher (right), 1918.

The French infantry section/platoon took its modern form in the years 1916-1918. It was then equipped with six portable light machine guns (Chauchat) and four to six rifle grenade launchers (VB rifle grenade) and its voltigeurs started being equipped with semi-automatic rifles, some with scopes. This differentiation induces an interdependence of the men which increases the psychological resistance superior to that of the aligned bayonet-men of 1914. Above all, the infantry platoon can maneuver other than in line, as an articulated unit at intervals thanks to its autonomous combat groups. The qualitative leap in a few years is enormous and modern squads and platoons still function in the same manner, albeit with more sophisticated equipment such as portable radios and night vision devices.

A specially lightened assault order was introduced in June 1915. The pack was now to be left behind in the second line; instead, rations and spare ammunition were rolled up in a blanket and worn bandolier-style. Steel helmets were standard for the infantry in September 1915, in time for the Champagne offensive;[13] standard issue for other arms occurred in October. Experience at Verdun showed how difficult it was to keep men in the front lines supplied with fresh water, so every man was given a second water bottle and a second haversack to carry necessities for a day or two of unsupported fighting; plus two gas masks (one in the ready position, one in a tin box); tools like an M1909 folding pick/shovel; extra ammunition and grenades, and sandbags for consolidating the objective.[14][15]

The rifle grenadiers and bombers (hand grenadiers) each carried a special haversack, which held the grenades in individual pouches inside. The rifle grenade cup was carried in its own pouch attached to the user's waistbelt. The men of the new fire and support teams were given new equipment for their spare ammunition. The Chauchat gunners each wore semi-circular pouches on the waistbelt, containing one spare magazine each, as well as a pack containing a further eight magazines and 64 loose rounds, and a haversack containing a further four magazines. Riflemen would be discouraged to fire, as this slowed the advance, their job was to leapfrog while being covered; firing by the platoon and half-platoon was only permitted to cover its own advance or that of a neighbouring platoon, or to deal with enemy pockets on their way.

The principal role of the Chauchat was to provide a mobile barrage during the advance. This required skilled teamwork on the part of the crew, changing the magazines while on the move to keep up the volume of fire. As the center of the tactical device, the Chauchat gunner (tireur) would expect casualties - but also decorations:

"Soldat Carpentier, 20e RI, near Nogentel, Oise, 31 August 1918... he advanced on the enemy, firing while walking, the rest of the platoon led by Sergeant Berthault. He succeed in maneuvering around the flank of an island of resistance and in capturing, with his comrades, four machine guns and twenty-five German gunners".[16]

Carpentier was awarded the Croix de Guerre with palm.

By 1916, French Army tactical methods started emphasizing concentrated firepower and the flexible use of infantry. The experience of Verdun would carry to the Somme, and French units were successful in capturing their objectives at the beginning of the offensive, as well as suffering less casualties.

From October 1917 the platoon had two LMG/rifle-grenadier sections, one hand grenade section and one rifle section. This new system would fight the Battle of La Malmaison, from 23 to 27 October, with the French interarms infantry beating back enemy attacks where the German infantry attacked en masse, shoulder to shoulder. At the same battle, General Franchet d'Espèrey the commander of 6th Army, successfully introduced specially trained squads of infantry whose role was to accompany the tanks (chars d'assaut, as they were called). In a series of instructions in 1918, General Philippe Pétain sought to achieve greater cooperation between air power, artillery and tanks, all acting in support of the assaulting infantry; measures which bore fruit in the counter-offensives of summer 1918.

By mid-1918, the Allies managed to restore some degree of mobility to the war and the end of the stalemate on the Western Front; with less muddy trenches and more open fields. Furthermore, French infantry regiments had been reorganized into multiple small (18 men) combat groups ("Demi-Sections de Combat"). The infantry platoon now had a platoon leader and platoon sergeant, formed in two half-platoons commanded by sergeants. The 1st half-platoon had a Grenadier Squad (Corporal, 2x hand grenadiers, 2x grenade carriers, 2x riflemen) and a LMG Squad (Corporal, 3x rifle grenadiers, 2x ammo carriers, 1x LMG gunner), the 2nd half-platoon had a LMG Squad (Corporal, 3x rifle grenadiers, 2x ammo carriers, 1x LMG gunner) and a Rifle Squad (Corporal, 6x riflemen).

The French regimental records and the statistics of medals given to Chauchat gunners document that they were an essential contribution to the success of these updated infantry tactics. Those were applied to suppress enemy machine gun nests, that would be approached by fire on the move, and destroyed by the combined action of Chauchat automatic fire coming from the sides and VB rifle grenades fired from the front, within less than 200 yards (182.9 meters); in military terms, assault distance. Captured terrain would be defended by emplaced Chauchat fire bases suppressing enemy counter-attacks until heavier machine guns could be brought from the rear.

