1. WWI: Weapons & New Technology
Lesson starter
Use the pictures to identify some of the key weapons used on the Western Front in the First World War.

2. Weapons Lesson starter: Describe the machine gun as a weapon.
How useful a weapon was the Grenade?

3. Weapons & New Technology WWI
Lesson starter:
What evidence of new technology can you spot in this photo?

4. We are learning to…
Identify some of the weaponry used on the Western Front
Describe the use of each

5. I can… Create a mind map on the technology of war
Answer an N5 level question on new technology

6. Start a mind map with the title ‘World War I Weapons’
As we move through the slides, add on information about each weapon you hear about

7. Background… Before 1914, armies had relied on cavalry to win wars
Machine guns and barbed wire in WWI meant new technology was essential…

8. Lee Enfield Rifle Each British soldier had one of these
The clip held 6 bullets and you had to pull the bolt back each time you fired.
Professional soldiers could shoot 15 rounds per min but a new recruit, 8 per min

10. Grenades (Mills Bomb) Small explosives, hand thrown
Remove safety pin, four second fuse
When detonated it split into tiny fragments.
Used against unprotected soldiers
would not damage tanks.

11. The German stick grenade had no fuse, giving it’s target no time to take cover

12. Artillery WWI the war of ‘big guns’
These were needed for bombarding trenches
‘howitzers’
Could fire 900kg shells over 18km
Shrapnel killed more soldiers than any other weapon

16. Vickers Machine Gun Excellent defensive weapon
Not a mobile weapon as very heavy
Required a crew of 4
600 bullets per minute or 10 bullets per second!
Second biggest killer of infantry.

20. Gas First used by Germans in 1915
Came in a cylinder gas would be released in No Man’s Land
Main types – Phosgene, Chlorine and most feared Mustard Gas.
Relied on correct wind otherwise could be disastrous if blew back at own troops
Gas masks developed in 1916 ended the effectiveness of gas.

22. Releasing poison gas from trenches

24. Gas Masks Gas masks were first used in 1916
The Small Box respirator was issued to British soldiers in April, just before the Battle of the Somme
This saved many lives and reduced the effectiveness of gas as a weapon

25. Phosgene – invisible, destroyed lungs
Three Types
Chlorine – greeny yellow, caused choking and fatal lung damage
Phosgene – invisible, destroyed lungs
Mustard – blistered skin, blindness, internal bleeding

27. Tank First used at the Somme 1916 Terrifying for enemy
Armed with heavy guns or machine guns
Early tanks were unreliable and often broke down
Slow top speed 4 MPH, slower over No Man’s Land
They often got stuck in the mud

28. French Tank

30. Aeroplanes Planes were used for the first time in WWI
At first they were used only for surveillance, or spying on the enemy
Later fighter aircraft were armed with machine guns and bombs

32. Flamethrowers
These were used by the Germans on the British in Flanders in 1915
Soldiers using these wore a gas cylinder attached to their back
They were useful at clearing a path before an attack or for using on tanks
Mainly used by Germans

33. Weapons – Home Front (not used in trenches)

34. Submarines/ Torpedoes
These were used regularly in naval battles in the North Sea
German U-Boats and torpedoes were used to sink ships heading to Britain with food
The Germans torpedoes The Lusitania in 1917, causing the USA to join the war

35. Zeppelins These dropped explosives from the air
They caused major panic and alarm
A zeppelin attack on Edinburgh on April 1916 killed 13 people

36. Weird Weapons

37. N5 Question (2013, 2014)
Describe the Use of new technology in the First World War marks
Focus on;
Machine gun
Gas
Gas masks
Tank
Aeroplanes