New Technolog

Question 1

What was the tank

Answer 1

The tank was a new weapon that was invented in1915
by a British farmer. It could only move at 6km an hour
and often broke down. Some were armed with
machine guns. It was a revolutionary invention
because it was the first vehicle that could carry men across no-man’s-land

Question 2

Machine guns

Answer 2

Machine guns needed 2 men to operate and it could fire 600m bullets a minute. One of the first was called the ‘vickers’ machine gun

Question 3

Poison gas

Answer 3

Poison gas was used for the first time in the First World War.One type of gas was called ‘Chlorine gas’ and it worked by suffocating the lungs. The Germans were the first side to use gas.

Question 4

Heavy artillery

Answer 4

Heavy artillery was used to bombard enemy trenches before and during attacks. Heavy artillery made it harder to get through no-man’s-land and warned the enemy an attack was about to begin. They also gave some men ‘shell-shock’ which was a kind of mental breakdown caused by the stresses and experiences of battle.

Question 5

Planes

Answer 5

Planes were used to gather valuable information about the enemy and their trench systems/layouts. This was called reconnaissance. It wasn’t until later that planes were fitted with machine guns.