← Back to the front page

Incompetence That Shaped History

Khalid Elhassan March 9, 2020 33 min

Nineteenth century Washington Metropolitan Police Force officers. Washington Metropolitan Police

12. Serious Defects

Eclipsing the pluses that should have made the Chauchat an excellent weapon, the actual battlefield conditions of WWI exposed serious defects. Among numerous problems, the worst was probably the detachable magazine, which was designed with one side open. That allowed the entry of loose earth, mud, dirt, and grit with which the trenches of WWI abounded.

Particles then made their way into the chamber, barrel, and firing mechanism, resulting in stoppages and malfunctions. The Chauchat’s magazines were very flimsy and easily dented, resulting in jamming and stoppage. The ejection port lacked a cover, which allowed dirt and other particles to enter from there as well and cause jams.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.