View source for Lewis gun

{{Short description|Light machine gun}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name               = Lewis gun
| image              = Lewis LMG.png
| image_size         = 300
| origin             = [[United States]] (design)<br>[[United Kingdom]]
| type               = [[Light machine gun]]
<!-- Type selection -->
| is_ranged          = yes
<!-- Service history -->
| service            = 1914–1953
| used_by            = ''See {{section link|Lewis gun|Users|nopage=yes}}''
| wars               = {{Collapsible list
  | bullets = yes
  | title = List of conflicts
  | [[World War I]]
  | [[Easter Rising]]
  | [[Pancho Villa Expedition]]<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Canfield |first=Bruce |date=October 2016 |title= 1916: Guns On The Border |magazine=American Rifleman |publisher=National Rifle Association}}</ref>
  | [[Banana Wars]]
  | [[Finnish Civil War]]
  | [[Irish War of Independence]]
  | [[Irish Civil War]]
  | [[Russian Civil War]]
  | [[Estonian War of Independence]]
  | [[Latvian War of Independence]]
  | [[Polish–Soviet War]]
  | [[Emu War]]
  | [[Chaco War]]
  | [[Spanish Civil War]]
  | [[Second Sino-Japanese War|2{{sup|nd}} Sino-Japanese War]]
  | [[World War II]]
  | [[Indonesian National Revolution]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Iman |first1=Khoerozadi Faizal |last2=Triharjanto |first2=Robertus Heru |last3=Wibowo |first3=Heri Budi |last4=Asmoro |first4=Novky |last5=Wulandari |first5=Tsaniyah |date=21 September 2023 |title=Analisis Pemanfaatan Teknologi Alutsista dan Sumber Daya Persenjataan yang Digunakan pada Periode Perang Gerilya Indonesia Tahun 1945 – 1949 |trans-title=Analysis of Weapon Technology and Defense Resources Used in the Indonesian Guerrilla War 1945 – 1949 |language=ID |journal=Santhet: Jurnal Sejarah, Pendidikan, dan Humaniora |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=669–675 |doi=10.36526/santhet.v7i2.2994 |url=https://ejournal.unibabwi.ac.id/index.php/santhet/article/view/2994 |access-date=15 August 2024|doi-access=free }}</ref>
  | [[Malayan Emergency]]
  | [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]]
  | [[Korean War]]
  | [[Vietnam War]]
  | [[Algerian War]]
  | [[Dominican Civil War]]
  | [[Nigerian Civil War]]
  | [[The Troubles]]
  }}
<!-- Production history -->
| designer           = {{ubl|Samuel McClean|[[Isaac Newton Lewis]]}}
| design_date        = 1911
| manufacturer       = {{ubl|[[Birmingham Small Arms Company|Birmingham Small Arms Co. Ltd.]]|[[Savage Arms]] Co.}}
| unit_cost          = £62 in 1918<ref>{{cite web |title=Mr. Kellaway's Statement. (Hansard, 24 June 1919) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1919/jun/24/mr-kellaways-statement}}</ref>
| production_date    = 1913–1942
| number             = 152,050 in [[World War II]]<br>50,000 chambered in [[.30-06]]
| variants           = ''See {{section link|Lewis gun|Variants|nopage=yes}}''
<!-- General specifications -->
| weight             = {{convert|28|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}
| length             = {{convert|50.5|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}
| part_length        = {{convert|26.5|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}
| width              = {{convert|4.5|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}
| height             = 
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
| cartridge          = {{ubl
  | [[6.5×53mmR|6.5×53.5mmR (.256)]]
  | [[.303 British|7.7×56mmR (.303)]]
  | [[7.62×54mmR]]
  | [[.30-06 Springfield|7.62×63mm (.30-06)]]
  | [[7.92×57mm Mauser|7.92×57mm]]
  }}
| caliber            =
| action             = [[Gas-operated reloading|Gas-operated]] long stroke gas piston, rotating [[open bolt]]
| rate               = 500–600 rounds/min
| velocity           = {{convert|2440|ft/s|m/s|0|abbr=on}}
| range              = {{convert|880|yd|m|0|abbr=on}}
| max_range          = {{convert|3500|yd|m|abbr=on}}
| feed               = 47- or 97-round [[pan magazine]]
| sights             = Blade and tangent leaf
}}

The '''Lewis gun''' (or '''Lewis automatic machine gun''' or '''Lewis automatic rifle''') is a [[World War I|First World War–era]] [[light machine gun]]. Designed privately in the United States though not adopted there, the design was finalised and mass-produced in the United Kingdom,{{sfnp|Easterly|1998|p=65}} and widely used by troops of the [[British Empire]] during the war. It had a distinctive barrel cooling shroud (containing a finned breech-to-muzzle aluminium [[heat sink]] to cool the gun barrel), and top-mounted [[pan magazine]]. The Lewis served until the end of the [[Korean War]], and was widely used as an aircraft machine gun during both World Wars, almost always with the cooling shroud removed, as air flow during flight offered sufficient cooling.

== History ==

A predecessor to the Lewis gun incorporating the principles upon which it was based was designed by [[Ferdinand Mannlicher]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NiK7nEZkf0IC&q=FG+42+Mannlicher|title=Small Arms of the World: The Basic Manual of Military Small Arms, American, Soviet, British, Czech, German, French, Belgian, Italian, Swiss, Japanese, and All Other Important Nations|last1=Smith|first1=Walter Harold Black|last2=Smith|first2=Joseph Edward|year=1960}}</ref> The Lewis gun was invented by [[U.S. Army]] colonel [[Isaac Newton Lewis]] in 1911, based on initial work by Samuel Maclean.<ref name="Sken5">{{harvp|Skennerton|2001|p=5}}</ref> Despite its origins, the Lewis gun was not initially adopted by the U.S. military, most likely because of political differences between Lewis and [[William Crozier (artillerist)|General William Crozier]], the chief of the Ordnance Department.{{sfn|Ford |2005| pp=67–68}} Lewis became frustrated with trying to persuade the U.S. Army to adopt his design, claiming that he was "slapped by rejections from ignorant hacks",<ref name="Ford 2005, p.68">{{harvp|Ford |2005|p=68}}</ref> and retired from the army.

