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British Experience of Warfare > WW1 Trenches and Tech > Flashcards

WW1 Trenches and Tech Flashcards

1
Q

how many tons of hay did the British take to France in 1914?

A

5 million tons
same as the amount of ammunition

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2
Q

what does this show about Britain’s preparedness for war?

A

they had believed that cavalry would play an important role in fighting…

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3
Q

what forms of communication were initially used by the British?

A

bicycles
horses
carrier pigeons
visual signalling

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4
Q

how many carrier pigeons would the British use on the Western Front?

A

20,000

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5
Q

what did a war of entrenchment include?

A

constant construction and reconstruction

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6
Q

how many hours did it take to move 250 yards of trenches?

A

6 hours

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7
Q

what did the first trenches look like?

A

they were shallow
they would easily collapsed

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8
Q

by 1916, what did the trenches look like?

A

they were deep trench systems
contained a lot infrastructure

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9
Q

what infrastructure were found in the deep trenches?

A

field kitchens
first-aid posts
casualty clearing stations
hospitals
command posts
telephone/telegraph lines

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10
Q

what is a casualty clearing station?

A

a medical post behind the front line designed to either provide emergency care or send men to mikitary hospitals

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11
Q

what were the 3 levels of trenching?

A

forward - front line attack point
support - back up
reserve - back up

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12
Q

what was the rotation of troops like at the trenches?

A

men would serve at the front line for 2 weeks

then they would be sent to the support or reserve trenches

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13
Q

what was a major reason why moblisation to the trenches was so fast?

A

the use of the railways to get men to the front line

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14
Q

why were horses used instead of motor vehicles to move men?

A

motor vehicles often broke down over long stretches of land so were unreliable
they also would get stuck in the mud

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15
Q

what was trench warfare composed of?

A

attacks
and
counter-attacks

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16
Q

how deep were the trenches?

A

2m

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17
Q

what did high command look to do to prevent troops becoming passive?

A

they ordered trench raids between major offensives:
either to blow stuff up
or
to take prisoners and get intel

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18
Q

what trench tactic was used to great effect to destroy German trences?

A

digging tunnels underneath a trench and then placing explosives to blow the trench up

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19
Q

how did officers in the trenches communicate?

A

by buried telephone lines
or by using runners

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20
Q

what was the role of a runner?

A

to run between trenches to get a message across between officers
they were often shot at and targets for enemy snipers

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21
Q

why were battle plans formulated by Generals so poor?

A

they had little idea of what was happening at the trenches

they did not know the level of progress being made so would plan for every possible event

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22
Q

when was there a breakthrough in the technology used in warfare in WW1?

A

January 1915

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23
Q

what changes were made to a soldier’s uniform?

A

metal helmets were introduced
French disbanded coloured uniforms…instead opted for khaki or grey

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24
Q

what changes were made to the use of cavalry?

A

use of cavalry sword and lance was completely removed

entrenchment meant that horses were ineffective against defensive machine gun positions

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25
Q

what replaced cavalry in warfare?

A

instead of cavalry charges, the cavalrymen would dismount and act as infantry once closer to enemy lines
mechanised cavalry started to be implemented late into the war

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26
Q

what was the intended use of mechanised infantry?

A

to act as shock weapons

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27
Q

what was the limiting factor when it came to the use of mechanised cavalry?

A

the generals were obsessed with frontal infantry attacks

they ignored major developments in mechanised warfare

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28
Q

a rifle in 1914 could fire…

A

15 rounds per minute

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29
Q

how was smokeless powder beneficial to snipers?

A

it meant that their position would not be given away when shooting

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30
Q

what happened to the tactic of firing volleys in a line?

A

it was no longer effective in trench warfare
instead, men would simply fire from trenches or potholes created by artillery

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31
Q

what other lethal equipment were used in trench warfare?

A

grenades
knives
revolvers (by officers)

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32
Q

what trench tactics did the French use?

A

fire and move

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33
Q

what was ‘fire and move’?

A

an attack group would push forward with covering fire and take the adjacent trench
the support group provided this covering fire
these roles would be reversed

led to a narrow front

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34
Q

what trench tactics did the British use?

A

wave and flow

35
Q

what was ‘wave and flow’?

A

artillery bombardment would precede the attack to destroy barbed wire

the first wave would capture the adjacent trench and then wait for the second wave to arrive

the second wave would move up with the first wave

the second wave then capture the next trench and then wait for the first wave to move up too

process would be repeated with multiple waves

36
Q

why was ‘wave and flow’ slow?

A

the terrain was awful due to the artillery bombardment

each soldier had a very heavy load of equipment

37
Q

why did the machine gun require less training to fire?

A

you simply had to feed the bullets through and spray the bullets at an arc

38
Q

what was the fire rate of a machine gun?

