Yunnan Clique use of FM24/29 machinegun?

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Hama
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Yunnan Clique use of FM24/29 machinegun?

#1

Post by Hama » 15 Dec 2016, 16:05

I noticed wikipedia claims that the Yunnan Clique army used the French Chatellerault FM24/29 light machinegun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_24/29_ ... _gun#Users

Does anyone know any details on this? For example how many they had, when they had them, where they got them from (France? Indochina? somewhere else?), or any other information?

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Re: Yunnan Clique use of FM24/29 machinegun?

#2

Post by Stephen_Rynerson » 18 Dec 2016, 02:38

I checked my copy of Arming the Chinese (Second Edition) by Anthony B. Chan and, while it has a section on arms sales to Yunnan, there's no specific mention of sales of machine guns of any sort after 1920, but it's not a comprehensive source. I also looked at Provincial Militarism and Foreign Relations in China: Yunnan Province and the Western Powers, 1910-1937 by Thomas E. McGrath, which mentions French arms shipments into Yunnan but only in vague terms. One useful point from McGrath though, that you should probably keep in mind in looking at other sources about arms shipments to Yunnan, is that the French also used Yunnan as a conduit for shipping arms deeper into China, which McGrath states makes it difficult to determine what French arms were actually for Yunnanese use.

That said, you may want to try checking one of David S. Sutton's books on the Yunnan Army -- Provincial Militarism and the Chinese Republic: The Yunnan Army, 1905-25 or The Rise and Decline of the Yunnan Army, 1909-1925 -- neither of which I own and both of which are unfortunately only available in "snippet view" in Google Books.


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Re: Yunnan Clique use of FM24/29 machinegun?

#3

Post by Hama » 18 Dec 2016, 21:18

Thanks for your advice. I've only heard of the first book (Arming the Chinese). I'll see if I can find the others you mentioned anywhere, or at least someone who owns them who I can ask...

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Re: Yunnan Clique use of FM24/29 machinegun?

#4

Post by Stephen_Rynerson » 18 Dec 2016, 22:45

Hama wrote:Thanks for your advice. I've only heard of the first book (Arming the Chinese). I'll see if I can find the others you mentioned anywhere, or at least someone who owns them who I can ask...
You're welcome! I went ahead and ordered a copy of Sutton's Provincial Militarism... for myself, and I will update this thread if there's anything of interest in it. I think the Yunnan Army... title is actually Sutton's dissertation or thesis, so it may not be too easy to get a copy, unfortunately.

Other sources of uncertain quality that you might be able to find on microfilm if you live in a large enough city are the China Monthly Review or China Weekly Review, as I know they would randomly have reporting on shipments (or rumors of shipments) of arms to various warlords. I don't know how good their coverage of Yunnan in the 1920s would be though, and I'm not aware of them being available in any machine-searchable databases either.

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Re: Yunnan Clique use of FM24/29 machinegun?

#5

Post by Hama » 18 Dec 2016, 23:09

Thanks, any info you find would be nice.
I doubt they have much on microfilm in the country where I live re: contemporary accounts about China, but it's worth a shot. I do know someone with access to some online academic databases though so maybe the thesis is something I could find. I'll ask them when I get the chance.

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Re: Yunnan Clique use of FM24/29 machinegun?

#6

Post by Stephen_Rynerson » 31 Dec 2016, 07:05

Hama, I received my copy of Sutton's Provincial Militarism.... It unfortunately doesn't have any specific detail on foreign arms shipments (French or otherwise) after 1920. I would say though that if you're interested in warlordism in Yunnan, it would still be a book worth checking out.

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Re: Yunnan Clique use of FM24/29 machinegun?

#7

Post by Hama » 31 Dec 2016, 13:41

Alright, thanks for helping. I'll see if I can find that book anywhere.

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