TYPES OF WARFARE USED IN WWI

TRENCH WARFARE Gas and guns First time trenches used extensively in war Narrow zig-zags – one behind other 8 feet deep Duckboards to stop drowning Rats, lice, dead friends

Wet, cold, hungry and tired

GAS A Slow and painful death New weapons of WWI Mustard: faint smell. Yellowish – blistered and burned all exposed skin. Chlorine/Diphosgene: dissolved lungs by forming acid when in contact with moist areas (used in projector cannisters later in war) Tearing agents also used – like today’s mace.

Battling the Gases

GUNS - little ones Canadians get Ross Rifles - jam with mud. Steal Enfield Rifles from dead Brits. Bayonets? Useless in modern warfare Machine Guns Introduced – Britain - Vickers; German - Maxim German Maxim: Designed by an American. Killed 90% of casualties of first day of the Somme (more than 20,000 men)

AND BIG ONES (Artillery) First big guns on boats – needed at Front and so converted to land use Howitzers/Mortars – big guns on wheels/or rails – shells fired up and landed down. Cannon – fires shells head on. Weighed tons Best Howitzer could fire 70 miles in 170 seconds- but no accuracy.

Technology of killing British 60-lb Gun Howitzer: These siege guns were used by the Germans to soften forts. The shells they fired weighed 1,786 lbs and they could fire one every 6 minutes.

TANKS New in WWI Armed with big guns (shells) and machine guns (bullets) Weighed between 6 and 30 tonnes! Crews from 3-20 Many could go over trenches Made to move in the mud Canadians on a British Mark IV: Top speed 4 mph Good Armour Armed with either 2 6 lb. guns and 3 machine guns or 5 machine guns

NOISY & SLOW BUT DEADLY British Whippet: 8 mph, but less firepower. 3 man crew. Gas tank outside! German Sturmpanzerwagen A7V Sturm = Storm, Panzer = Amour, Wagen = Car Best armour, 1 main gun, 6 machine guns

War on the water Navy thought to be key to war - build-up Battleships armed to teeth – Dreadnaughts and Battle Cruisers German U-boats taking out British ships British stop sailing. Fleet sits! HMS Dreadnought – Built 1906 – More than 30 models followed before WWI!!!

U-BOATS UC 44 Class U-boat: In 1917 there were 146 U-boats on patrol 1) Aft torpedo tubes 2) Electric motor 3) Main engine 4) Control room 5) Mine tubes 6) Forward torpedo tubes 7) Crew quarters Took out supply ships too: Lusitania which brought U.S. into War. In 1917 there were 146 U-boats on patrol

56 mph; deadly bomb droppers BATTLE IN THE SKIES Zeppelins used by Germans to bomb civilians (only 557 died!) Barely 10 years after Wright’s first flight – planes used to wage war Hundreds of models were rushed off production lines German Zeppelin 56 mph; deadly bomb droppers

PLANES AND ACES I Sopwith Camel – most victorious model: Canadian aces loved this plane! Roy Brown took out Manfred von Richthofen flying this plane. Don McLaren shot down 54 planes in his Camel! Neiuport 17 - Flown by famous Billy Bishop: 25 victories in 12 days

Planes and aces II Fokker D. VII: The best German plane of the war: Richthofen’s (The Red Baron, with 80 victories) favorite. Albatross III: An improvement on two earlier models… but the wings kept breaking

And it all adds up to DEATH British: 1 million (Canada 60,000) France: 1.3 million Russia: 1.7 million Germany & Allies: 3.5 million Losses of life per day: More than 5,500 people!!!