•
Machine
guns needed 4 to 6 soldiers to man them. They had to be used on a flat surface
and were as powerful as 100 bolt action rifles.
Gas
•
The
Germans were the first to use gas. They used chlorine, this caused burning in
the throat and chest pains.
•
Then
came mustard gas, it was the most deadly weapon used. It takes 12 hours to take
effect. Effects are; blistering skin, vomiting, sore eyes, internal and
external. It can take up to 5 weeks to die!
Blimp
•
It was
used in early parts of the war by Germans to drop bombs. After a while they
were abandoned as they were easy to shoot down. Also they were not very hidden
to attracted attention.
Tanks
•
Tanks
were first used in world war 1. The first tank used was called ‘little willie’
it had a three man crew. Its max speed was 3mph and could not cross trenches.
Planes
•
Planes
were also used for the first time. They were used for dropping bombs and spying
on targets.
•
Occasionally
there were ‘dog fights’ this is when there is a fight between two planes.
Torpedoes
•
These
were used by submarines. The Germans used them to shoot and sink cargo ships
going from Brittan to America.
•
They
were a key part of the battle.
Mental Illnesses in WW1
British army dealt with 80,000 cases of
shell-shock.
80% of shell-shock victims were never able to
return to military duties.
Craiglockhart Hospital was built in 1916 by the
militaries and then was turned into a war hospital.
Wilfred Owen was sent to Craiglockhart due to
recovery for Neurasthenia (shell-shock).
Some symptoms for shell-shock are depression,
paralysis and others.
(Junior) Officers
The basic unit of soldiers was the platoon of up to 50 men under the
command the lowest officer ranked.
They were also the first
over the top.
Young man over the age of
18, with an education was officer material and given very little training.
When young men heard about
war they rushed to join the forces, many still in school. They all thought that
war would be over in a few weeks.
Many lied about their age
and some 16 year olds bribed the officers to let them fight.
Wilfred Owen was a second
Lieutenant in the second Battalion and was also the first over the top.
Poets:
Herbert Read received a knighthood in the year
1953
He was educated in Leeds during the early years of his life.
Wilfred owen was one of the
greatest poets of his generation, only five of his poems were published before
his death.
He died on the 4 November 1918,
aged 25 just seven days before the end of WWI.
Wilfred Owen was born in
Oswestry and later in life moved to the county town, Shrewsbury.
Battle of the Somme:
- Battle of Somme was fought in
1916.
- Battle of Somme was also known
as Somme offensive.
- Both sides suffered over 1
million casualties.
- It occupied most of France.
- It was chaired by the
Commander-in-Chief of the French army, Joseph Joffre.
Diseases in world war 1.
Influenza
lastly killed 40 million people world
wide.
Typhoid
was a deadly disease that Jim Martin died from.
Trench
fever can take 5 days for the disease to take affect and 1-2 months to heal.
Trench
foot often involves blisters, open sores which allows fungal infections to
enter. If it is not treated their foot can turn into gangrene.
All
of these dieses from world war 1, made the soldiers very sick however influenza
and typhoid approved most deadly.
