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World War I saw the mass use of four new weapon
styles.
- The machine gun. While it is true that the
machine gun had been used in and before the Boer War (South African War) it did
not really come into it's own until WWI.
- The machine gun is covered in
other parts of this site. The machine gun MUST be
considered with barbed wire as its main support. Never
before had barbed wire been used as it was in France and
Flanders.
| During
the Spanish American War, Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders chose
to defend their camps with the help of barbed wire. In
turn-of-the-century South Africa, five-strand fences were linked
to blockhouses sheltering British troops from the encroachment
of Boer commandos. During World War I, barbed wire was used as a
military weapon. It was a formidable barrier along the front,
stretching from Switzerland to the English Channel. |
- Tanks. The
British introduced tanks to the battlefield (Haig was a big
supporter, naturally, as he was cavalry and they hate to walk) but
the Germans quickly built their own "land ships" as they
were called. The 42nd were closely involved with tank support at the
battle of Hamel, 4 July 1918. Click
for details of tanks including photos.
- Aeroplanes. The
new fangled flying machines got a big boost during WWI. The 42nd Bn
took part in what was the first re-supply by air ever made on the
Western front (probably anywhere in the world) during the Battle of
Hamel. To see the planes Click here.
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Gas was invented (and very
successfully used) as a terror weapon meant to instil confusion and panic
among the enemy prior to an offensive. It was a sort of physiological
weapon with the non-lethal tearing agents inflicting as much panic as the
dreaded mustard gas. Sometimes the tear gas would be sent over first to
get soldiers to remove their gas masks thereby making them more vulnerable
to a later attack with one of the more deadly types.
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After
the first German chlorine gas attacks, Allied troops were supplied with
masks of cotton pads that had been soaked in urine. It was found that the
ammonia in the pad neutralized the chlorine. These pads were held over the
face until the soldiers could escape from the poisonous fumes. Other
soldiers preferred to use handkerchiefs, a sock, a flannel body-belt,
dampened with a solution of bicarbonate of soda, and tied across the mouth
and nose until the gas passed over. Soldiers found it difficult to fight
like this and attempts were made to develop a better means of protecting
men against gas attacks. By July 1915 soldiers were given efficient gas
masks and anti-asphyxiation respirators.
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- Lachrymator (tearing agent)
- Much like today's tear gas and mace, this gas
caused temporary blindness and greatly inflamed the nose and
throat of the victim. A gas mask offered very good protection from
this type of gas. xylyl bromide was
a popular tearing agent since it was easily brewed.
- Asphyxiant
- These are the poisonous gases. This class
includes chlorine, phosgene and
diphosgene. Chlorine inflicts damage by forming
hydrochloric acid when coming in contact with moisture such as
found in the lungs and eyes. It is lethal at a mix of 1:5000
(gas/air) whereas phosgene is deadly at 1:10,000 (gas/air)
- twice as toxic! Diphosgene, first used by the Germans at
Verdun on 22-Jun-1916, was deadlier still and could not be
effectively filtered by standard issue gas masks.
- Chlorine gas
destroyed the respiratory organs of its victims and this led to a
slow death by asphyxiation. One nurse described the death of one
soldier who had been in the trenches during a chlorine gas attack.
"He was sitting on the bed, fighting for breath, his lips
plum coloured. He was a magnificent young Canadian past all hope
in the asphyxia of chlorine. I shall never forget the look in his
eyes as he turned to me and gasped: I can’t die! Is it possible
that nothing can be done for me?" It was a horrible death,
but as hard as they tried, doctors were unable to find a way of
successfully treating chlorine gas poisoning.
- Blistering Agent (Mustard
Gas)
- Dichlorethylsulphide: the most dreaded of
all chemical weapons in World War I - mustard
gas. Unlike the other gases which attack the
respiratory system, this gas acts on any exposed, moist skin. This
includes, but is not limited to, the eyes, lungs, armpits and
groin. A gas mask could offer very little protection. The oily
agent would produce large burn-like blisters wherever it came in
contact with skin. It also had a nasty way of hanging about in low
areas for hours, even days, after being dispersed. A soldier
jumping into a shell crater to seek cover could find himself
blinded, with skin blistering and lungs bleeding.
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- Gas was spread in the early days by
having containers of it and breaking them with rifle fire. Later it was
mostly spread by artillery shell.
- This table lists deaths and non-fatal casualties
caused by gas during World War I. The editor finds it a touch ironic that
Germany, who invented the practice, suffered more casualties than the
British Empire
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| Country |
Non-Fatal |
Deaths |
Total |
| British
Empire |
180,597 |
8,109 |
188,706 |
| France |
182,000 |
8,000 |
190,000 |
| United
States |
71,345 |
1,462 |
72,807 |
| Italy |
55,373 |
4,627 |
60,000 |
| Russia |
419,340 |
56,000 |
475,340 |
| Germany |
191,000 |
9,000 |
200,000 |
| Austria-Hungary |
97,000 |
3,000 |
100,000 |
| Others |
9,000 |
1,000 |
10.000 |
| Total |
1,205,655 |
91,198 |
1,296,853 |
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