Historical weapon
For many decades, mystery surrounded the history of a German model 1908 Maxim machinegun that has recently gone on display at the WA Army Museum.
The deactivated World War I trophy has a shrapnel hole in one of its spade grips and the rear sight has been torn away, but no one knows when or where it was captured or how it received its battle damage.
While the gun was being prepared for display, museum volunteers found evidence of an inscription on the water jacket. Barely visible to the naked eye are the words "Captured at Vaire & Hamel Woods" and the date "4-7-18".
July 4, 1918 is a significant date in WA military history.
It was then that the 16th Battalion attacked German positions in Vaire and Hamel Woods and one its members, Lance-Cpl Thomas Leslie "Jack" Axford , already the recipient of the Military Medal, earned the Victoria Cross.
It is possible that the weapon is one of the machineguns captured by Jack Axford.
If so, the gun stands as a silent tribute to the incredible bravery of one man and the untold courage of thousands of others.