Lewis left the United States in 1913 and went to Belgium, where he established the [[Armes Automatique Lewis]] company in [[Liège]] to facilitate commercial production of the gun.{{sfnp|Hogg|1978|p= 218}} Lewis had been working closely with British arms manufacturer the [[Birmingham Small Arms Company]] Limited (BSA) in an effort to overcome some of the production difficulties of the weapon.<ref name="Sken5" /> The Belgians bought a small number of Lewis guns in 1913, using the [[.303 British]] round and, in 1914, BSA purchased a licence to manufacture the Lewis machine gun in England, which resulted in Lewis receiving significant [[Royalties|royalty payments]] and becoming very wealthy.<ref name="Ford 2005, p.68" />
Lewis and his factory moved to England before 1914, away from possible seizure in the event of a German invasion.<ref name="Huon1997">{{cite magazine |title=Le fusil mitrailleur Lewis (1ère partie) |trans-title=The Lewis light machine gun (1st part) |language=fr |magazine=La Gazette des Armes |issue=273 |pages=23–26 |url=http://fr.1001mags.com/parution/gazette-des-armes/numero-273-janvier-1997/page-24-25-texte-integral |first=Jean |last=Huon |date=January 1997}}</ref>

== Production ==
The onset of the [[World War I|First World War]] increased demand for the Lewis gun, and BSA began production, under the designation "Model 1914". The design was officially approved for service on 15 October 1915 under the designation "Gun, Lewis, .303-cal."<ref name="Sken7">{{harvp|Skennerton |2001| p=6}}</ref> No Lewis guns were produced in Belgium during the war.<ref>{{harvp|Skennerton|2001| p=7}}</ref> All manufacture was carried out by BSA in England and the [[Savage Arms Company]] in the US,<ref name="Sken41" /> and although the two versions were largely similar, enough differences existed to stop them being completely interchangeable, although this had been rectified by the time of the [[World War II|Second World War]].{{sfnp|Skennerton|2001|pp=15, 41–46}}

The major difference between the two designs was that the BSA weapons were chambered for .303 British ammunition, whereas the Savage guns were chambered for .30-06 cartridges, which necessitated some difference in the magazine, feed mechanism, bolt, barrel, extractors, and gas operation system.<ref name="Sken41">{{harvp|Skennerton|2001| p=41}}</ref> Savage did make Lewis guns in .303 British calibre, though. The Model 1916 and Model 1917 were exported to Canada and the United Kingdom, and a few were supplied to the US military, particularly the Navy.<ref name="Sken41" /> The Savage Model 1917 was generally produced in .30-06 calibre. A number of these guns were supplied to the UK under [[lend-lease]] during the Second World War.{{sfnp|Skennerton |2001|pp=41, 47}}

== Design details ==
The Lewis gun was [[Gas-operated reloading|gas operated]]. A portion of the expanding propellant gas was tapped off from the barrel, driving a piston to the rear against a spring. The piston was fitted with a vertical post at its rear which rode in a helical [[Cam (mechanism)|cam]] track in the bolt, rotating it at the end of its travel nearest the breech. This allowed the three locking lugs at the rear of the bolt to engage in recesses in the gun's body to lock it into place. The post also carried a fixed [[firing pin]], which protruded through an aperture in the front of the bolt, firing the next round at the foremost part of the piston's travel.{{sfnp|Ford |2005| pp=68–70}}<ref name="Smith 1943, p.31">{{harvp|Smith|1943| p=31}}</ref>

[[File:Lewis gun St Thomas 3.JPG|thumb|A Lewis gun at the [[Elgin Military Museum]] Canada. The rear end of its light-gray finned aluminium heat sink, which fits within the gun's brass-coloured cylindrical cooling shroud, can be seen.]]
The gun's aluminium barrel-shroud caused the muzzle blast to draw air over the barrel and cool it, due to the muzzle-to-breech, radially finned aluminium [[heat sink]] within the shroud's barrel, and protruding behind the shroud's aft end, running lengthwise in contact with the gun barrel (somewhat like the later American [[M1895 Colt–Browning machine gun#World War I|M1917/18 Marlin-Rockwell machine gun]]'s similar gun barrel cooling design)<ref>[http://www.marlinforum.com/images/8/8/3/1108a-633536159139359986-6.jpg Springfield Armory photo of the M1918 Marlin gun with heatsink fitted] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220090154/http://www.marlinforum.com/images/8/8/3/1108a-633536159139359986-6.jpg |date=20 December 2016
}}</ref> from the "bottleneck" near the shroud's muzzle end and protruding externally behind the shroud's rear end. Some discussion occurred over whether the shroud was necessary: in the Second World War, many old aircraft guns that did not have the tubing were issued to [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft]] units of the [[British Home Guard]] and to British airfields, and others were used on vehicle mounts in the Western Desert; all were found to function properly without it, which led to the suggestion that Lewis had insisted on the cooling arrangement largely to show that his design was different from Maclean's earlier prototypes.<ref name="Ford70">{{harvp|Ford|2005| p=70}}</ref> Only the [[Royal Navy]] retained the tube/heatsink cooling system on their deck-mounted AA-configuration Lewis guns.<ref name="Ford70"/>

The Lewis gun used a [[pan magazine]] holding 47 or 97 rounds.{{sfnp|Smith|1943|pages=28, 32}} Pan magazines hold the ammunition nose-inwards toward the center, in a radial fan. Unlike the more common [[drum magazine]]s, which hold the rounds parallel to the axis and are fed by spring tension, pan magazines are mechanically indexed. The Lewis magazine was driven by a cam on top of the bolt which operated a [[Ratchet (device)|pawl mechanism]] via a lever.<ref name="Smith 1943, p.31" />

In the First World War, Armourer [[Staff sergeant|Staff-Sargeant]], Francis Leo Keeffe of the [[Royal Army Ordnance Corps]], was awarded a Certificate of Merit for inventing an automatic filler for the gun's magazines.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/2896/images/40584_606246_0910-00197?pId=21997 |access-date=2025-11-08 |website=www.ancestry.co.uk}}</ref>

An interesting point of the design was that it did not use a traditional helical coiled recoil spring, but used a spiral spring, much like a large clock spring, in a semicircular housing just in front of the trigger. The operating rod had a toothed underside, which engaged with a cog which wound the spring. When the gun fired, the bolt recoiled and the cog was turned, tightening the spring until the resistance of the spring had reached the recoil force of the bolt assembly. At that moment, as the gas pressure in the breech fell, the spring unwound, turning the cog, which, in turn, wound the operating rod forward for the next round. As with a clock spring, the Lewis gun recoil spring had an adjustment device to alter the recoil resistance for variations in temperature and wear. The Lewis design proved reliable and was even copied by the Japanese and used extensively by them during the Second World War.{{sfnp|Smith|1943|pages=31–32}}

The gun's cyclic rate of fire was about 500–600 rounds per minute. A recoil enhancer was added to the 1918 aircraft gun variant (and refitted to many 1917 models) which increased the rate of fire to about 800 rounds per minute. The ground use versions  weighed 28&nbsp;lb (12.7&nbsp;kg), only about half as much as a typical medium machine gun of the era, such as the [[Vickers machine gun]], and was chosen in part because, being more portable than a heavy machine gun, it could be carried and used by one soldier.{{sfnp|Hogg|Batchelor|1976|page=27}} BSA even produced at least one model (the "B.S.A. Light Infantry Pattern Lewis Gun", which lacked the aluminium barrel shroud and had a wooden fore grip) designed as a form of [[automatic rifle]].{{sfnp|Skennerton|2001|page=4}}

== Service ==

=== First World War ===
[[File:Lewis gun drill.jpg|thumb|left|Men of the 28th Battalion of the 2nd Australian Division practising Lewis gun drill at [[Renescure]]]]
During the first days of the war, the [[Belgian Army]] had put in service 20 prototypes (5 in [[7.65×53mm Mauser|7.65×53mm]] and 15 in .303) for the [[Fortified position of Namur#The Namur forts in 1914|defense of Namur]].{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=11}}

The United Kingdom officially adopted the Lewis gun in [[.303 British]] calibre for land and aircraft use in October 1915.{{sfnp|Skennerton|2001|p=6}} The weapon began to be issued to the [[British Army]]'s infantry battalions on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] in early 1916 as a replacement for the heavier and less mobile Vickers machine gun, which had been withdrawn from the infantry for use by the specialist [[Machine Gun Corps]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Griffith |editor-first=Paddy |date=1998 |title=British Fighting Methods in the Great War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OXMnAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 |location=London |publisher=Routledge |page=8 |isbn=978-0714634951 }}</ref>  The [[US Navy]] and [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] followed in early 1917, adopting the M1917 Lewis gun (produced by the Savage Arms Co.), in .30-06 calibre.

