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Anti-Air weaponry
The British government had decided to arm the coasts of England, each armed with two quick-firing guns of special design, while a complete circle of towers was to be built around naval installations and at other especially vulnerable points. By December 1914 the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was manning AA guns and searchlights assembled from various sources at nine ports. The Royal Garrison Artillery was given responsibility for AA defence in the field, using motorised two-gun sections. -
The Use of Submarines
Germany was the first to use Sub's in WW1, carried out as the U-boat campaign. In August 1914, a flotilla of nine U-boats sailed from their base in Heligoland to attack English warships in the North Sea & was the first submarine war patrol in history. The first sortie was not a success. 2 of the 10 U-boats were lost. Later attacks from the U-boats were successful and by the end of the campaign, the U-boats had sunk nine warships while losing five of their own. -
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Development of weapons in WW1
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The use of chlorine gas
Chlorine gas was first used on the battlefield in April 1915 at the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium. The gas had a short period where it was extremely effective. This is because later on the war Gas masks were produced and greatly reduced the effectiveness of gas as a weapon. Britain and France soon followed suit with their own gas weapons. -
Barbed wire in combat
Barbed wire became a very helpful tool in the first world war. allied forces and opposing alike used the wire to slow down attackers and to make them easier to shoot. -
Artillery
Artillery used in world war 1 caused the death of many soldiers on both sides. Artillery cannons such as the British Howitzer Mark 1 could two 290lb shells a minute and hit targets that were miles away. The Germans however had a much bigger cannon called the Paris Gun. It had a 118-foot long barrel and could hit targets up to 74 miles away. -
Outdated aircraft
The slow, all-too-stable B.E. 2c was still in service in 1916, literally a flying target for German pilots. -
The first tanks
The first tanks ever made during WW1 in 1916. The first tank was produced by the British and was first deployed on the Somme battlefield. These tanks greatly helped the British but they also had many problems that needed improvement. -
The switch to bomber aircraft from zeppelins
The first daylight raid on the capital by Gotha bombers took place on 13 June 1917. It caused 162 deaths and 426 injuries, the most by any single air raid on Britain. Mounting Gotha losses through the summer, however, forced a switch to night bombing in September 1917. Between June 1917 and May 1918 Gotha bombers attacked London on seventeen occasions and also bombed many south-eastern coastal towns. The last aeroplane raid of the war occurred on the night of 19/20 May 1918. -
Advancement in AA equipment
A German Hannover CL III shot down on 4 October 1918 by American machine gunners in the Argonne.