A

60 rounds per minute

39
Q

how were machine guns positioned?

A

they were sat in pairs
they were housed in dugouts or a pillbox

40
Q

what was a pillbox?

A

concrete fortification used to conceal a machine gun

41
Q

what machine guns did the British use in WW1?

A

lewis gun
vickers gun

42
Q

ratio of rifle to machine gun in 1914?

A

12:1

43
Q

ratio of rifle to machine gun in 1917?

A

2:1

44
Q

what impact did machine guns have on warfare?

A
  • made cavalry obsolete
  • made infantry attacks on open ground useless
45
Q

what did troops use for hand-to-hand combat?

A

bayonets
knives

46
Q

what grenades were used by the British?

A

British Mills Bomb

47
Q

when was the flamethrower first used?

A

1915

48
Q

why was the flamethrower difficult to use?

A

it was heavy and bulky

49
Q

what was the British mortar used in WW1?

A

Stokes trench mortar

50
Q

how many bombs could the Stokes trench mortar fire a minute?

A

25

51
Q

what was the aim of using artillery in WW1?

A

destroy trenches
flatten barbed wire
demoralise enemy troops

52
Q

percentage of casualties caused by artillery?

A

70%

53
Q

what were the largest guns used from 1916?

A

heavy howitzer

54
Q

what could heavy howitzers fire?

A

high-explosive shells of up to 1400lb
over 10,000 yards

55
Q

what techniques improved the firing of artillery?

A

flash spotting

56
Q

how did flash spotting work?

A

artillery would fire a shot
aircraft in the sky would spot where the shell landed
this information would be relayed by wireless

artillery would then continue firing on that position to ensure complete accuracy

57
Q

what was the most prominent method of firing artillery in WW1?

A

creeping barrage

58
Q

what was the creeping barrage?

A

artillery would be fired a few feet in front of infantry who were advancing forward
would destroy opposition structures as well as blasting gaps in barbed wire and trenches

59
Q

what were the negatives of a creeping barrage?

A

if it is not timed properly and communicated well enough to men on the ground, the barrage could hit British infantry

60
Q

how had the creeping barrage failed at the Battle of the Somme?

A

despite 1.5 million shells being fired on the first day, deep German dugouts survived and German troops were protected

the craters caused by the shells created temporary dugouts to provide cover for German troops

the craters also made the terrain difficult for British troops to traverse

61
Q

how many British men died/injured on the first day of the Somme?

A

60,000

62
Q

what were the two types of shells used by the BA before 1914?

A

timed-fused
high-explosive

63
Q

what were the issues with timed-fused and high-explosives on the battlefield?

A

they did nothing to destroy barbed wire defences

64
Q

what was a major breakthrough in dealing with barbed wire?

A

the Fuse 106

65
Q

what was the Fuse 106?

A

device which caused shells to explode sideways instead of burying themselves in the mud

66
Q

how effective was the Fuse 106?

A

VERY EFFECTIVE
managed to deal with the barbed wire issue

could also be used to create a smokescreen which could provide cover for British troops

led to improvement in artillery support

67
Q

when was the Fuze 106 first used?

A

the Battle of Arras in April 1917

68
Q

when was poison gas first used on the Western Front?

A

April 1915 at Ypres
by the Germans

69
Q

who invented weaponised chlorine gas?

A

Fritz Haber

70
Q

what were the issues with using chlorine gas?

A

wind in the wrong direction could cause it to blow back in your face

without gas masks, you could not advance

71
Q

how many canisters of chlorine gas did the Germans use at Ypres?

A

6000

72
Q

when did the allies first start wearing gas masks?

A

June 1915

73
Q

when did the British first use gas?

A

at the Battle of Loos

74
Q

when did the Germans first start using phosgene gas?

A

December 1915
from then it was used by both sides

75
Q

how many times deadlier was phosgene gas compared to chlorine gas?

A

six times

76
Q

what % of gas casualties was caused by phosgene?

A

80%

77
Q

when was mustard gas first used in WW1?

A

July 1917 by the Germans

78
Q

what does mustard gas do?

A

cause lung damage
skin damage
blindness

79
Q

how did the gas mask evolve during the war?

A

went from fabric helmets
TO
masks with goggles and canister-filters to protect against the inhalation of toxic gas

80
Q

how did artillery adopt the innovations in weaponised gas?

A

special artillery shells to carry gas were made

81
Q

how many British soldiers died from gas?

A

8000

82
Q

impact of gas

A

powerful psychological weapon which scared many soldiers
BUT
was not as effective as a killing weapon

advancements in gas masks led to weakened impact of gas

83
Q

when were tanks first used in WW1?

A

at the Battle of the Somme in September 1916

British Experience of Warfare (27 decks)

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