The Modified Hotchkiss or known as EYP Hotchkiss machine gun was a Greek improvement of the French Hotchkiss M1926, in turn an evolution of the Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun.
| EYP Hotchkiss (Modified Hotchkiss) | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Greek soldiers of the 8th Infantry Division in the Albanian front, 1940, with the EYP Hotchkiss medium machine gun | |
| Type | Medium machine gun |
| Place of origin | France/Greece |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Greek Army Italian Army(captured) |
| Wars | World War II Greco–Italian War Allied invasion of Sicily |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | EYP / Hotchkiss et Cie |
| Specifications | |
| Rate of fire | 450RPM |
| Sights | Iron |
Design
editExisting stock of French-built weapons was modernized before World War II by the Greek Army's War Materiel Department Eforeia Ylikou Polemou, EYP) of Athens. The main improvement involved the gun's weakest spot, its firing rate which in practice was only 220 rounds/min, about half that of contemporary machine guns. Apart from accomplishing increase to 420 rounds/min and improved stability, the same facilities undertook the production of a large number of auxiliary parts, with minor improvements. The gun was extensively used by the Greek Army during World War II.
Some were captured by Royal Italian Army and used in various places, such as Sicily in 1943.[1]
References
edit- ^ Zaloga, Steven J. (2013). Sicily 1943: The debut of Allied joint operations. Campaign 251. Osprey Publishing. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-78096-127-9.
- Sazanidis, Christos (1995). Τα Όπλα των Ελλήνων [Arms of the Greeks] (in Greek and English). Thessaloniki: Maiandros.