First World War Weapons: 5 Minute History

Scott Addington

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9780752493220
• eBook ISBN: 9780750955133
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

How much can you really find out about the Weapons of the First World War in five minutes? This handy little history book will surpass all your expectations and leave you well versed on all you wish to know, and maybe even a little bit more… What was the deadliest weapon? Why did officers refuse to carry pistols? How was gas fired at the enemy? And how successful was it? How did tanks get their name? Jam-packed with facts and first-hand accounts of the action, all woven together in an accessible way by an expert in the field, this 5 Minute History is a valuable addition to anyone's bookshelf, ready to be delved into at a moment's notice.

GRENADES

THE POTENTIAL OF the grenade as an effective weapon in close-quarter combat was highlighted in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. Once again it was Germany that got its act together quickest, with the other major nations, including Britain, quite slow to introduce them to the front line. Britain was so slow to get sufficient quantities of reliable grenades to the trenches that front-line soldiers were forced to build improvised grenades out of whatever they could lay their hands on; tin cans full of bits of scrap metal, nails, and barbed wire that acted as shrapnel proved especially useful.

There were two basic types of official grenades: those that were thrown by hand, and those that were projected from a small weapon. Despite the eventual plethora of designs that ended up in front-line trenches, all exhibited the same basic construction: a metal case full of explosives and shrapnel, which ignited on impact (the grenade would explode when it hit something hard) or after a set time.

Time-fuse grenades tended to be more reliable that impact grenades. A number of systems were used to set the timer. Some needed to be tapped on a hard surface to start the timing mechanism, while others used a striker method similar to that of a modern safety match. There were also grenades that had a safety cord that either hung loosely out of the grenade itself or was looped round the wrist of the thrower and detached automatically when it left the hand. Perhaps the most effective form of time fuse was the spring-loaded activation system, set live when a pin was pulled from the grenade. This system was used in the British Mills bomb (officially designated the No. 5 grenade), which was one of the most common and effective grenades to see active service during the war. The No. 5 was of the classic iron pineapple design with a central striker held by a hand lever that was secured in place by a pin.

I WAS THERE

The English resisted valiantly. Every traverse was contested. Mills Bombs and stick-bombs crossed and recrossed. Behind each we found dead or still quivering bodies.

Lieutenant Ernst Jünger, 73rd Hanovarian Fusilier Regiment6

The No. 5, like many grenades, had a lethal radius that was greater than the distance it could be thrown. As such, if it was used over open ground it would prove just as dangerous to the thrower as to its intended audience. A competent thrower could achieve a distance of around 15–20m, but when it exploded the No. 5 would scatter pieces of deadly shrapnel over a much wider distance. Because of this the thrower needed to be able to take sufficient cover once he had thrown his weapon. The trench environment often provided perfect cover and grenades were very useful in trench raids and when enemy front-line trenches were close together.

DID YOU KNOW?

William Mills, a hand grenade designer from Sunderland, patented, developed and manufactured the ‘Mills bomb’ at the Mills munitions factory in Birmingham, England, in 1915 and designated it the ‘No. 5’. Approximately 75 million grenades were made during the First World War.

In an effort to increase the range that grenades could be thrown, Germany developed the stick grenade, which was first introduced in 1915. The stick provided a lever, which meant a trained thrower could achieve distances of over 30m. To ignite the grenade a cap at the base of the stick was unscrewed to allow a ball and cord to fall out. By pulling the cord the timing fuse was set, giving approximately five seconds to throw the grenade. The downside of the stick design was that it was larger, more cumbersome and fewer could be carried into a fight.

The British Army eventually developed its own specialist grenade teams, known sometimes as ‘bombing parties’. This nine-man team consisted of one non-commissioned officer, two designated throwers, two carriers, two bayonet men and two spare men to take over in the case of casualties. In a trench raid a bombing party such as this would move through an enemy trench, and when they got to a trench bay the two throwers would lob a couple of grenades into the bay. After the explosions had died down the bayonet men would go in to finish off any enemy soldiers who still survived, before issuing a signal to tell the bombers to go on to the next bay.

I WAS THERE

I got up and picked up my rifle and got through the wire into their trench and straight in front there was this dugout – full of Jerries, and one big fellow was on the steps facing me. I had this Mills bomb. Couldn’t use my arm. I pulled the pin with my teeth and flung it down and I were shouting at them, I were that wild. ‘There you are! Bugger yourselves! Share that between you!’

