The Technology of War

1. The Technology of War

2. Aims: • Identify how new technology was used to break the deadlock on the Western Front. • Examine the impact of the machine gun on trench warfare.

3. Prior to World War One the British army relied heavily upon cavalry during battles. • Cavalry were soldiers who fought on horseback. • Using horses meant greater mobility and speed.

4. As the war progressed it was realised that cavalry struggled in the modern theatre of war. • The use of barbed wire and machine guns made their advancement almost impossible.

5. Each British soldier was issued with a Lee Enfield Rifle. • An experienced soldier could fire up to 15 rounds per minute.

6. Mortars and Grenades • Mortars and grenades were used widely during WW1. • A mortar was a small explosive which could be thrown by hand or fired from a rifle. • The ‘Mills bomb’ was created by William Mills and was became popular from 1915 onwards. • The ‘Mills Bomb’ had a 4 second fuse. This meant that 4 seconds after the pin was pulled out, the bomb would explode. • Timing was essential – the fuse had to be long enough to allow the soldier to take cover, but not long enough to allow the enemy to throw the grenade back.

7. By the end of World War One around 33 million Mills Bombs had been issued to British soldiers.

8. The Machine Gun • The machine gun was responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths in World War One. • The development of the machine gun allowed soldiers to fire at advancing enemy troops and kill/injure large numbers. • Unlike the modern image of a machine gun, World War One machine guns were stationery and required up to 6 men to operate them.

9. The machine gun was positioned on a tri-pod and had the firing power of approximately 80 rifles. • Despite this, they could be highly unreliable and constantly over-heated.

10. Heavy artillery was also used to fire shells over a great distance and destroy enemy trenches.