Notes made during his training in 1918 by Arthur Bullock, a private soldier in the 2/4th [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]], record that the chief advantage of the gun was 'its invulnerability' and its chief disadvantages were 'its delicacy, the fact that it is useless for setting up a barrage, and also that the system of air cooling employed does not allow of more than 12 magazines being fired continuously'. He records its weight as 26 lbs unloaded and {{frac|30|1|2}} lbs loaded (though later he mentions that it weighed 35 lbs loaded), and that it had 47 cartridges in a fully loaded magazine; also that it was supported by a [[bipod]] in front and by the operator's shoulder at the rear.<ref>Bullock, 2009, pp. 63, 64.</ref> About six months into his service, Bullock was sent on Lewis gun refresher course at La Lacque, and he recalled that the rigour of the training meant that 'everyone passed out 100 percent efficient, the meaning of which will be appreciated when I say that part of the final test was to strip down the gun completely and then, blindfolded, put those 104 parts together again correctly in just one minute.'<ref>Bullock, 2009, p. 70.</ref>
[[File:Lewis Gun Manual 25th Aero.jpg|thumb|right|Lewis Gun Manual used by Sgt. Don L. Palmer of the [[25th Aero Squadron]]]]
The gun was operated by a team of seven. Bullock was the First Lewis Gunner who carried the gun and a revolver, while 'The Second Gunner carried a bag containing spare parts, and the remaining five members of the team carried loaded pans of ammunition'. Bullock noted, 'all could fire the gun if required, and all could effect repairs in seconds'.<ref>Bullock, 2009, p. 64.</ref> Bullock provides several vivid descriptions of the gun's use in combat. For example, on 13 April 1918 he and his fellow soldiers intercepted a German advance along the Calonne/Robecq road, noting 'we fired the gun in turns until it was too hot to hold'<ref>Bullock, 2009, p. 66.</ref> and recording that 400 German casualties were caused, 'chiefly by my Lewis gun!'.<ref>Bullock, 2009, p. 69.</ref><ref>Barnes, A. F. (1930). ''The Story of the 2/5th Gloucestershire Regiment'', Crypt House Press, Gloucester.</ref>

The [[US Army]] never officially adopted the weapon for infantry use<ref name="Ford70" /> and even went so far as to take Lewis guns away from US Marines arriving in France and replace them with the [[Chauchat]] LMG{{sfnp|Hogg|Batchelor|1976| pp=30-31}}—a practice believed to be related to [[William Crozier (artillerist)|General Crozier's]] dislike of Lewis and his gun.{{sfnp|Hogg|Batchelor|1976|p=31}} The divisions of the US II Corps attached to the British Army were equipped with the gun.<ref>Laemlein, Tom. [https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2017/10/31/machine-guns-of-the-american-expeditionary-force-in-world-war-i/ Machine Guns of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I] American Rifleman article. October 31, 1917. Retrieved November 12, 2020.</ref> The US Army eventually adopted the [[Browning Automatic Rifle]] in 1917 (although it was September 1918 before any of the new guns reached the front).<ref name="Ford71" /> The US Navy and Marine Corps continued to use the .30-06 calibre Lewis until the early part of the Second World War.<ref name="Smith 1973, p.270">{{harvp|Smith |1973| p=270}}</ref>

[[File:Lewis gun world war I.jpg|thumb|Australian soldiers firing at enemy aircraft during the First World War]]
The [[Russian Empire]] purchased 10,000 Lewis guns in 1917 from the British government, and ordered another 10,000 weapons from Savage Arms in the US. The US government was unwilling to supply the Tsarist Russian government with the guns and some doubt exists as to whether they were actually delivered, although records indicate that 5,982 Savage weapons were delivered to Russia by 31 March 1917. The Lewis guns supplied by Britain were dispatched to Russia in May 1917, but it is not known for certain whether these were the Savage-made weapons being trans-shipped through the UK, or a separate batch of UK-produced units.{{sfnp|Skennerton|2001|p=46}} [[White movement|White armies]] in Northwest Russia received several hundred Lewis guns in 1918–1919.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Russian Civil War (2): White Armies |series=Men-at-Arms 305 |first=Mikhail |last=Khvostov |date=15 July 1997 |isbn=978-1-85532-656-9 |page=7}}</ref>

British [[Mark IV tank]]s used the Lewis, replacing the Vickers and [[Hotchkiss M1909|Hotchkiss]] used in earlier tanks. The Lewis was chosen for its relatively compact magazines, but the ventilation system inside the tank caused the airflow to be reversed through the Lewis cooling jacket, resulting in hot air and fumes being blown into the gunner's face.<ref>{{citation |title=British Mark IV Tank |last=Fletcher |first=David |year=2007 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |page=10 |isbn=978-1-84603-082-6 |series=New Vanguard 133}}</ref> As soon as an improved belt feed for the Hotchkiss was developed, the Lewis was replaced by them in later tank models.{{sfnp|Glanfield|2001|p={{page needed|date=September 2018}}}}

As their enemies used the mobility of the gun to ambush German raiding parties, the Germans nicknamed the Lewis "the Belgian Rattlesnake".{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=64}} They used captured Lewis guns in both World Wars, and included instruction in its operation and care as part of their machine-gun crew training.<ref name="The Lewis Gun">{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_3_46/ai_59281217 |title=The Lewis Gun |magazine=Guns Magazine |date=March 2000 |access-date=12 February 2009 |first=Robert |last=Bruce |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090807035340/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_3_46/ai_59281217/ |archive-date=7 August 2009 }}</ref>

Despite costing more than a Vickers gun to manufacture (the cost of a Lewis gun was £165 in 1915<ref name="Sken7" /> and £175 in 1918;<ref>Bullock, 2009, page 63</ref> the Vickers cost about £100),<ref name="Ford71">{{harvp|Ford|2005| p=71}}</ref> Lewis machine guns were in high demand with the British military during the First World War. The Lewis also had the advantage of being about 80% faster to build than the Vickers, and was a lot more portable.{{sfnp|Hogg|Batchelor|1976|p=27}} Accordingly, the British government placed orders for 3,052 guns between August 1914 and June 1915.<ref name="Sken7" /> Lewis guns outnumbered the Vickers by a ratio of about 3:1.<ref name="Ford71" />

==== Aircraft use ====
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[[File:ChandlerKirtlandLewisGun.jpg|thumb|left|Captain Charles Chandler (with prototype Lewis Gun) and Lt Roy Kirtland in a [[Wright Model B]] Flyer after the first successful firing of a machine gun from an aeroplane in June 1912]]
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The Lewis gun was the first machine gun fired from an aeroplane; on 7 June 1912, Captain [[Charles deForest Chandler|Charles Chandler]] of the US Army fired a prototype Lewis gun from the foot-bar of a [[Wright Model B]] Flyer.<ref name="The Lewis Gun" />

