were the German soldiers chained to guns during World War 1

were the German soldiers chained to guns during World War 1

no

This enduring myth of WWI was caused by the fact that the German model of the Maxim gun (MG08)was so heavy that it required a leather covered chain belt for the gunner to move it without wearing his arms out. This chain belt had metal ring clasps that fit onto the gun and its jacket and was worn around the gunner's torso crosswise like a bandolier. When Allied soldiers found dead German gunners with this belt clasped onto their guns (having been killed while moving it)they began the legend of the chained gunners, a myth reiterated in even some modern movie productions like the Anzacs:The War down under miniseries. Chain based carrying devices weren't unique to German gunners, their French counterparts wore chainmail and leather shoulder guards for hefting their 55 pound Hotchkiss guns on their shoulders.