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Product Description
The Belgian Rattlesnake (Lewis Machine Gun)
by William M. Easterly
Deluxe First Edition, 1998
584 pages, 686 illustrations
The result of over twenty years of research, this is the most complete account ever published of the life and times of Colonel Isaac Newton Lewis and his crowning achievement, the Lewis Automatic Machine Gun. The Lewis became a favourite tool of the British and Canadian "machine gun killer" teams of World War I, but U.S. "doughboys" and Marines were issued the French Chauchat, instead. This gave rise to a bitter controversy, which became one of the most sensational issues of the decade. The Lewis was the principal "free" or flexible Allied aircraft machine gun of World War I, manufactured by B.S.A. in England, Savage in the U.S.A., and Darne in France. After World War I several versions of the Lewis were manufactured in Holland and by two Naval Arsenals in Japan. Japanese Naval and Air forces remained committed to the Lewis throughout World War II.
Two complete chapters are devoted to the accessories designed and issued expressly for use with the Lewis, one for general and ground gun devices, and one covering the special needs of Air Service guns.