Lewis guns were used extensively on British and French aircraft during the First World War, as either an observer's or gunner's weapon or an additional weapon to the more common Vickers. The Lewis's popularity as an aircraft machine gun was partly due to its low weight, the fact that it was air-cooled and that it used self-contained 97-round drum magazines. Because of this, the Lewis was first mounted on the [[Vickers F.B.5]] "Gunbus", which was probably the world's first purpose-built combat aircraft when it entered service in August 1914, replacing the [[Vickers machine gun]] used on earlier experimental versions.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cbrA5NJp2JMC&pg=PA128 |first=Hugh |last=Driver |title=The Birth of Military Aviation: Britain, 1903–1914 |publisher=The Boydell Press |date=1997 |isbn=978-0-86193-234-4 |page=126 |access-date=27 November 2014}}</ref> It was also fitted on two early production examples of the [[Bristol Scout]] C aircraft by [[Lanoe Hawker]] in mid-1915, mounted on the port side and firing forwards and outwards at a 30° angle to avoid the propeller arc.

The problem in mounting a Lewis to fire forward in most single-engined [[tractor configuration]] fighters was due to the [[open bolt]] firing cycle of the Lewis, which prevented it from being [[Synchronization gear|synchronized]] to fire directly forward through the propeller arc of such aircraft; only the unusual French [[SPAD S.A]] "pulpit plane" which possessed a unique hinged gunner's nacelle immediately ahead of the propeller (and the pilot), and the British [[pusher configuration|pusher]] fighters Vickers F.B.5, [[Airco D.H.2]], [[Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2]] and [[Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8|F.E.8]] could readily use the Lewis as direct forward-firing armament early in the war. Some British single-engined tractor configuration fighters used a [[Foster mounting]] on the top wing to elevate a Lewis gun above the propeller arc for unsynchronized firing, including production [[Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5|S.E.5/S.E.5a]] fighters and field-modified examples of the [[Avro 504]]. For the use of observers or rear gunners, the Lewis was mounted on a [[Scarff ring]], which allowed the gun to be rotated and elevated whilst supporting the gun's weight.{{sfnp|Hogg|Batchelor|1976| pp=27, 33}}

[[File:Sopdol2.jpg|thumb|1918 Sopwith Dolphin with twin Lewis guns aimed upwards]]Until September 1916 [[Zeppelin]] airships were very difficult to attack successfully at high altitude, although this also made accurate bombing impossible. Aeroplanes struggled to reach a typical altitude of {{Convert|10000|ft}}, and firing the solid bullets usually used by aircraft Lewis guns was ineffectual: they made small holes causing inconsequential gas leaks. Britain developed new bullets, the Brock containing spontaneously igniting [[potassium chlorate]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sites.google.com/site/britmilammo/-303-inch/-303-inch-explosive |title=.303-inch Explosive |website=British Military Small Arms Ammo – Brock |access-date=3 September 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918213726/https://sites.google.com/site/britmilammo/-303-inch/-303-inch-explosive |archive-date=18 September 2016 }}</ref> and the Buckingham filled with [[Pyrophoricity|pyrophoric]] [[phosphorus]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sites.google.com/site/britmilammo/-303-inch/-303-inch-incendiary |title=.303-inch Incendiary – Buckingham |website=British Military Small Arms Ammo |access-date=3 September 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918213551/https://sites.google.com/site/britmilammo/-303-inch/-303-inch-incendiary |archive-date=18 September 2016 }}</ref> to set fire to the Zeppelin's [[hydrogen]]. These had become available by September 1916.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-37164689 |title=Leefe Robinson: The man who shot down a Baby Killer |website=BBC News |date=3 September 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160903180549/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-37164689 |archive-date=3 September 2016  |last1=Leatherdale |first1=Duncan}}</ref> When combined with explosive [[Pomeroy bullet]]s which ripped open the envelopes, they proved very successful, and Lewis guns loaded with a mixture of Pomeroy, Brock and Buckingham ammunition were often employed for balloon-busting against German Zeppelins,<ref>{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Alan |date=2015 |title=Air Raids on South-West Essex in the Great War: Looking for Zeppelins at Leyton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZ1ICgAAQBAJ&pg=PT60 |location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire |publisher=Pen & Sword Aviation |page=52 |isbn=978-1473834125 }}</ref> other airships and ''Drache'' barrage balloons.<ref name="The Lewis Gun" />[[File:Aircraft Lewis Machine Gun.jpg|thumb|right|A closer view of the Lewis aircraft gun and mount]]

On the French [[Nieuport 11]] and later [[Nieuport 17]] [[sesquiplane]]s, a Lewis gun was mounted above the top wing (in a similar way as fitted to the British S.E.5a) – sometimes on a Foster mount, which allowed firing directly forward outside the [[Propeller (aircraft)|propeller]] arc. The Foster mount usually incorporated an arc-shaped I-beam rail as its rearmost structural member, that a Lewis gun could be slid backwards and downwards along the rail towards the cockpit, to allow the ammunition drum to be changed in flight – but [[Royal Flying Corps|RFC]] fighter ace [[Albert Ball]] [[Victoria Cross|VC]] also understood that the Lewis gun in such a mount also retained its original trigger, and could thus be [[Schräge Musik#World War I|fired upwards]]. He used the upward firing Lewis to attack solitary German two-seater aircraft from below and behind, where the observer could not see him or fire back. It was his use of the weapon in this way, in a Nieuport, that led to its later introduction on the S.E.5/S.E.5a: Ball had acted in a consultant capacity on the development of this aeroplane. The later [[Sopwith Dolphin]], already armed with twin synchronized Vickers guns just forward of the pilot and just above its [[Hispano-Suiza 8|V-8 engine]], could also use one or two Lewis guns mounted on the forward crossbar of its [[Cabane strut|cabane]] structure, between the top wing panels, as an anti-Zeppelin measure. A few of the Dolphins in use with [[No. 87 Squadron RAF]] in the summer of 1918, alternatively mounted their twin Lewises [[Sopwith Dolphin#Use of the Lewis guns|atop the lower wings just inboard of the inner wing struts]] for an additional pair of forward-firing machine guns; in such a field-achieved configuration, however, neither gun-jam clearing, nor drum magazine replacement were possible on their Lewises during a mission.

