Original Hotchkiss shoulder protection for machine gunner
First introduced in World War I together with the MG Hotchkiss model M1914.
The shoulder protection is made of thick leather and a metal mesh, similar to that of a chain mail. It allowed the shooter to carry the hot-shot and heavy machine-gun on his shoulder without damaging the uniform. The shoulder protection was used until the Indochina conflict. With the shoulder protection offered, we cannot say exactly at what time it was used. It cannot be ruled out that this was used in the Indochina War or the Algerian War. Unfortunately there are only very few pieces of evidence. The soft leather is green on the front and gray on the back. One link is missing from the chain guard, the rest as well as the leather and the strap are in good condition.
The dimensions are approx. 44x18 cm without the strap
