Vickers, 0.303in, Gas Operated, Mk. 1, No 1

The 1930s saw major upgrades to aircraft-mounted machine guns. The Vickers Gas Operated machine gun was selected to replace the Lewis gun and was introduced into Royal Air Force service in 1937.

The VGO was a .303in calibre rapid firing machine gun operated by a gas cylinder located below the barrel. It saw RAF service in the light and medium bombers of the late 1930s, including the Fairey Battle, Handley Page Hampden and Bristol Blenheim. Rendered obsolete by the belt fed Browning .303in gun the VGO had been mostly replaced on RAF aircraft by 1945.