Lewis guns were also carried as defensive guns on British airships. The [[SS class blimp]]s carried one gun. The larger [[NS class blimp]]s carried two or three guns in the control car and some were fitted with an additional gun and a gunner's position at the top of the gasbag.<ref>{{cite book |last=Abbott |first=Patrick |author-link=David Mumford |title=The British Airship at War 1914–1918 |publisher=Terence Dalton Ltd |location=Lavenham, Suffolk |year=1989 |page=78 |isbn=978-0-86138-073-2}}</ref>

=== Second World War ===
By the Second World War, the British Army had replaced the Lewis gun with the [[Bren light machine gun|Bren gun]] for most infantry use.{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=6}} As an airborne weapon, the Lewis was largely supplanted by the [[Vickers K machine gun|Vickers K]], a weapon that could achieve over twice the rate of fire of the Lewis.
[[File:Singapore Volunteer Force training November 1941.jpg|thumb|Recruits of the [[Straits Settlements Volunteer Force|Singapore Volunteer Force]] training with a Lewis gun, 1941]]
In the crisis following the Fall of France, where a large part of the British Army's equipment had been lost up to and at Dunkirk, stocks of Lewis guns in both .303 and .30-06 were hurriedly pressed back into service, primarily for [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]], airfield defence and anti-aircraft use.{{sfnp|Skennerton|1988| p=58}} 58,983 Lewis guns were taken from stores, repaired, refitted and issued by the British during the course of the war.{{sfnp|Skennerton|2001| pp=46–47}} In addition to their reserve weapon role in the UK, they also saw front-line use with the Dutch, British, Australian, and New Zealand forces in the early years of the [[Pacific War|Pacific campaign]] against the Japanese.{{sfnp|Skennerton|2001|pp=7–9}} The Lewis gun saw continued service as an anti-aircraft weapon during the war; in this role, it was credited by the British for bringing down more low-flying enemy aircraft than any other AA weapon.<ref name="Smith43">{{harvp|Smith|1943|p=32}}</ref> Peter White indicates that his battalion of the [[King's Own Scottish Borderers]] was still using the Lewis on [[Universal Carriers]] in 1945.<ref>{{cite book |first=White |last=Peter |title=With The Jocks: : A Soldier's Struggle For Europe 1944–45 |publisher=The History Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-7509-3057-4 |page={{page needed |date=September 2018}}}}</ref> [[Royal Naval Commandos]] were also designated use of the weapon for their beach parties.<ref>[http://www.relaysystem.co.uk/KSB_Pamphlet_17_RN_Beach_Commandos.pdf Combined Operations Pamphlet No. 17, April 1943]</ref>

At the start of the Second World War, the Lewis was the [[Royal Navy]]'s standard close-range air defence weapon. It was installed on major warships, [[armed trawlers]] and [[Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships|defensively equipped merchant ships]]. It was often used in twin mountings and a quadruple mount was developed for [[Motor Torpedo Boat|motor torpedo boats]]. British submarines generally carried two guns on single mounts. Although it was gradually replaced by the [[Oerlikon 20&nbsp;mm cannon]], new [[corvette]]s were still being fitted with twin Lewises as late as 1942. Lewis guns were also carried by the [[Royal Air Force]]'s [[RAF Rescue Launch|air-sea rescue launches]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sTLLDlcv7EEC&pg=PA196|first1=John |last1=Lambert |first2=Al |last2=Ross |title=Allied Coastal Forces of World War II: Vol. 1, Fairmile designs and US submarine chasers |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |date=1990 |isbn=978-0-85177-519-7 |pages=196–200}}</ref>

[[File:Royal Navy Motor Torpedo Boats on patrol, 1940. A60.jpg|thumb|A Royal Navy Motor Torpedo Boat with two twin Lewis gun mounts, 1940]]
American forces used the Lewis gun (in .30-06 calibre) throughout the war. The [[United States Navy|US Navy]] used the weapon on armed merchant cruisers, small auxiliary ships, landing craft and submarines. The US Coast Guard also used the Lewis on their vessels.<ref name="Smith43" /> It was never officially adopted by the US Army for anything other than aircraft use.<ref name="Ford70"/>

The Germans used captured British Lewis guns during the war under the designation '''7,7&nbsp;mm {{abbr|l.MG|leichtes Maschinengewehr}} 137(e)''',{{sfnp|Chant|2001| p=47}} whilst after the [[Battle of the Netherlands|German invasion of May 1940]], the Dutch Lewis M.20 guns were also used by Germany under the designation '''6,5&nbsp;mm {{abbr|l.MG|leichtes Maschinengewehr}} 100 (h)'''.<ref>{{cite magazine |editor-last=Pawlas |editor-first=Karl R |date=2000 |title=Das Lewis-Maschinengewehr |magazine=Waffen-Revue |pages=33–36 |language=de |publisher=Karl R. Pawlas}}</ref> The Japanese copied the Lewis design and employed it extensively during the war;<ref name="Smith43" /> it was designated the [[Type 92 machine gun|Type 92]] and chambered for a [[.303 British#Japanese 7.7 mm ammunition|7.7&nbsp;mm rimmed cartridge]] that was interchangeable with the .303 British round.{{sfnp|Smith|1973| p=512}}{{sfnp|Smith|1943| p=131}}

The Lewis was officially withdrawn from British service in 1946,<ref name="Ford71" /> but continued to be used by forces operating against the United Nations in the [[Korean War]]. It was also used against French and US forces in the [[First Indochina War]] and the subsequent [[Vietnam War]].<ref name="Sken9">{{harvp|Skennerton|2001| p= 9}}</ref>

Total production of the Lewis gun during the Second World War by BSA was over 145,000 units,<ref name="Ford70"/> a total of 3,550 guns were produced by the Savage Arms Co. for US service: 2,500 in .30-06 and 1,050 in .303 British calibre.<ref name="Smith 1973, p.270" />

== Variants ==
=== Canada ===
* '''Model 1915''' — This was the designation given to .303 Lewis Mk I weapons manufactured for Canada in the United States by the [[Savage Arms Company]]. Large numbers of these guns were also produced by Savage for the [[British Army]] and in an aircraft configuration, for France and Italy.{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=16}}

[[File:Letecké muzeum Kbely (9).jpg|thumb|Czech Vz 28/L, chambered for the 7.92×57mm Mauser ammunition]]

=== Czechoslovakia ===
* '''Vz. 28/L''' — 731 Lewis guns (chambered in [[7.92×57mm Mauser|7.92mm Mauser]]) formerly used by the [[First Czechoslovak Republic|Czechoslovak]] infantry were modified to aircraft (or anti-aircraft) machine guns by [[Česká zbrojovka Strakonice]].<ref name="Czech">{{cite web |title=Čs. letecký kulomet vz. L/28 |language=cs |url=http://www.vhu.cz/exhibit/cs-letecky-kulomet-vz-l28/ |trans-title=Czech aircraft machine gun vz. L/28 |website=vhu.cz |date=3 May 2018 |publisher={{ill|Vojenský historický ústav Praha|cs}}}}</ref>

=== Netherlands ===
* '''Mitrailleur M.20''' — In the Netherlands, the Lewis in both ground and aircraft versions was used in [[6.5×53mmR|.256 Mannlicher]], using a 97-round magazine only.<ref>{{cite book |title=Handboek voor den soldaat |volume=1 |publisher=Koninklijke Militaire Academie |location=Breda |year=1937 |pages=36–49}}</ref> The infantry version was equipped with a carrying handle on a clamp around the rear of the cooling tube. This Dutch modification of the older BSA redesign would have been extremely simple, as the Dutch/Romanian 6.5mm Mannlicher round has very nearly the same critical dimensions of the case head and rim as .303" British.

