1873
EARLY MACHINE GUN USE
The British Army and Royal Navy use early Gatling and Maxim machine guns in colonial wars from the 1870s onwards. This includes the Third Anglo-Ashanti War (1873-74), Anglo-Zulu War (1879), Battle of Omdurman (1898) and the Second Boer War (1899 – 1902).
4 August 1914
OUTBREAK OF FIRST WORLD WAR
At the start of the war, the British Army has no dedicated unit
