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British No. 1 hand grenade is issued
When Britain entered the war their soldiers were issued their own version of the hand grenade. The No. 1 grenade was a grenade that would explode on impact. It would allow them to have a throwable explosive. Use in the trenches proved difficult because of its long handle. Soldiers throwing the grenade would often strike the sides of the trench with the fuse. The long handle also allowed German soldiers to deflect the grenade often with wooden boards and gave the opportunity to throw it back. -
January- The British Stokes trench mortar was designed and developed.
Sir Wilfred Stokes began to design and develop a trench mortar for Great Britain. The Stokes mortar had been developed in response to German technology. It could fire a 3-inch shell up to 1,200 yards. It was a simple metal tube with a base plate and a bipod. There was a firing pin on the bottom and when the projectile was dropped into the tube a pressure sensitive cartridge would strike the firing pin to fire. The Stokes mortar and its crew could fire off 22 rounds a minute at maximum range. -
First recorded us of the flamethrower in combat.
The Germans first used the flamethrower at Malancourt in northeastern France near Verdun. The flamethrower was composed of a pressurized tank that contained oil that would be shot out of the nozzle on the small hand pipe. The oil would ignite as it left the nozzle. The tank would be worn like a backpack on the back of the soldier who used it. Over the course of the war the Germans had utilized over 3,000 Flammenwerfer troops and over 650 flamethrower attacks had been carried out by the Germans. -
First poison gas attack.
The Germans were first to use gas in the war in the Second Battle of Ypres. To get the gas over to enemy lines the Germans had fired the gas in cannisters from artillery cannons. The chlorine gas would attack the respiratory system and the eyes. Soldiers would have seen a yellow green cloud moving towards their line. When inhaled it caused choking fits that would leave men incapacitated. The chlorine gas rarely killed when used, and soldiers were able to return to combat after a period of time. -
Lewis gun approved for service by the British.
The Lewis gun is a portable light machine gun that was used by the British and was designed by Isaac Newton Lewis. It fired the .303 British round out of a 97 round capacity pan magazine. The rate of fire on the Lewis gun ranged from 500-600 rounds per minute. To cool the gun it had an aluminum barrel cover and heat shrouds within the barrel cover to keep it cool. Due to the guns weight it allowed it to be carried by one soldier which made it more portable than the British Vickers machine gun. -
July- First use of mustard gas.
The Germans were the first to introduce mustard gas prior to the Third Battle of Ypres. Mustard gas would attack the respiratory system and the eyes. It would also burn and blister exposed skin, leaving the troops incapacitated. The Germans to distinguish the cannisters of chlorine and mustard gas they had a yellow or green line on the cannister. The mustard gas rarely ever killed but it could if it was in a high enough dose. The mustard gas would be fired by cannister fired from artillery. -
August- The French 155mm Grande Pussane Filoux gun (GPF) was first used.
The 155mm GPF was designed in late 1916 by Colonel Louis Filloux. The French government requested an artillery cannon with a range over 16,000 meters. The gun was first used in Flanders Fields. The gun had a range 17,968 meters which exceeded the 16,000-meter minimum. The gun was put on a special carriage that would allow it to be towed either at cross roads or rough terrain. One vehicle strong enough to pull the gun was a Latiltar tractor. The Germans made use of captured GPFs for their cause. -
March?- First known use of the portable machine gun later known as the sub machine gun the MP-18.
The MP-18 was designed for the German army by Theodor Bergmann late in the war. It fired the 9mm parabellum which was a pistol round at the time. It was the first portable machine gun or submachine gun that was developed and produced. It first received extensive use during the Spring Offensive. It was very effective in clearing enemy trenches where engagements were no more than a few feet. Being that it was developed so late into the war the MP-18 could not make any real impact on the outcome. -
The first Browning M1917 machine guns are sent to France
The Browning M1917 is a water-cooled machine gun that is based off of Maxim's design that was refined By John Browning for the US Army. It gave the soldiers a functional and reliable machine gun that they could rely on and fired the standard 30-06 rifle round. Like the Maxim it had a sleeve over the barrel where water could be put to keep it cool which allowed for more rapid rates of fire over time. Due to the M1917 being sent over so late it was not able to make a real impact on the Great War. -
U.S. receives a cablegram from Germany protesting the use of the m1897 trench gun.
The Secretary of State had received a cablegram from the Germans stating the use of the m1897 trench gun violated article 23(e) of the Hague Convention. The trench gun is a twelve-gauge shotgun and used buckshot to devastating effect in the trenches. The Germans felt it violated the Hague Convention because it caused unnecessary damage and harm. The Germans threatened to execute any US soldier who had a shotgun or shells. The United States deemed that there was nothing illegal about its use.