A number of captured Chauchats were used by German front-line infantrymen in flamethrower units and assault troops because they had no equivalent light machine guns of their own until their attempt at one such portable weapon - the Maxim MG 08-15 lightened machine guns - that were issued to them during early 1917.[17] The German army tried to modify some of these guns to fire the 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge.[7]

A Belgian machine gunner armed with a Chauchat, guarding a trench

The Belgian Army, which held a large sector of the Western Front but left its arms industry on the territories occupied by the Germans, started to acquired Chauchats for its infantry in the spring of 1916, getting over 1400 in a year, all in 8 mm Lebel.[18] In order to simplify squad-level logistics in the spring of 1917 a version chambered in their standard 7.65×53mm Mauser ammunition was tested, which had a new curved box magazine lacking cutouts for the mud to get inside.[18] During the war, Belgium acquired almost 7000 Chauchats, and reportedly about a half of those were either produced in 7.65 or retrofitted to the modelle 1915-17 standard, with 3250 in active service and an unknown number (taking into account combat losses) in reserve.[19] These numbers, however, are inconsistent with the fact that 4000 of Belgian M1915/17s were sold to Yugoslavia (see below).[20] By 1924, Belgium only had 2902 automatic rifles to declare to the League of Nations, with none in reserve.[21]

The remaining ones were modified to address the numerous deficiencies in the unrefined design, the most visually obvious one was being covers against mud and dust on all the orifices.[19] Less obvious modifications were a better bipod and a latch to tighten upper receiver to the lower.[22] Postwar-upgraded guns were designated Fusil-Mitrailleur 1915-27.[23] They were kept in service into the 1930s[19] including some rear-line troops in 1940.

The Royal Serbian Army received at least 1,400 Chauchats, locally known as puškomitraljez M. 1915, between December 1916 and April 1917.[24] In mid-1920s Yugoslavia bought 4,000 M1915/17s more from Belgium as a stopgap measure, and in 1926-1928 rechambered them from 7,65-mm Belgian to captured 7.9x57 M1888 ammo, designating the result as puškomitraljez 7,9 mm. M. 15/26.[20]

Greek soldiers with a Chauchat LMG (center) during the Battle of Dumlupınar, 1922.

Chauchat entered service with Hellenic Army in 1917. The guns fired the 6.5×54mm Mannlicher–Schönauer cartridge, stored in semi-circular magazine. Turkish National Movement forces used captured guns during the Greco-Turkish War.[25] The Chauchat was still in frontline use during the Greco-Italian War.[26]

Poland received French military assistance, notably infantry weapons and artillery, after World War I. As a part of those French weaponry transfers, Poland received over 2,000 Chauchats, which they used extensively during the Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921). After that war, Poland bought more of them, and their numbers reached 11,869, becoming a standard Polish light machine gun (the RKM wz 15). Eventually, about half of them were successfully converted during the mid-1920s to 7.92×57mm Mauser (or 8mm Mauser) and kept in service until the early 1930s under the designation RKM wz 15/27.[27] One remaining specimen of these Polish Chauchats in 8mm Mauser is preserved and visible in the MoD (Ministry of Defence) National Firearms Centre which is a part of the Royal Armouries in Leeds, Great Britain. Later, in 1936–1937, some 2,650 Chauchats were sold abroad by Poland, some to the Mexican Army,[24] others to Republican Spain and also on the international surplus weapon market.[28]

During the Winter War between Soviet Union and Finland, over 5,000 surplus Chauchats were donated by France to Finland, which was short on automatic weapons. The weapons arrived too late to see action but were used in Continuation War, mostly on the home front. After the war they were warehoused until 1955 and sold to Interarmco in 1959–1960.[29]

Chinese-made copies of the Chauchat were captured by Japanese forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War.[30] French third-line units that faced the German breakthrough during the Fall of France in May and June 1940 were still equipped with Chauchat machine guns.

Nazi Germany seized Chauchats from Poland, Belgium, France, Greece and Yugoslavia.[31] Ex-French guns were designated LeMG 156(f), ex-Yugoslav and ex-Polish LeMG 147(j), ex-Greek LeMG 156(g) and ex-Belgian LeMG 126(b).[32][33] A small number of Chauchats captured by the Germans were issued to the Hungarians.[34]

The Chauchat saw service by Syria in the 1948 Arab-Israel war.[35]

• Ayres, Leonard P. (1919). The War with Germany - A Statistical Summary. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
• Bruce, Robert (1997). Machine Guns of World War 1: Live firing classic military weapons. Windrow and Greene. ISBN 1-85915-078-0.
• Canfield, Bruce N. (2000). U.S. Infantry Weapons of the First World War. Andrew Mowbray Publishers. ISBN 0-917218-90-6.
• Crowell, Benedict (1919). America's Munitions, 1917–1918. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
• Crozier, Maj.-Gen. William (1920). Ordnance and the World War. New York: Charles Scribner and Sons.
• Demaison, Gerard; Buffetaut, Yves (1995). The Chauchat Machine Rifle (Honour Bound). Collector Grade Publications Inc. ISBN 0-88935-190-2. The most complete (209 pages), best documented and profusely illustrated (246 illustrations) source on the subject.
• Regenstreif, Philippe A. (1994). The CSRG in Poland (Report). Unpublished Report based on material in the Polish Army Archives.
• Stallings, Laurence (1963). The Doughboys - Story of the AEF, 1917-1918. New York: Harper and Row.
• Handbook of the Chauchat Machine Rifle, Model of 1915. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1917.
• Provisional Instruction on the Automatic Rifle, Model 1915 (Chauchat) (Translated from the French Edition of February, 1916 and Revised to June 9, 1917, at Headquarters American Expeditionary Forces, France, War Document #732). University of Michigan Library. 1918.