Group+1+Weapons+Specialist



**Mustard Gas** was first used by the German Army in September 1917. It was one of the most lethal of all the poisonous chemicals used during the war. It was almost odourless, took twelve hours to take effect and remained active for several weeks.



The **Machine Gun** began in 1914. In theory they could fire 400-600 rounds per minute. The early Machine Guns would rapidly overheat and become inoperative without the aid of cooling microorganisms.



Many soldiers were killed as they attempted to climb over **barbed wire** entanglements. Because these were covered by enemy machine guns, night and day, the bodies often had to be left sometimes for months. Barbed wire is also found difficult to destroy.

​ ​**Flamethrowers** were used to spread fire by launching burning fuel. They were used as far back as the 5th Century. Some problems that flamethrowers had were that they were hard to move around and only had enough oil to burn 40 seconds at a time.

 Colonel Ernest Swinton brought about the idea of the **Armored Tank**. The tank weighed about 14 tons, could carry a crew of three, and could just go over 5 MPH. These tanks were mostly used by the french.



**Planes and Air Craft** were the newest technology dealing with warfare. The pilots who were in them were very brave because they had no parachutes and the planes were made of wood and canvas. Most air craft was used for bombing.



**Submarines** were small and used for costal opperation. These submarines were also know as U-Boats. each were 315 feet long with two large cargo compartments, they could also carry 700 tons of cargo. Submarines were armed with self-propelled torpedoes and some had different types of guns.