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Military History – South Africa – Europe – England 19th Century
.Article – Online Historic Information | Military
.Page 180
The rate of fire was 500 rounds a minute, but as the belts had 250 rounds and as firing had to be
in bursts to avoid overheating, this figure is somewhat academic.
The weapon attracted considerable interest. When the Chinese Ambassador to London, Li Hung
Chang, wanted to see a demonstration, Maxim rented the estate of Mrs Beeton, of cookery book fame,
in order to have trees to cut down with machine-gun fire. In 1891 John Moses and Matthew Browning
patented what was manufactured as the Colt air-cooled gas-hammer machine-gun which Maxim did
his best to discredit. At the same time he designed his own air-cooled lightweight model, the “Extra
Light” which weighed 27lb (12,25kg) by itself and 44.5lb (20kg) with tripod. It was not a great
success.
The evaluation of the Maxim by the army was generally favourable. The Reports on Equipment
from South Africa: Machine Guns (57/Cape/8122) was a compilation of replies to set questions.
There was consistent complaint of jamming, probably the result of dirt and dust or of faulty
ammunition, and of maladjustment of the spring, which suggests insufficient training of the men. The
Colt and Hotchkiss found favour because, being air-cooled, they were light, and, overall, the tripod
and pack-horse configuration was preferred to the Dundonald carriage which was unstable. Almost
all commentators pointed out the machinegun’s power as a defensive weapon, a message that, by the
First World War, was forgotten.
See also:
Maxim, Sir Hiram; Maxim-Nordenfelt Pom-Pom.
Reference:
Goldsmith, Dolf L., ed. R. Blake Stevens, The Devil’s Paintbrush: Sir Hiram Maxim’s Gun
(Toronto, Collector Grade Publications, 1989); Reports on Equipment from South Africa:
Machine Guns (57/Cape/8122, National Army Museum 7805–26).
Maximov, Colonel Yevgeny Yakovlevich,
1849–1904
Maximov was an example of the restless adventurers who divided their time between military service
and quixotic expeditions. He served briefly in the war on the side of the Boers, but, like the majority
of foreign volunteers, achieved little of significance although he left behind a good story.
Yevgeny Maximov was born in St Petersburg, Russia and joined the Life Guards Mounted
Grenadier Regiment in 1869. His varied career included a period of service in the Russian
Gendarmerie from 1881 to 1884, which would lead many of his countrymen to treat him with
suspicion. In 1896 he was denied entry into Ethiopia with a Russian Red Cross mission but contrived
to get there anyhow. He then threw himself into the conflict between Turks and Greeks on the side of
the latter. He went to South Africa to support the Boers and attempted to raise a force of volunteers,
but failed. In March 1900 he was offered the post of second-in-command of the European Legion by
Colonel Count Georges de Villebois-Mareuil and Maximov had started to perform his duties when
Villebois-Mareuil was killed at the Battle of Boshof on 5 April. The European
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