A Vickers machine gun team in gas masks, 1916 (c)

Photograph, World War One, Western Front (1914-1918), 1916.

The machine-gun was one of the dominant weapons on the First World War battlefield. When established in a fixed defensive position and sited specifically to cover potential enemy attack routes it was a fearsome weapon. Infantry assaults upon such positions invariably resulted in high casualties.

From an album of 22 official photographs.