Weapons of World War One

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Technology and the effects on the Conduct of War
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Layout of the trenches

• Zigzagging reduced damage from the air.
• Trench systems were made up of several lines of
  trenches
• Communication Trenches connected each line for
  movement of troops
• Blind alleys slowed down an enemy advance
• Barbed wire slowed down the enemy

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Weapons of World War One
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The Rifle
This was the standard weapon of the infantry
soldier. It could fire 10 to 20 bullets a
minute. British soldiers used the Lee Enfield
rifle. The bayonet was a stabbing weapon
attached to rifle used in hand to hand fighting
 
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The Machine Gun

• Nicknamed queen of the battlefield
• Fired 500 bullets a minute within a range of a
  mile.
• Caused severe casualties and very important in
  defending a trench.

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Gas attack

• Chlorine gas first used by Germans in Battle of
  Ypres in 1915. It was released from canisters.
  Gas drifted across No Mans Land and caused
  soldiers to choke.
• Phosgene gas, irritated the lungs and strained
  the heart. This was used from late 1915.
• Mustard Gas used in 1917 caused burns and
  blindness.
• At first soldiers put cloths soaked in their own
  urine over their faces.
• The issue of gas masks restricted the number of
  deaths from gas attacks. http//www.firstworldwar.
  com/weaponry/gas.htm

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Mobile
TANKS
Armour Plated
CaterpillarTracks
Tanks could cross no mans land, crush barbed
wire, crush trenches and wipe out defenders with
machine guns. They protected the infantry
advancing behind them.
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Use of Tanks

• Britain first built tanks in secret
• 40 tanks used in Battle of Somme in September
  1916 . Many broke down or got stuck in the mud.
• 1917 better use of the tank was made at Battle of
  Cambrai. At dawn without any artillery
  bombardment, 380 tanks moved along a 6 mile
  front, followed by infantry. Lack of infantry
  back up prevented lasting breakthrough.

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Eventually in 1918, the tank played a major part
in helping the end the stalemate on the Western
Front. In the final allied advance about 450
were used to break through enemy lines.
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Air Power

• German Zeppelins were hydrogen filled.
• They flew at 60mph and dropped bombs on
  industrial targets.
• But their size made them easy targets for
  searchlights and anti-aircraft guns.

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Air Power

• Aeroplanes were used for reconnaissance. Flew
  over enemy lines and gathered info. about troop
  position and movements
• Between 1914-16 fighting in the air developed
  between single armed planes

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Aeroplanes

• German Gotha bombers attacked Britain in 1917.
• British Flying Corps were first branch of the
  army. In 1918 the British Royal Air Force
  established.
• The aeroplane did not play an important part in
  WW1. It caused a few thousand civilian deaths and
  damage to property.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v3I-VyjZk2a0feature
  related

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