At one stage or another, almost every unit in the British Army has used a Vickers Machine Gun in one form or another.
At the introduction of the Mk. I in 1912, the Machine Gun was held in the Machine Gun Section of Infantry Battalions. The Infantry Regiments of the time were:
The British Army Order of Battle for 1912 - 1915 and information on those units is available here.
In addition to this, Motor Machine Gun Batteries were formed as part of the Royal Field Artillery and attached to each Division as a mobile asset.
It went to war with the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 in this manner and, apart from an increase in the number of guns from two to four in February 1915, remained so until the 26th October 1915.
This date saw the formation of the Machine Gun Corps and the guns were centralised and formed into Machine Gun Companies and Squadrons which were attached to Infantry and Cavalry Brigades. In 1918, further centralisation took place and the companies were combined and formed into Machine Gun Battalions which were then attached to Divisions.
When the Machine Gun Corps was disbanded in 1922, the guns reverted to service as a Machine Gun Platoon of the Infantry Battalion, which later became a Machine Gun Company. The Cavalry used their MG assets as a Machine Gun Squadron of a Cavalry Regiment.
The Order of Battle for the British Army in 1922, and further information on those units is available here.
However, with the eve of war approaching again, 1936 saw the reorganisation and mechanisation of the Army and centalisation of MG assets took place once again. Rather than form a separate Corps, the centralisation took place in the form of converting Infantry Regiments into Divisional (Machine Gun) or Divisional (Support) Battalions.
The Regiments that had Battalions converted to the new role were the:
Aside from these units which were attached to the Infantry and Armoured Divisions of the time, there were a few Infantry Battalions which retained their Machine Gun assets within their Support Companies. These were primarily those Battalions which performed specialist roles including the Parachute Battalions of the Parachute Regiment and the Airlanding Battalions of the 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions which were:
1st Airborne Division:
6th Airborne Division:
On a similar theme, the Motor Battalions of the Armoured Brigades of Armoured Divisions and Independent Armoured Brigades also retained the Vickers MGs within their Support Companies and these units were:
The other units which retained the Vickers, in various forms, for the duration of the war included 'specialist' and 'elite' units:
The Home Guard were also issued with Mk. I and American-made M1915 Vickers MGs.
With the cessation of hostilities in 1945, the British Army had a large-scale release of personnel and there was insufficient numbers to retain the quantity of Infantry Divisions that had been in place during the war. Therefore, the MG assets were once again split up and returned to Machine Gun Platoons within Support Companies of Infantry Battalions. This is how the guns were to remain in use until their disbandment in 1968.
It is also worth pointing out that while not 'armed' with the Vickers, some units had a major part to play in the role of the gun within the Army. These were the Armourers of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and the Instructors of the Small Arms School Corps.
The Vickers Gas-Operated No. 1 was used by several units of the Army; although designed as an RAF weapon. It was used by the Reconnaissance Corps on light armoured vehicles, as well as jeeps of the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron. It was also used on similar armoured vehicle of the Royal Armoured Corps and on some tanks.
In addition to 'regular' usage of the Vickers, the No. 1 gun was also used by the Special Air Service and Long Range Desert Group mounted on jeeps and some larger trucks. The No. 2 gun was adapted for use by Army Commando units in the ground role.
The .5-inch Vickers MGs were used by the Royal Armoured Corps fitted within light Tanks as the main and secondary armaments. The units of the RAC were generally part of Armoured Divisions and Independent Armoured Brigades. This was only for a limited period from the time of their introduction in the 1930s through to the mid-part of the Second World War (approximately 1942).
When the guns became too limited for use as a tank weapon, some were used by the Long Range Desert Group as a heavy machine gun mounted on the rear of lorries.