Technology in War

By: Bill YeeMichael Chen

CHC 2D1

Tanks

• Armoured chariot weapon

• Used by British• Crossed no man’s land• Firepower, steel plates,

caterpillar track• Many failures; proved

worthiness in 1917-

2

Poison Gas• First used by Allies

unsuccessfully• Used by Germans in Second

Battle of Ypres• Banned by international

treaty; still used• Unreliable• Made from

chlorine/mustard/phosgene• Resulted in asphyxiation,

internal/external bleeding• Gas masks given to troops

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Casualities & Deaths from Poison Gas

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

400000

450000

500000

British

Empir

eFra

nceRussi

a USA

Austria

-Hung

ary

German

yIta

lyOthers

Countries

Loss

es

Deaths

Casualties

U-Boats

• Submarine vessel• Germany had largest

fleet – 400+ ships• Allies defeated U-boats

by new mine technology, Q-ships & depth charges

4

Zeppelins• Flew high over towns &

dropped bombs• German bombed British on

several occasions• Kills many civilians• Canadian flyers skilled at

attacking zeppelins• Canadians get 50% of

zeppelin kills• Planes fire-production bullets

turns zeppelins into flames

5

Planes

• Included:– Fighters– Heavy bombers– Ground attack

• Early in War:– Only stayed in air for few

hrs– Pilots unarmed– No marking on planes– Bombing from balloons

forbidden6

Planes Cont’d

• Later in War:– Machine gun developed– Pilots needed to shoot

through propeller– 1915, French invented

steel deflectors– Germans improved

invention• Famous Aces:– Billy Bishop, Red Baron

7

Machine Guns• Deadly weapon

accounted for most causalities in trench warfare

• Packed men easy prey for spray of 100s of rounds/min

• Aircraft machine gun w/ special mechanism allowed bullets to pass through propellers

8

Bayonet

• Blade attached to rifle barrel

• Used for close combat• Advantage:– close crowded combat

• Disadvantage:– can injure fellow soldiers

• Soldiers preferred carrying a blade

9

Grenades

• Beginning of War:– Germans ahead in

development (70 000 hand, 106 000 rifle)

• Men tasked to bomb trenches (bomb party)

• Bomb parties grew in # as war progressed

10

Grenades Cont’d

• British bomb party:– 2 throwers– 2 carriers– 2 bayonet men– 2 spare men

• 2 types of detonation– Timed (most preferred)– Impact

• 50+ types of grenades• Mills bomb (most liked)

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Trench Mortars

• Mortar – short, stumpy tube designed to fire projectile at steep angle to fall on enemy

• Consisted of smooth metal tube fixed to base plate w/ light bipod mount

• Stokes Mortar fired 22 bombs/min w/ max range of ~1 km

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Flame Throwers• To spread fire w/ burning

fuel• Brought terror to English &

French when used by Germans

• Germans tested 2 models:– Klein– Gross

• Cylinder would explode if shot

• Germans had 650, British & France had none

13

Rifles• Most crucial infantry

weapon• Early 19th century:

– single shot rifle• Late 19th century:

– Bolt-action, multiple rounds from spring loaded clip rifles

• Rifle models:– German Mauser– British Lee-Enfield– US Springfield

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Works Cited

Duffy, Michael. "Weapons of War - Introduction." First World

War.com - A Multimedia History of World War One. 22 Sept. 2009.

Web. 19 Sept. 2010.

<http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/index.htm>.

Quinlan, Don, Rick Mahoney, Doug Baldwin, and Kevin Reed. The

Canadian Challenge. Toronto: Oxford UP, 2008. Print.

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THE ENDThank you for listening.