Point Five Heavy Machine Gun•
Point Five Heavy Machine Gun.
Triptych, 80 x 28 inches, oil on canvas,
2006 – 2008.
This is by far the most fearsome of all the
weapons I painted. While working on it I had many conversations with the
sentries assigned to mind me (or it). “Its no joke to be on the business end of
one of these”, said one. “And when were you ever on the business end?” I asked.
“In the Leb. They were always firing these at us. That’s why we got them.” He
then showed me some scars on his knee. “I was in an observation post and they
let off a burst and I ran down into the stairwell. Some shrapnel got me.” “But
surely you could get behind a wall or something?” “The rounds go straight through
a concrete block wall”. “What about a bunker.” “No, sure you just keep firing
at the same place and it drills through.” “So what do you do?” I asked. “You
either run. Or you dig down into the ground.”
In a water-cooled form it was on the First
World War battlefield and in its present form on the battlefields of the Second
World War. It was mounted in the wings of spitfires and is often seen mounted
on jeeps, hummers and tanks. It can fire 400 rounds a minute up to 5000 yards.
The handle on the barrel is to replace the barrel when it heats up to white
heat after only a couple of minutes firing. The tripod has markings on it so
you can “dial in” a prearranged target at night. Each round is half an inch in
diameter and about 3 inches long. It fires in a cone shape, known as the beaten
zone. If you are unlucky enough to be in this area a single round will take off
a limb or simply blow a hole the size of a football through your body.