Technology of War

• Artillery

  • Large cannon type weapon
  • Used before and after an infantry attack
  • Able to fire heavy shells, - up to 810kg - shrapnel, and poisonous gases
  • Excellent in causing destruction, destroying buildings, and trenches
  • Could fire up to 11 miles
  • Caused shellshock
  • 60% of casualties from WW1 was caused by artillery
• Machine Gun

  • Capable of firing over 600 rounds per minute
  • Could defend well with its high firing rate
  • Can fire accurately for 2 and a half minutes
  • Vickers machine gun had a cooling system
  • This meant it was able to fire for hours without overheating
  • Lewis machine gun
  • Able to support infantry
  • Made Germans envious
  • 6 men needed to operate it
• Tank

  • First used at the Battle of Somme
  • Had armour plating;
  • This offered protection to the soldiers inside
  • Could cross all types of terrain;
  • Could flatten barbed wire;
  • Its caterpillar wheels could cross over enemy trenches
  • Can often get stuck in the mud, or break down
  • Required 8 men to operate;
  • This built up body heat, as high as up to 38 degrees
  • Toxic fumes were created from the uncovered engine;
  • Sometimes causing soldiers to faint
• Airplanes

  • First used as intelligence tool
  • Find out where enemy locations are
  • Use of fighter plane
  • Fast and easy to move
  • Had machine guns attached to it
  • Heavier planes were used to carry bombs
• Gas

  • Terror weapon
  • First used:
  • By the Germans at the Battle of Ypres, 1915
  • By the British at the Battle of Loos, 1915
  • Very first gas masks - urine soaked cotton pad
  • By 1915, most men were given a proper gas mask
  • Causes panic, and confusion
  • Unreliable, as it's dependent on the wind direction
  • As seen at the Battle of Loos, which gas flew back onto the British
• Gas - Chlorine Gas

  • Burning pain in the throat, and eyes
  • Breathing becomes extremely difficult
  • Eyes become swollen, and irritated
  • Severe headache
  • Face turns green-yellow colour
• Gas - Mustard Gas

  • Worst kind of skin blistering
  • Huge burn masks
  • Blindness
  • Internal/external bleeding
  • Attacked all areas of the body