World War I Trench Warfare By Kyle DeCruccio

Structure They were dug in a zigzag pattern so the enemy wouldn’t be able to attack from the sides Decreased the distance fragmentation traveled Harder to give coordinates to artillery strikes Loopholes were built to allow soldiers to engage the enemy without exposing himself Sometimes loopholes were gaps in sand bags and sometimes the were fitted with a steel plate parados parapet

Weapons of World War I The weapons used by most infantry soldiers during WWI was the rifle, bayonet, shotgun, and hand grenade Rifle –Standard issue British rifle was the Lee Enfield –Standard issue Canadian rifle was the Ross rifle –Standard issue German rifle was the Mauser Gewehr 98 Shotgun –It was so deadly at close range that the German’s issued a formal protest against their use on September –U.S. issued specialized version made for combat called the trench gun that had shorter barrels and higher capacity magazines Hand grenade –Enabled soldiers to take out multiple enemies without exposing himself Infantry Weapons Ross rifle Lee Enfield Mauser Gewehr 98 and bayonet Mills grenade Winchester Model gauge pump-action shotgun

Weapons of World War I British forces carried 2 Vickers machine guns per battalion and 4 Lewis light machine guns per company German forces carried 6 Maschienengewehr 08 machine guns per battalion Russian forces carried 8 machine guns per battalion United States didn’t give every infantry unit a machine gun until 1917 Machine Guns Lewis light machine gun Maschienengewehr 08 machine gun Vickers machine gun

Trench Weaponry Periscope rifle –It invented by Sergeant William Beech for Australians and new Zealanders –Enable soldiers to snipe without having to expose themselves –Made of a periscope, a standard rifle, and a board –Fired by pulling a string

Life in Trenches 15 % of British soldier’s year was spent on the front line 10% of British soldier’s year was spent on the support line 30% of British soldier’s year was spent on the reserve line 20% of British soldier’s year was spent on rest 25% of British soldier’s year was spent on various other things such as hospital, traveling, leave, and training courses 1 in 8 men made it back to the trenches without any wounds

Mortars They lobbed shells in a high arc over a short distance Used for cutting wire before an attack Used to destroy entrenchments British fired 6,500,000 mortar shells British mortar called the stokes –Capable of rapid fire –Easy to use Stokes mortar

Artillery Dominated trench warfare like aircraft due today Mainly fired fragmentation, high explosive, and gas shells Two types of artillery pieces guns and howitzers Guns fired shells on a flat trajectory Howitzers lofted shells so it plunged to the ground The hydraulic recoil mechanisms was a critical feature of artillery pieces HRM made it so you didn’t have to adjust the aim every single shot

Barbed Wire Invented in 1874 Did only minor harm Main purpose was to slow down enemies' so the could get taken out by the machine gunners Bangalore torpedo was created to destroy barbed wire

Strategy The main strategy was to defend your own trenches will taking the enemies Cut off enemies resources until they are unable to fight

Aircraft and Trench Warfare Used as reconnaissance, artillery observations, and to protect and take out enemy reconnaissance aircraft Reconnaissance aircraft would map trench lines Reconnaissance aircraft would monitor troop movements Reconnaissance aircraft would locate artillery batteries Fighters were used to protect reconnaissance planes and destroy enemy reconnaissance planes Fighters also were used to achieve air superiority by destroying other fighters