Artillery

Artillery was the most lethal weapon of the war. Artillery guns were the new and upgraded versions of cannons. But never in the history where there were so many of them used in one single war. Artillery guns were to have a huge impact: they accounted for over 60% of the fatalities on western front. Huge artillery pieces fired with pinpoint accuracy - using only aerial photos and maths they could score a hit on the first shot. The constant noise of explosions and fear of death by shell-fire caused some

men to suffer a form of nervous breakdown known as 'shell shock'.

However, there were limitations to artillery. One was that the trenches were zig-zagged so that explosions did not travel down the length of the trench. Another

limitation was that German dug-outs were very deep and lined with concrete. This meant that after a bombardment, there were enough defenders left to fight. Finally, artillery had little impact on the barbed wire that guarded the trenches.

Machine Guns

Machine guns inflicted terrible casualties in World War One. Men who went over-the-top in trenches stood little chance when the enemy opened up with their machine guns. Machine guns were one of the main killers in the war and accounted for many thousands of deaths.Machine guns could accurately shoot hundreds of rounds a minute and the standard military tactic of the war was the infantry charge. Casualties were huge. Many soldiers barely got out of their trench before they were cut down.To ensure that the machine gun's barrel did not overheat, the weapon was cooled using a large water cooling jacket. An ammunition belt fed it bullets. A machine gun could shoot 450 rounds a minute.

At the start of the war, senior British army officers were less than sure about the effectiveness of the machine gun. Therefore most battalions were only issued with two.This was a lot less than the Germans who were much surer as to the effectiveness of the

machine gun. The Germans placed their machine guns slightly in front of their lines to ensure than the machine gun crews were given a full view of the battlefield. At the Battle of the Somme, their efficiency lead to the deaths of thousands of British troops within minutes of the battle starting. The main limitation of the machine gun was that it was very heavy and so was not very portable. This meant that it was mainly a defensive weapon. Another problem was that it could overheat or jam in the middle of a battle.

Barbed Wire

Trenches on the Western Front were protected by thick barbed-wire entanglements. Barbed-wire was usually placed far enough from the trenches to prevent the enemy from approaching close enough to lob grenades in. Sometimes barbed-wire entanglements were set up in order to channel attacking infantry into machine-gun fire.

Barbed-wire entanglements were almost impossible to cross. Before a major attack, soldiers were sent out to cut a path with wire-cutters.

Another tactic was to place a Bangalore Torpedo (a long pipe filled with explosive) and detonate it under the wire.

Heavy bombardment was used to destroy the barbed-wire. However, many soldiers disputed the fact that shelling was capable of creating a gap in the wire. One soldier remarked: "Who told them that artillery fire would pound such wire to pieces, making it possible to get

through? Any Tommy could have told them that shell fire lifts wire up and drops it down, often in a worse tangle than before."

Another soldier pointed out, being caught on the wire was a terrible experience: "One night we heard a cry, the cry of one in excruciating pain; then all was quiet again. Someone in his death agony, we thought. But an hour later the cry came again. It never ceased the whole night... Later we learned that it was one of our own men hanging on the wire. Nobody could do anything for him; two men had already tried to save him, only to be shot themselves. We prayed desperately for his death. He took so long about it, and if he went on much longer we should go mad. But on the third day his cries were stopped by death."

One limitation of barbed wire was that if you wanted to attack, you had to cross your own barbed wire first.

Gas

Poison gas was probably the most feared of all weapons in the war. Poison gas was indiscriminate and could be used on the trenches even when no attack was going on. Whereas the machine gun killed more soldiers overall during the war, death was frequently instant or not drawn out and

soldiers could find some shelter. A poison gas attack meant soldiers having to put on crude gas masks and if these were unsuccessful, an attack could leave a victim in agony for days and weeks before he finally succumbed to his injuries.  

The first gas used by the Germans was chlorine. Chlorine is a powerful irritant that can inflict damage to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. At high concentrations it can cause death by asphyxiation (being unable to breathe).

Soon both phosgene and mustard gases were used. Phosgene was effective as its impact was felt only 48 hours after it had been inhaled and by then it would be too late. It would cause you to vomit up yellow fluid.

Mustard gas was first used by the Germans in 1917. This gas caused both internal and external blisters on the victim within hours of being exposed to it. Such damage to the lungs and other internal organs were very painful and occasionally fatal. Many who did survive were blinded by the gas.

Though poison gas was a terrifying weapon, it had a number of limitations. The number of fatalities was relatively few. The British army had 188,000 gas casualties but only 8,100 of these died. Sometimes the wind would change direction and gas could be blown over your own troops.Armies quickly produced gas masks that gave protection as long as sufficient warning was given of a gas attack. Soldiers also used make-shift gas masks if they were caught in the open without a gas mask during a gas attack - cloth soaked in their own urine and placed over the mouth was said to give protection against a chlorine attack. By the end of the war, effective gas masks were available to most soldiers.

Tanks

Tanks were firstly used in World War 1 during the battle of the Somme. This weapon used for attack was

made out of steel and was driven by caterpillar tracks. It had armour that could stop bullets. ‘Male’ tanks had artillery canons and ‘female’ tanks had machine guns.The key advantage of the tank was that it could cross no-man’s land. It was not stopped by machine guns or barbed wire. It was also extremely frightening for German troops who had never seen anything like it before. When used in large groups, the tank was able to protect soldiers and win battles, such as the Battle of Cambrai. One other key strength was that it could destroy German pill-boxes, which were deadly to infantry.However, the tank had its limitations. One limitation is that the tank was very slow, travelling at about 4 mph. In addition, tanks were unreliable and often broke down or got stuck in muddy conditions. Life for a tank crew was extremely hard. It was claustrophobic, hot and cramped inside a tank. This was made worse by the hot metal that would fly about if the tank was struck by bullets. Furthermore, tanks were vulnerable to shellfire.

Aircraft

 The first recorded powered flight was in 1903 when the Wright brothers flew their aircraft. Therefore it could only be expected that in 1914 aircraft remained remarkably crude. In the autumn of 1914 a new recruit to the Royal Flying Corps had a greater chance of being killed during training than during combat.  Aircraft were initially mainly used for reconnaissance; for example, feeding back information for artillery strikes, recording German troops movements etc. If by chance German and Allied airmen came across one another, aerial combat was crude but deadly. Pilots flew in cramped

cockpits so the carrying of parachutes was impossible even if it had been allowed. As World War One progressed, the military believed that aircraft had a far greater value than just aerial photography. Two entirely different forms of aircraft developed – the fighter and the bomber. By 1918, there was no comparison between the aircraft that finished the war and the aircraft that had been at the start. Fighter planes fought ‘dog fights’ in the skies. The Germans invented a mechanism which allowed machine guns to fire through the propeller blades. The Allies soon copied this.

 At the start of World War One bomb aiming was crude in the extreme. The pilot – or co-pilot, simply dropped a small bomb over the side of the aircraft in the general direction of a target. If a bomb dropped anywhere near a target it was through good luck more than anything else. By the end of the war aircraft

that could be recognised as long-range bombers had been developed. While the deliberate targeting of civilians was not a new military tactic, bombers made an aerial attack possible. Also a nation’s means of war production – mainly factories – could also be attacked from the air. Such a consideration would have been impossible in 1914. By 1918, it was a reality.   

However, aircraft still had their limitations. They were unreliable and many pilots were killed in crashes, not by enemy guns. Long range bombers were very slow, and vulnerable to enemy fighters or to gunfire from the ground.