Complex sentence: The Mle 1917 was widely distributed among French infantry during 1918 but it was not well received by the troops, being found too heavy, too long and too difficult to service and maintain in the trenches.
Split into simpler sentences: The Mle 1917 was widely distributed among French infantry during 1918. However it was not well received by the troops, being found too heavy, too long and too difficult to service and to maintain in the trenches.