This little LMG was a phenomenon of the 20th century,originating in the late 1890's when a Danish Officer designed a most remarkable weapon for its time. The name of Madsen was adopted to commemorate the Danish Minister of War who took the gun into service.

The gun's technical details are interesting, it being recoil operated,with an unusual breech-block and firing mechanism which worked efficiently,but had no bolt.The gun,its original designation was Madsen 8mm Rekytgevaer M1903, worked well under most conditions and using most types of ammunition, though it didn't take well to rimmed rounds. The standard calibre,though others were used,was 8mm, and overall the gun was 1.145m (45") in length,and weighed a little under 10kg (about 22lbs). The gun had a very useful rate of fire of 450 rounds per minute,although since it was air cooled the barrel was not really suitable for sustained fire, a role in which it was occaisionally used.The feed was from an overhead box magazine with a very distinctive shape.This magazine could take 20/25,30 or 40 rounds,and in front of the box a carrying handle was invariably positioned.

With this combination,the gun has been all too frequently confused by writers with either the British 'Bren', or the 'Vickers-Berthier' LMG's both of which possessed these features-adopted from the original remarkable Madsen design.Like both of her distant sisters,the Madsen was generally fired from a bipod at the muzzle, and could be carried in a strap harness by its gunner for rapid movement and assault. Several heavier tripods were produced by the Danes but none were particularly succesful, it was as a two-man LMG in its original role that the gun was most effective.

It was first used in action by the Russians in their war with Japan,and almost all continental armies of WWI used the Madsen to supplement their own 'official' guns.It was a costly gun to produce,but its high quality, comfort and the superb levels of accuracy attainable, made it a popular weapon with machine gunners. Post war,the Madsen became part of the arsenal of no fewer than thirty four countries across the world, from Mexico to Thailand. Most historians concur that there was neither war nor skirmish around the globe in which the Madsen did not play a part between 1900 and the 1960's.

As far as Spain is concerned, the Madsen was a rugged gun known to soldiers of both sides. Both Spain and Portugal had taken the weapon for evaluation earlier in the century, and the Portuguese had used it regularly in action in France and Africa during WWI. Was it I wonder used in Spain by Portuguese 'Volunteer' units? Germany used it as a 'Stormtrooper' weapon in WWI and again used it as a support weapon throughout WWII, so to a lesser extent did the Italians. Madsen's may well have been issued to some German trained units during the Civil War, and as this gun was popular from its early days as an aircraft and antiaircraft weapon it probably retained the role in Spain.

The hard-pressed Republicans certainly obtained and used the 8mm Madsen if not in very great numbers,as it was a gun readily identifiable and easily used by any European veteran with experience of LMG's.

It was a far more common weapon in Europe than the Lewis or the Chatellaurault.

For this reason, the Madsen in the photographs is shown in the hands of an International Brigade Sergeant c.1937. The waist bandolier incidentally is of Belgian origin, and the kit as basic as you would expect. Steve Perry, shown here using the gun suggests that he represents a volunteer of the Franco-Belgian EP 55th Batt. "6th February", a likely unit to use the Madsen. 

• In illustrations from Mr. J. Bartholomew (not replicated in Abanderado), the gunner carries the Madsen in assault mode.
• In no. 2, the gun is shown slung on its wide harness strap the most popular way of carrying the weapon, when not in use.
• No. 3 shows the gunner prone and firing the LMG (this illustrates how confusion between the Bren and Madsen occurs in many wartime photo's).
• No. 4. The gunner inspects the breech mechanism. No magazine is fixed.

I am grateful to Steve Perry and the Eastern Front Association for help with the project, and the credit for the excellent photos is Mr. J. Bartholomew of Crewe.