Vickers-Maxim .303 inch machine gun, 1898 associated with Private John Barry VC, Royal Irish Regiment

Manufactured by Vickers, Sons and Maxim, with some parts of Maxim, Nordenfeldt and Company, London.

Vickers-Maxim machine guns in both .45 in and .303 in calibres were employed by the British Army and the Boers. The .303 in version was the more modern of the two; the ammunition was the same as that of the Lee-Enfield rifle, and was marked 'CARTRIDGE MAGAZINE RIFLE CORDITE' to distinguish it from earlier, black powder, models. Private John Barry (1873-1901), a native of Kilkenny, joined the Royal Irish Regiment in 1890 and saw action with it on the North West Frontier of India in 1897. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Boer attack on Monument Hill, Belfast on 7-8 January 1901. With his section all killed, wounded or captured he destroyed the breech of his Maxim gun before being shot dead by Boers. Recommended for the VC his name appeared in the first list of posthumous recipients published in August 1902. The wrecked Maxim was quickly recaptured and presented to the Royal Irish Regiment by the Secretary for War, Hugh Arnold-Forster (1855-1909), in 1904.