Vickers–Berthier


The Vickers–Berthier is a light machine gun that was produced by the British company Vickers-Armstrong. It was adopted by the British Indian Army and saw combat during World War II.

History

Berthier machine gun

The Vickers–Berthier was based on a French design of just before World War I. It was proposed for use with infantry as Fusil Mitrailleur Berthier Modèle 1910, Modèle 1911, Modèle 1912, Modèle 1916 and Modèle 1920. It was also proposed in 1918 to US Army which finally refused it. A later version, the Fusil Mitrailleur Berthier Modèle 1922, competed for the replacement of the Chauchat LMG in the French army but the Fusil Mitrailleur MAC modèle 1924 was adopted.

Vickers-Berthier machine gun

In 1925 Vickers in Britain purchased licence rights of the Berthier Model 1922 for production in their Crayford factory, and as a replacement for the Lewis Gun. It was an alternative to the water-cooled Vickers machine gun made by the same company. The weapon used a similar gas and tipping bolt mechanism to the Bren gun, and also had a removable barrel, and was air-cooled like the Bren. It was adopted by the Indian Army in 1933.
During the British Army trials of several light machine guns which began in 1932, the Vickers–Berthier was in direct competition with the ZB vz. 26. The British Army adopted the latter, modified and known as the Bren light machine gun, and the Vickers–Berthier was adopted by the British Indian Army. A production line for the Vickers–Berthier Light Machine-Gun Mk 3 was established at the Rifle Factory Ishapore.

Appearance and Design

The Vickers–Berthier Light Machine Gun has a 30-round box magazine and a bipod stand, and is sometimes mistaken for the Bren as both used a similar curved magazine to accommodate the rimmed.303 British cartridge.
It was slightly heavier, at 24 pounds, than the Bren at 22 pounds. It was also slightly longer, and harder to stow away. The Vickers-Berthier also had a slower cyclic rate of 500 rpm. The only major advantage the weapon had over the Bren was the far simpler design; it could be produced more efficiently.
It existed in five versions : Mk I, Mk II, Mk II light, Mk III and Mk IIIB. Mark 1 was introduced in 1928, Mark 2 in 1931 and Mark 3 in 1933.

Use

Apart from India, it was only sold to Latvia and Bolivia, but the design was modified into the Vickers K machine gun, called the Vickers Gas Operated.
In Indian service, it was replaced from 1942 by Brens but continued to serve with reserve units of the Indian Army into the 1980s.

Users