=== United Kingdom ===
[[File:The Home Guard 1939-45 H14697.jpg|thumb|A British [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]] platoon in 1941. The soldier on the right is carrying either a Lewis Mk III* or Mk III** with the improvised skeleton stock and fore-stock to make it usable as a ground weapon. The man next to him is carrying the drum magazine.]]
* '''Mark I'''. The .303 Lewis Mk I was the basic ground pattern model used by British and [[British Empire]] forces from 1915 with few improvements.{{sfnp|Grant|2014|pp=14-15}}
* '''Mark II'''. This was the first purpose built aircraft version of the Lewis, earlier versions had been improvised from Mk I guns. The cooling fins were omitted to save weight, but a light protective shroud around the barrel was retained. The wooden [[Stock (firearms)|stock]] was removed and replaced with a "spade" grip, which resembled the handle of a garden spade. A 97-round drum magazine was introduced which required a larger magazine spigot on the body of the gun.
* '''Mark II*'''. An improved Mk II with an increased rate of fire introduced in 1918.
* '''Mark III'''. A further upgrade of the Mk II with an even faster rate of fire and the barrel shroud removed, introduced later in 1918.{{sfnp|Grant|2014| pp= 17-18}}
* '''Mark III*'''. The British designation for the US .30-06 M1918 aircraft gun, some 46,000 of which were imported for the use of the Home Guard in 1940. These guns were modified for ground use by the replacement of the spade grip with a crude [[skeleton stock]] and the addition of a simple wooden fore-stock which would allow the gun to be fired while resting on a sandbag, or from the hip while advancing.
* '''Mark III**'''. The designation for the .303 Mark III modified in the same way as the US M1918s.
* '''Mark III DEMS'''. Intended for [[defensively equipped merchant ship]]s (DEMS), it was similar to the Mk III** but with the addition of a [[pistol grip]] on the fore-stock, so that the weapon could be fired free-standing from the shoulder, from any part of a ship's decks.
* '''Mark IV'''. After all the usable weapons had been reconditioned and issued, there remained a large number of incomplete Lewis guns and spare parts. These were assembled into guns similar to the Mk III**. There was a particular shortage of the fragile "clock" springs for the Lewis, so a simpler spring was manufactured and housed in a straight tube which extended into the skeleton stock. Many of these guns were fitted with a simple and light tripod which had been specially produced.{{sfnp|Grant |2014| p= 63}}

=== United States ===
* '''M1917 Lewis''' — Savage produced a version of the Lewis Mk I for US forces, rechambered for the [[.30-06]] round and with a modified gas operation due to the greater power of the US [[ammunition]]. A few of these were modified for aircraft use, when intended for [[Synchronization gear|non-synchronized]] emplacements on an airframe. The [[US Navy]] designation was '''Lewis Mark VI and Mk VI Mod 1'''.
* '''M1918 Lewis''' — A purpose built aircraft version of the M1917.

=== Experimental projects ===
A commercial venture in 1921 by the Birmingham Small Arms Company was a version which fired the [[12.7×81mm]] (0.5-inch Vickers) ammunition, intended for use against aircraft and tanks. At around the same time, BSA developed the Light Infantry Model which had a 22-round magazine and a wooden fore-stock in place of the radiator fins and shroud; it was intended to be used in a similar way to the [[Browning Automatic Rifle]]. Another development was a twin Lewis for aircraft use in which the bodies of the two weapons were joined side-by-side and the drum magazines were mounted vertically, one on each side. None of these projects was accepted by any armed forces.{{sfnp|Grant|2014| p= 26}}

Lewis had also experimented with lighter, 30-06 calibre, box magazine-fed infantry rifle variants intended for shoulder or hip fire as a competition to the BAR. They were dubbed '''"Assault Phase Rifle"''' – what could be understood as the first use of the term "Assault Rifle", despite the weapon being, by today's designation, a battle rifle. Despite being three pounds lighter than it and loaded with very forward-thinking features for the time (such as an [[ambidextrous]] magazine release), the U.S. Army still chose to adopt the BAR.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014/11/18/ingenious-devices-colonel-lewis/ |title=The Ingenious Devices of Colonel Lewis – The Firearm Blog |date=18 November 2014 |website=thefirearmblog.com |access-date=27 April 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111165007/http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014/11/18/ingenious-devices-colonel-lewis/ |archive-date=11 January 2018 }}</ref>

A short-barrelled light machine gun variant was developed at the start of the [[Second World War]]. It came with a hand guard and was fed from a 30-round [[Bren]] magazines; however, it was decided by the British authorities to concentrate production on the Bren, which had the advantage of a changeable barrel.{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p= 42}}

== Influence on later designs ==
* The German [[FG 42]] paratrooper's rifle used the Lewis gun's gas assembly and bolt design which were in turn incorporated into the [[M60 machine gun]].<ref name="Sken9" />
* The [[Type 92 machine gun]], the standard hand-held machine gun used by [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] aircraft gunners in WWII, was essentially a copy of the Lewis gun.<ref name="Smith43" />
* The Russian [[PKP Pecheneg machine gun]] uses a streamlined version of the Lewis gun's forced air cooling in a fixed heavy barrel. This enables the Pecheneg to fire more than 600 rounds through the barrel without warping.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Popenker |first1=Max |title=Pecheneg Universal Machine Gun |url=https://modernfirearms.net/en/machineguns/russia-machineguns/pecheneg-eng/ |website=Modern Firearms |date=27 October 2010 |publisher=Modern Firearms.net |access-date=7 July 2020}}</ref>

