Weapons of war

4 weapons of war

Rifles

Machine guns

Artillery

Shrapnel

Rifles

Loaded from a cartridge case, which created automatic rapid fire, rather than one bullet at a time

Bullets in rifles

Pointed so they drove deeper into the body

Difference between machine guns and rifles

Machine guns had more speed and could fire 500 rounds a minute

How many rounds a minute could a machine gun fire

500

Machine guns

Devasted attacking forces advancing over no man’s land. Bullets, from machine guns and rifles, would pierce organs and fracture bones

Artillery

Through the war, cannons grew bigger and became more powerful, such as British howitzer.

Bombardments were continuous and sometimes lasted weeks and months. Artillery fire caused half of all casualties

British howitzer

Could send 900 kg shells

Shrapnel

Caused maximum damage as it exploded mid air above the enemy. Most effective against troops advancing no man’s land, while shells targeted trenches. An exploded shell or shrapnel could immediately kill or injure a soldier. Together responsible for 58% of all wounds

What is shrapnel

A hollow shell that was filled with steel balls or lead, together with gunpowder and a time fuse

What did soldiers exoerience an increase of due to all these weapons

Head injuries

What was introduced in 1915

Steel helmet replaced the soft cap of soldiers

Impact of steel helmet

Estimated it reduced fatal head injuries by 80%