Hotchkiss M1909 light machine gun.
The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade was equipped with Hotchkiss light machine guns after the First Battle of Gaza, March 1917. Each mounted squadron (160 men) received four Hotchkiss guns in place of the single Lewis machine gun they had been equipped with previously.
The French designed Hotchkiss gun was light, durable, and easy to operate. It fired .303-inch rounds from a 10-round metal strip which was carried in a bandolier. The gun, a spare barrel and 900 rounds could be transported on a single packhorse. Two ammunition packhorses travelled with every mounted squadron, each carrying 2400 rounds.
Auckland War Memorial Museum
Reference: W1494
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