Welsh Guards training with the Vickers machine gun

Photograph, Central Office of Information, 1950-1969 (c).

The .303 inch Vickers machine gun was the British Army's primary heavy machine gun during World War One (1914-1918) and World War Two (1939-1945). Famed for its reliability, it could fire over 600 rounds per minute and had a range of 4,500 yards. The Vickers continued to be used by the British Army into the 1960s.

The can and hose connected to the machine gun is part of the cooling system for the machine gun. The barrel of the gun was surrounded by in an insulating water jacket. As the barrel heated up during firing, the water in the jackets would evaporate, and the steam would be transferred via the hose into the collecting can.