== Users ==<!--READ FIRST: The users list is a list of countries, armed forces, or other groups using the weapon. An individual user does not qualify for inclusion in the list. This section is for cited entries only. Please do not add entries into this list without a citation from a reliable source. All entries without a citation will be removed. Thank you.-->
* {{flagicon|Algeria}}[[Armée de Libération Nationale]] guerrillas<ref>{{cite book |title=The Algerian War, 1954–62 |series=Men-at Arms 312 |publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]] |place=London |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-85532-658-3 |first=Martin |last=Windrow |page=9}}</ref>
* {{flag|Australia}}{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=39}}
* {{flag|Belgium}}{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=11}}
* {{flag|Biafra}}<ref>{{cite book |title=The Lewis Gun |last=Truby |first=J. David |publisher=Paladin Press |location=Boulder, Colorado |year=1988 |orig-year=1977 |edition=2nd |isbn=978-0-87364-032-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WwQJAQAAMAAJ |page=195}}</ref>
* {{flag|Bolivia}}<ref name="Chaco">{{cite magazine |first=Jean |last=Huon |title=The Chaco War |magazine=Small Arms Review |volume=17 |issue=3 |date=September 2013 |url=http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=1976 |access-date=17 November 2018 |archive-date=19 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819120502/http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=1976 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* {{flag|Canada|1868}}{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=35}}
* {{flagcountry|Republic of China (1912–1949)}} — Used by [[Warlord Era|warlord armies]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Jowett|first=Philip|title=Chinese Warlord Armies 1911–1930|date=10 September 2010|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|isbn=978-1-84908-402-4|series=Men-at-Arms 463|location=|page=23}}</ref> Between 1928 and 1930, [[Liu Xiang (warlord)|Liu Xiang]]'s army acquired 3,000 British Lewis Guns with 15 million cartridges.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shih |first1=Bin |title=China's Small Arms of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) |date=2022 |isbn=979-8473557848 |pages=177 |publisher=Independently published |edition=2021}}</ref>
* {{flag|Czechoslovakia}}<ref name="Czech" />
* {{flag|Dominican Republic}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dale |first=Ashley |date=2011-07-07 |title=Arms of the Dominican Republic |url=https://www.firearmsnews.com/editorial/arms-of-the-dominican-republic/78572 |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=Firearms News |language=en}}</ref>
* {{flag|Estonia}}<ref>{{cite web |title=100 Years of Friendship: UK and Estonia: how it began – Tallinn |url=https://ukandestonia.ee/en_GB/timeline-post/tallinn-2/ |website=ukandestonia.ee |date=2018 |access-date=24 October 2018 |archive-date=11 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411155653/https://ukandestonia.ee/en_GB/timeline-post/tallinn-2/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> — Kept in reserve in 1940.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The military situation in the Baltic States|first=Edgars|last=Andersons|year=2001|issue=6|volume=2001|journal=Baltic Defence Review|url=http://www.bdcol.ee/files/docs/bdreview/10bdr601_backup.pdf|pages=113–153|access-date=23 January 2019|archive-date=24 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124041412/http://www.bdcol.ee/files/docs/bdreview/10bdr601_backup.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* {{flag|Finland}} — Small number captured from Russia and used during the [[Finnish Civil War]]; also used in WW2 by air force and as anti-aircraft weapons. Designated as ''7,62 pk/Lewis'' and ''7,70 pk/Lewis''<ref>{{cite web |title=LIGHT MACHINEGUNS PART 2: Other Light |url=https://www.jaegerplatoon.net/LMG2.htm |date=13 May 2018 |website=jaegerplatoon.net}}</ref>
* {{flag|France}}{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=44}}
* {{flag|Empire of Japan}} — Locally produced as the [[Type 92 machine gun|Type 92]] and adopted by the navy{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=44}}
* {{flag|German Empire}} — It is estimated that the Germans captured more than 10,000 Lewis guns in World War I. Those were converted to fire 8mm Mauser in a special factory in Belgium{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=65}}
* {{flagcountry|Nazi Germany}} — The Wehrmacht captured a significant number of British and Dutch Lewis guns in 1940, and put these into service with second-line troops as the '''l.MG 137(e)''' and '''l.MG 100(h)'''.{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=65}}
* {{flag|Iraq|1924|name=Iraq}} — By the time of the [[Anglo-Iraqi War]], an Iraqi infantry battalion at full strength included 4 anti-aircraft Lewis guns.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lyman |first=Robert |title=Iraq 1941: The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad |publisher=Osprey |year=2006 |isbn=1-84176-991-6 |series=Campaign |location=Oxford|page=26}}</ref>
* {{flag|Ireland}}{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=63}} — Used by [[Irish Republican Army]] in the [[Anglo-Irish War]] & [[Irish Civil War]]. In use by the Irish National Army, then by all services in the Irish Defence Forces. Also used by the [[Provisional IRA]] during the early period of [[The Troubles]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moloney |first1=Ed |last2=Mitchell |first2=Bob |title=The Bryson Incident and the Provisional IRA |url=https://magill.ie/politics/bryson-incident-and-provisional-ira |website=Magill |access-date=10 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cork |first1=Garry |title=Weapons of the IRA 3rd West Cork Brigade |url=https://www.theirishwar.com/weapons-of-the-ira-3-rd-west-cork-brigade/ |website=The Irish War |date=3 March 2011 |access-date=10 April 2022}}</ref>
* {{flag|Israel}}{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=64}}
* {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Italy}} — Infantry variant, modified to be used on aircraft{{sfnp|Grant|2014|pp=16-18}}
* {{flag|Latvia}} — Standard LMG during [[Latvian War of Independence]] and interwar period. Used in both infantry and anti-aircraft roles, ~8000 in stock by April 1936.<ref name="Sken9" />{{sfn|Dambītis|2016|page=225}} Used by [[Latvian Police Battalions]] of WW2.<ref>{{cite book |title=Germany's Eastern Front Allies (2): Baltic Forces |series=Men-at-Arms 363 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |first1=Nigel |last1=Thomas |first2=Carlos |last2=Caballero Jurado |date=25 January 2002 |isbn=978-1-84176-193-0 |pages=46–47}}</ref>
* {{Flag|Lithuania}} — Used in the interwar period{{sfn|Dambītis|2016|page=73}}
* {{flag|Mexico|1893}}<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Guns of the Mexican Revolution |first=J. David |last=Truby |magazine=Small Arms Review |volume=14 |number=11 |date=August 2011 |url=http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=286}}</ref>
* {{flag|Netherlands}}{{sfnp|Grant|2014|pp=63-64}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Lichte mitrailleur Lewis M.20 |url=https://www.grebbeberg.nl/index.php?page=lichte-mitrailleur-lewis-m-20 |website=grebbeberg.nl |access-date=2025-05-05 |language=NL}}</ref>
* {{flag|New Zealand}}<ref>{{cite web|date=15 July 2013|title=Lewis light machine gun|url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/lewis-light-machine-gun|website=nzhistory.govt.nz|publisher=Ministry for Culture and Heritage}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Stack|first1=Wayne|title=The New Zealand Expeditionary Force in World War II|last2=O’Sullivan|first2=Barry|date=20 March 2013|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1-78096-111-8|series=Men-at-Arms 486|page=44}}</ref>
* {{flag|Nicaragua|1908}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Mars Learning: The Marine Corps' Development Of Small Wars Doctrine, 1915–1940 |first=Keith B. |last=Bickel |edition=1st |date=12 January 2001 |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-96759-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnhQDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT188|page=188}}</ref>
* {{flag|Norway}} — Manufactured before WWI<ref name="Segel">{{cite magazine |title=The Lewis Gun |first=Robert G. |last=Segel |volume=18 |number=4 |date=August 2014 |magazine=Small Arms Review |url=http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=2650 |access-date=24 October 2018 |archive-date=11 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511112933/http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=2650 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* {{flag|Philippines|1936}}{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=76}}
* {{flagcountry|Second Polish Republic}}{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=63}}
* {{flag|Portugal}}{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=16}}
* {{flag|Romania}}<ref>{{cite book |title=România în războiul mondial 1916–1919 |volume=I. Documente-Anexe |publisher=Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului |place=București |page=56 |language=ro}}</ref>
* {{flag|Russian Empire}}{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=64}}
* {{flag|Soviet Union|1936}}{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=64}}
* {{flag|Spanish Republic}}<ref>{{cite book |title=The Spanish Civil War 1936–39 (2): Republican Forces |series=Men-at-Arms 498 |first=Alejandro |last=de Quesada |date=20 January 2015 |isbn=978-1-78200-785-2 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |page=38}}</ref>
* {{flag|Tibet}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Tibetan Lewis Gun section |first=Frederick Spencer |last=Chapman |url=http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1998.131.505.html |year=1998 |orig-year=1936}}</ref>
* {{flagicon|Jordan}} [[Jordan|Transjordan]]{{sfnp|Grant|2014|pp=63-64}}
* {{Flag|United Kingdom}}{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=39}}
** {{flag|Barbados|1885}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Armaments year-book : general and statistical information |institution=[[League of Nations]] |place=Geneva |date=1924 |series=Series of League of Nations publications. IX, Disarmament |volume=A.37.1924.IX |chapter=British Empire/ Colonies and Protectorates |chapter-url=http://digital.library.northwestern.edu/league/le0282ah.pdf |ref={{harvid|League of Nations|1924}} |page=123 |access-date=20 October 2018 |archive-date=26 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426221028/http://digital.library.northwestern.edu/league/le0282ah.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
** {{flag|Bermuda|1910}} — [[Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps]]{{sfnp|League of Nations|1924|p=126}}
** {{flag|British Ceylon|name=Ceylon}}{{sfnp|League of Nations|1924|p=179}}
** {{flag|Fiji|1924}}{{sfnp|League of Nations|1924|p=196}}
** {{flag|British Guiana|name=Guiana}}{{sfnp|League of Nations|1924|p=128}}
** {{flag|British Hong Kong|name=Hong Kong}}{{sfnp|League of Nations|1924|p=181}}
** {{flag|British India|name=India}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Sumner|first=Ian|title=The Indian Army 1914–1947|date=25 Aug 2001|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=9781841761961|series=Elite 75|page=49}}</ref>
** {{flagicon image|Flag of the Federated Malay States (1895 - 1946).svg|23px}} [[British Malaya|Malaya]]{{sfnp|League of Nations|1924|pp=185 187}}
** {{flagicon|Mauritius|1923}} [[British Mauritius|Mauritius]]{{sfnp|League of Nations|1924|p=193}}
** {{flag|North Borneo}}{{sfnp|League of Nations|1924|p=177}}
** {{flag|Northern Rhodesia}}{{sfnp|League of Nations|1924|p=156}}
** {{flag|British Somaliland|name=Somaliland}} — [[Somaliland Camel Corps]]{{sfnp|League of Nations|1924|p=172}}
** {{flag|Southern Rhodesia}}{{sfnp|League of Nations|1924|p=173}}
* {{Flag|United States}}{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p=65}}
* {{flag|Vietnam}}<ref name="Sken9" />

