historicalfirearms:Historical Trivia: First Use of the Maxim GunWhile the 1st Matabele War is often
historicalfirearms:Historical Trivia: First Use of the Maxim GunWhile the 1st Matabele War is often cited as the first time the Maxim Gun saw action, however, this is not the case. The Maxim was in fact first used in Mombasa in 1887, by the expedition to rescue Emin Pasha, the cutoff governor of Equatoria. Hiram Maxim gifted a single ‘transitional’ Maxim gun to Henry Morton Stanley, the leader of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. The ‘transitional’ Maxim gun was lighter and had an improved feed system to Maxim’s earliest models. In addition to the first Maxim’s pistol grip the weapon had a left hand spade grip to assist in aiming the weapon. It was hoped that even if the gun did not prove highly reliable its firepower would be an adequate show of force. Maxim no doubt gifted the gun to the expedition in an effort to garner publicity for his weapon. While the relief of Emin Pasha was described as the expedition’s primary goal it also led to the annexation of territory in East Africa with the leasing of Mombasa by the British East India Company in 1887. Another chapter of the European Scramble for Africa that later saw the establishment of the British East Africa Protectorate. Sources:Image SourceThe Vickers-Maxim Machine Gun, M. Pegler, (2013)If you enjoy the content please consider supporting Historical Firearms through Patreon! -- source link