A machine gun is only as good as the ammunition reaching it, and feeding one was brutal work. An M1919 .30 cal in sustained fire could burn through a 250-round belt in well under a minute, so every gun needed men shuttling loaded cans forward — each can heavy, each trip made toward the position that was drawing the most fire. The ammunition bearer got none of the gunner's glory, but without him the gun fell silent at the worst possible moment. He carried a rifle of his own too, and the job of hauling ammo often fell to riflemen pulled from the line when the weapons squad ran short of hands.

The figure kneels in early-war khaki with an M1 helmet and M1923 cartridge belt, an M1 Garand steadied across his knee, a .30 cal can in one hand and a captured Luger tucked away as a trophy. He is the supply link in a weapons-squad diorama: run the ammunition up to the "Suppressing Fire" M1919 Team, with the Infantryman Kneeling Firing M1 Garand covering and the Infantry NCO Shouting directing the fire.

W. Britain model 25156. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single kneeling foot figure with a .30 cal ammunition can, on a sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.