== See also ==
* [[DP machine gun]]
* [[Emu War]]
* [[FM 24/29 light machine gun]]
* [[Johnston Model D1918 machine gun]]
* [[List of U.S. Army weapons by supply catalog designation]] SNL A-11

== Citations ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=35em}}

== General and cited references ==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Bullock |first=Arthur |title=Gloucestershire Between the Wars: A Memoir |publisher=The History Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7524-4793-3|pages=62–64, 66, 69–70, 85–86}}
* {{cite book |last=Chant |first=Christopher |year=2001 |title=Small Arms of World War II |location=London |isbn=978-1-84044-089-8 |publisher=Brown Partworks }}
* {{Cite thesis|last=Dambītis|first=Kārlis|date=2016|title=Latvijas armijas artilērija 1919.-1940.g.: Vieta bruņotajos spēkos, struktūra un uzdevumi|trans-title=Artillery of the Latvian Army (1918–1940): structure, tasks and place in the Armed forces|url=https://dspace.lu.lv/dspace/handle/7/31857?locale-attribute=en|publisher=University of Latvia|type=PhD thesis}}
* {{cite book |last=Ford |first=Roger |year=2005 |title=The World's Great Machine Guns from 1860 to the Present Day |location=London |isbn=978-1-84509-161-3 |publisher=Amber Books }}
* {{cite book |last=Glanfield |first=John |year=2001 |title=The Devil's Chariots: The Birth and Secret Battles of the First Tanks |location=Stroud, UK |isbn=978-0-7509-4152-5 |publisher=Sutton }}
* {{cite book |last=Grant |first=Neil |year=2014 |title=The Lewis Gun |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1-78200-791-3 |publisher=Osprey }}
* {{cite book |last=Hogg |first=Ian V. |year=1978 |title=The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Firearms |isbn=978-0-89479-031-7 |publisher=A&W |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/completeillustra00ianv }}
* {{cite book |last1=Hogg |first1=Ian V. |last2=Batchelor |first2=John |year=1976 |title=The Machine-Gun (Purnell's History of the World Wars Special) |location=London |publisher=Phoebus }}
* {{cite book |last=Skennerton |first=Ian |year=1988 |title=British Small Arms of World War 2 |publisher=Ian Skennerton |location=Margate, QLD (Australia) |isbn=978-0-949749-09-3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Skennerton |first=Ian |year=2001 |series=Small Arms Identification Series |issue=14 |title=.303 Lewis Machine Gun |publisher=Arms & Militaria Press |location=Gold Coast, QLD (Australia) |isbn=978-0-949749-42-0 }}
* {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Joseph E. |year=1973 |title=Small Arms of the World |url=https://archive.org/details/smallarmsofworld00smit |url-access=registration |edition=10th Rev. |publisher=Stackpole Books |location=Harrisburg, PA (USA) |isbn=978-0-88365-155-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Smith |first=W. H. B. |year=1979 |orig-year=1943 |title=1943 Basic Manual of Military Small Arms |edition=facs. |publisher=Stackpole Books |location=Harrisburg, PA (USA) |isbn=978-0-8117-1699-4 |ref={{harvid|Smith|1943}}}}
* {{cite journal |last=Townsend |first=Reginald T. |date=December 1916 |title='Tanks' and 'The Hose of Death' |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lPAMVa7esS4C&pg=PA195 |journal=[[World's Work|The World's Work: A History of Our Time]] |volume=XXXIII |pages=195–207 |access-date=4 August 2009 }}
* {{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Textbook of Small Arms 1929 |publisher=[[HMSO]] for War Office |year=1999 |orig-year=1929 |edition=Repr. |location=London; Dural, NSW |oclc=4976525 }}<!--oclc for 1929 ed-->
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |first=William |last=McCleave Easterly |title=The Belgian Rattlesnake: The Lewis Automatic Machine Gun: A Social and Technical Biography of the Gun and Its Inventors |year=1998 |publisher=Collector Grade |isbn=978-0-88935-236-0 |ref={{harvid|Easterly|1998}}}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
* [http://www.fenrir.com/free_stuff/lewis/index.htm#index Scans of Lewis gun manual of 1917]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090227162331/http://world.guns.ru/machine/mg66-e.htm Lewis light machine gun (USA – Great Britain)] at Modern Firearms

{{WWIUSInfWeaponsNav}}
{{WWI British Empire small arms}}
{{WW2 Brit Comm Infantry Guns}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Aircraft guns]]
[[Category:Light machine guns]]
[[Category:Machine guns of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Machine guns of the United States]]
[[Category:Savage Arms]]
[[Category:World War I aircraft guns]]
[[Category:World War I British infantry weapons]]
[[Category:World War I infantry weapons of Australia]]
[[Category:World War I infantry weapons of the United States]]
[[Category:World War I machine guns]]
[[Category:World War II infantry weapons of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II firearms of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II machine guns]]
[[Category:Weapons of the Philippine Army]]
[[Category:.30-06 Springfield machine guns]]
[[Category:.303 British machine guns]]