I recently visited Menorca, the last part of Republican Spain to surrender in 1939, and at the Museo Militar in Es-Castell I came upon a short gallery of late 19th and 20th century small arms. As well as a collection of most of the types of rifle and pistol used in the Civil War, there were four machine guns. One a German MG34, one a small bipod mounted 7mm Hotchkiss, an immaculate Colt 6.5mm tripod mounted weapon, and this. Unfortunately the photograph is not of the best quality (photo not in Abanderado--RL) due to the guns awkward position, but the question is does anyone recognise this gun?

My initial thought was that this was a Hotchkiss design, but all of those MG's I've ever encountered bear factory and arsenal recognition numbers. Above the pistol grip on top of the gun three letters appear: "FAO". Nothing else is anywhere on the gun.

It's tripod mounted for the sustained fire role with a seat for the gunner,the metre long air-cooled weapon has a pistol grip and a shoulder brace for the gunner,and appears to be belt fed. Forward of the trigger guard is a complex elevating screw and wheel. The cooling 'baffles' are what give the gun the 'Hotchkiss look', obviously. If I had to estimate a calibre I'd say 8mm, or 7.7mm. The Museo Militar guide book doesn't help either, it makes no mention of this, only the Colt, so what I wonder is it?