There were two kinds of tank and they were categorised into male and female. The male had single artillery protruding from a turret on either side, while the female was filled with lots of machine guns hidden in the body. Soon tanks with both these properties were made. The tank moved on tracks, which made it easier to move and manoeuvre on muddy ground. Fascine was used to cross over trenches.

At first the tank was a great disappointment and ended up getting stuck in the middle of the field open to machine gun fire, also they occasionally ran out of fuel.

The German’s didn’t think much of the tanks and didn’t try to copy it, they only experimented with ways of destroying it.

Later generals found better ways of using tanks.  Also smaller lighter tanks were made which became very effective against infantry.

At first this wasn’t used so much in the war.  They were only used to scout out enemy troops, also to relay information about were artillery should be shot at to cause more damage. They could only carry small loads but as designs improved they were used to drop bombs on ground targets (although not used on over trenches).

At first when British fliers met German machines all they could do was wave to other pilots, soon some started shooting with pistols, then hunting rifles and soon machine guns were embarked on planes.

Conclusion

Composing this project has made me aware of the contributions of trench warfare to the death of men in world war one. Since the end of the war of movement, which came about because of the bad conditions winter brought, men have had to dig trenches in a hope to survive.

I’ve being able to learn about the disastrous effects that new technology have made on the trenches. The visual imagery made by some sources was horrific.

Gas was a deadly weapon in the trenches; here Malcolm Brown describes a process that lead to death in his book Tommy goes to war:

A lot of work had gone into making very reactive shells with which the soldiers were frequently bombarded; shrapnel tore at their skin and high explosive caused a massive disruption in the trenches, damaging everything in its path.

To the advantage of the British they were surrounded by friends from the neighbouring Belgian villages where they were able to refresh themselves. Belgium, which had been neutral, was now dragged into the war.

The British were led by Commander, Field Marshall Haig; there were a lot of criticism about his leadership. A lot of soldiers thought he didn’t know what he was sending men out to. The battle of Somme had been a tragedy.  After plastering the enemy lines with some artillery fire a lot of soldiers were sent over the top to capture the trenches. But the strength of the German trenches was underestimated and machine gunners that survived were able to shoot down the oncoming men. There were 60,000 casualties that day and 20,000 were lost.

The Germans had fewer men than the British so Haig was able to lessen the number of men Ludendorff (the German General) had with frequent attacks. This was given the term a ‘War of Attrition’.

A lot of men were lost in the trenches; by 1916 the French had 2.25 million casualties.

On the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month in the year 1918 the thundering of guns ceased.

Germany had lost about 2 million men, Britain almost 800,000 the French had a loss of about 1,400,000 military men. The death count was unending.  Diseases sustained in the trenches had also led to some of these deaths.

Germany signed the treaty of Versailles on the 28th of June 1919.

Trench warfare might be history but those who lived through it would never forget it.

Ø The Great War 1914-1918 Origins, Nature & Aftermath by Ronald Cameron.

Ø Trenches on the web, History channel.com

Ø S3 Trench warfare Investigation booklet.

Ø American Encyclopaedia