34th Sikh Pioneers machine gun section, Peshawar, 1905 (c)

Photograph, India, 1905 (c).

A unit of the 34th Sikh Pioneers with mules carrying disassembled Maxim machine guns. The mules are fitted with rope fringes to protect their eyes from insects.

The Maxim recoil-operated machine gun was invented by Hiram Maxim and patented in 1884. It replaced machine guns such as the Gatling, Gardner and Nordenfelt which were used by British forces. The gun was belt-fed from 250 round ammunition belts and it fired .45 inch rounds which were later replaced by .303 inch rounds. Initially the machine gun was mounted on a carriage with the first tripod mount introduced in 1897. The Maxim saw action with British forces on the North West Frontier of India, Matabeleland and the Sudan and it became an icon of colonial power. The Maxim Gun Company was eventually absorbed into the Vickers company in 1897.

The photograph is from an album compiled by Captain Alexander Masters, 34th Sikh Pioneers. Masters was born in West Bengal but was educated at Bedford and at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He received a commission with the Leicester Regiment in 1903 but returned to India as a captain with the 34th Sikh Pioneers. He served on the North West Frontier. In 1914, with the outbreak of World War One (1914-1918), the 34th formed part of the 3rd (Lahore) Division of the Indian Expeditionary Force, deployed to the Western Front. Masters was killed in action on 23 November 1914, at Festubert. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records his grave at the Guards Cemetery, Windy Corner, Cuinchy, in the Pas de Calais, France.

From an album containing 371 photographs compiled by Captain Alexander Masters, 34th Sikh Pioneers, 1905 (c)-1911.