A Machine Gun Company was attached to each Infantry Brigade and their subsequent Division.
| Brigade attached to: | 71st Brigade |
| Division attached to: | 6th Division |
| Formed from the: | Machine Gun Section of 1st Bn. The Leicestershire Regiment |
| Machine Gun Section of 2nd Bn. The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire) Regiment | |
| Machine Gun Section of 9th Bn. The Norfolk Regiment | |
| Machine Gun Section of 9th Bn. The Suffolk Regiment |
The 71st Bde. M.G. Coy. was formed on 14 March 1916 from the Machine Gun Sections of the listed infantry battalions.
On 01 March 1918, it was amalgamated with the 16th, 18th and 192nd Machine Gun Companies to form No. 6 Battalion, Machine Gun Corps.
As a unit of the 6th Infantry Division, it will have taken part in the following battles and engagements.
| 1916 | |
| BATTLES OF THE SOMME | |
| 15 to 18 September and 21 and 22 September | Battle of Flers-Courcelette [XIV. Corps, Fourth Army]. |
| 25 to 28 September | Battle of Morval [XIV. Corps, Fourth Army] |
| 25 September | Capture of Lesboeufs. |
| 09 to 18 October | Battle of the Transloy Ridge. [XIV. Corps, Fourth Army]. |
| 1917 | |
| 13 to 22 April | Fighting on Hill 70 (Lens) [I. Corps, First Army]. |
| 20 November to 03 December | BATTLE OF CAMBRAI. |
| 20 and 21 November | The Tank Attack [III. Corps, Third Army]. |
| 23 to 28 November | Capture of Bourlon Wood [III. Corps, Third Army]. |
| 30 November to 03 December | The German Counter-Attacks [III. Corps, Third Army]. |