25884 Private Ernest Deighton, 8th Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry7

The business of grenade-throwing was riddled with danger and the incidents of soldiers being badly wounded or killed by their own grenades were numerous. On 22 December 1915, Second Lieutenant Alfred Victor Smith, of the 1/5th Battalion, the East Lancashire Regiment (Territorial Forces), was throwing a grenade, when it slipped from his hand and fell to the bottom of the trench, rolling close to several British officers and men. He shouted and jumped clear, but seeing that the others could not get into cover he returned without any hesitation and flung himself down onto the grenade. The explosion instantly killed him. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

DID YOU KNOW?

The greatest grenade battle of the war undoubtedly took place on Pozières Heights during the night of 26–27 July 1916. For over twelve hours, Australian and British soldiers exchanged grenades with their German enemy. The Allies threw over 15,000 Mills bombs during that night.

An alternative to the hand grenade was the rifle grenade. Early rifle grenades worked by attaching the bomb to a metal rod that allowed it to be pushed down the barrel of a rifle. By firing a blank round, the grenade would be launched from the rifle. Although this meant a greater distance could be covered, accuracy of fire was often very poor and there were significant safety issues. The grenade had to be primed before launching and if there was a problem firing the rifle immediately it would explode. Continuous firing also caused damage to the rifle barrel. As a result, the majority of front-line troops favoured the simplicity of the hand grenade, despite the potential hazards.

TRENCH MORTARS

PORTABLE ARTILLERY PIECES that could fire explosive shells at high trajectory had been around for centuries and were a stalwart of siege warfare during the eighteenth century. However, as time passed other methods of waging war became more fashionable and the use of such mortars became almost redundant. It wasn’t until the onset of static trench warfare in late 1914 that the main protagonists all realised that these old-style weapons could be very useful. The problem was there were not many about; France had to recommission some nineteenth-century equipment and Britain could only lay its hands on a handful of Japanese mortars with very limited ammunition stocks, as it had none of its own. Germany was in slightly better shape at the beginning of the war, as it had witnessed the usefulness of such weapons in the Russo-Japanese war and had started to design and manufacture some Minenwerfers, but even so it couldn’t call upon anywhere near the amount it really needed.

DID YOU KNOW?

The 240mm French Batignolles mortar fired a 192Ib bomb that could create a crater 30ft across and 10ft deep.

Early British attempts to plug the gap were somewhat crude improvisations that would not have looked out of place in a medieval castle siege; an example of this was the British Leach catapult, which resembled a large crossbow and was able to throw a 1.5Ib grenade up to 200yd.

Contemporary trench mortars began to appear on all sides of the front in decent quantities during 1915. All had a short barrel and many resembled miniature howitzer guns. They all used explosive bombs fitted with fins to aid stability during flight. Effective range for early models varied from 200–500yd.

The Germans continued to develop their Minenwerfers throughout the war. They were designed to resemble miniature artillery guns, and because they couldn’t be broken down into parts for transportation many required wheeled horse-drawn carriages to move them into position. They could be fired from these carriages if needed, but were usually positioned on a steel firing plate in the trenches. Most of the German mortars had rifled bores to aid accuracy and calibres ranged from 7.6cm to 24.5cm. The smaller mortars were genuinely portable and could be used quite effectively by front-line troops. However, the larger mortars were practically field guns and weighed too much to be a mobile weapon of any use.

I WAS THERE

When Colonel Donovan called for the Stokes Mortars to repel the threatened counter-attack on the morning of the 15th, the pieces were set up under the slight protection of the sloping ground, but from this point the gunners could not observe the accuracy of their own fire. So Sergeant Fitzsimmons ran forward to the top of the slope, making himself an easy cockshot for the German gunners while he signaled to his own men his corrections on their aim. He escaped himself by a miracle and had the satisfaction of seeing the shells dropping amongst the Germans who were gathering for the attack, and doing dreadful execution.

Frances Patrick Duffy, Military Chaplain, 69th Infantry Regiment, US Army8

Much more portable and manoeuvrable were the grenade ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Artillery
• Rifles and Bayonets
• Pistols
• Machine Guns
• Grenades
• Trench Mortars
• Flamethrowers
• Gas
• Armoured Cars
• British Tanks
• French and German Tanks
• Mines
• Airships
• Fighter Aircraft
• Anti-Aircraft Guns
• Dreadnoughts
• German U-Boats
• Allied Submarines
• Notes
• Copyright