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Ross Rifle
The Ross rifle was the Canadian counterpart of the Lee enfield British rifle. But compared to the Lee enfield the Canadian Ross rifle was unreliable in combat and after 1916 the rifle was removed from service (“Ross Rifle.” Ross Rifle | The Canadian Encyclopedia) -
Stainless Steel
During WW1 the army was trying to find a metal alloy that was strong enough to withstand the heat and fiction of gun fire and not rust. Stainless steel was made from a mixture of chromium and molten iron. Even though stainless steel was not used in the making of guns it was used in aircraft engines, mess kit silverware and several medical tools.(Klein, Christopher. “WWI Inventions, From Pilates to Zippers, That We Still Use Today.”) -
Zippers
During WW1 the button was the main way a soldier's uniform went together but as the war raged on the was starting to be used in money belts that were used by soldiers and sailors whose uniform didn’t come with pockets. In the 1920’s the zipper also found its way into the flying suit of aviators(Klein, Christopher. “WWI Inventions, From Pilates to Zippers, That We Still Use Today.”) -
Chlorine Gas Pt.1
Cl 2 or also known as chlorine gas is a poisonous gas that was used throughout the war as a way to flush out the enemy from there trench. The first use of chlorine gas in the war was by the Germans in the battle of Ypres. The gas came in as yellowish cloud and other than a few soldiers that knew that urine on a cloth would work as a makeshift gas mask, many were caught off guard and many people died as a result. -
Chlorine Gas Pt.2
(Sass, Erik.“12 Technological Advancements of World War I.”) (“Germans Introduce Poison Gas.” History.com) (Mackie, John. “The First Poison Gas Attack: In 1915 at Ypres.”) -
Tanks
The idea of the tank was made up by some military officers who thought tractor with caterpillar tracks could help the man move across and over barbed wire in No Man's Land. The tank was first used in 1916 in the battle of Somme and was a huge success in lowering German morale and crossing the trenches .( Sass, Erik.“12 Technological Advancements of World War I.”) (“Weapons on Land - Tanks and Armored Vehicles.” Canada and the First World War) -
Daylight Saving Time
Changing times back and forth during the year has been an idea for years but daylight saving was first used in Germany in 1916 to add an extra hour of daylight in the evenings as a way to conserve on coal use during the war.(Klein, Christopher. “WWI Inventions, From Pilates to Zippers, That We Still Use Today.”) -
Hout Ross Rifle
Joseph Alphonse Hout a former employee of the Ross Rifle Company started a new company called Hout Ross Rifle Company which made the Hout Ross Rifle which was an automatic version of the ross rifle.(“Automatic Rifle.” Search the Collections | Canadian War Museum ) -
Gas Mask
The British small box respirator was made in april 1916 and was the first gas mask that were given to the british and canadian soldiers but it wasn’t standard use until january 1917. After the masks became standard use, the amount of casualties from poisonous gas in the battle of Somme dropped to just 8,000 which was far less then the first day of the battle of Somme. (Trueman, Chris. “Gas Masks in World War One.”) -
Blood Banks
Before WW1 a transfusion of blood was almost never used, but after the discovery of blood types and the increasing number of injured man, A U.S. captain that was working with the British and Canadian Army, set up the first blood bank in the west front of WW1 as a way to have a source of blood where it was needed the most(Klein, Christopher. “WWI Inventions, From Pilates to Zippers, That We Still Use Today.”) -
Cause and Consequence
Chlorine Gas and Gas masks. Before the Battle of Ypres, the idea of a soldier needing a gas mask wasn't the top priority but after the Germans had used chlorine gas against the Allied trenches to a major success The Allied Forces came together to come up with a design of a gas mask to limit the casualties from chlorine gas. In this case the cause was the Germans using chlorine gas versus allies and the consequence was the invention of the gas mask. -
Continuity and Change
In the beginning of the war the main infantry rifle for the Canadian soldiers with a Ross rifle, which was hated by most of the Canadian soldiers. The Ross rifle would continue to be used until 1916 when the Canadian Army withdrew the rifle from service. Joseph Alphonse Hout came up with a design to turn the Ross rifle into an automatic light machine gun because the need for an automatic rifle in the war was at an all-time high and the rifles that the Canadians had already we're not sufficient.
