Inventions and Weapons

Read About the Many Inventions of World War I. Learn About Modern War from Primary Source Materials.

Naval Camouflage of W.W. I (Sea Power Magazine, 1919)

It was Lt. Commander Norman Wilkinson (1878 – 1971) of the Royal Navy who deduced that white (reflecting blue at night) was a suitable base color for naval camouflage. Wilkinson based his reasoning on the snow-capped iceberg that made such quick work of TITANIC, remembering all the while that seagulls are white, as are pelicans and the Antarctic Petrels. When the war broke out, his findings were presented to the Admiralty and it was concluded that elements of the North Atlantic fleet should be so painted. They added the black in order that the ships appear gray on the horizon.

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A Diagram of a French WW I Grenade (NY Times, 1918)

A black and white mechanical drawing of a World War One French grenade with all parts labeled. In 1918, the New York Times wrote:

The pine-apple grenade, or as the French are wont to call it, the citron grenade (lemon) is charged with a powerful explosion called shedite, which when exploded on open ground is said to cause injuries at 250 yards. Primed with a sensitive detonator, the grenade is caused to explode when it strikes the ground. Very often the grenade is not thrown far enough, so the that the explosion is likely to cause casualties among one’s own troops. Apart from these disadvantages, the grenade is an excellent weapon for hand to hand fighting.

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A Diagram of Germany’s Only World War I Tank (Almanach Hachette, 1919)

A black and white diagram depicting the interior and exterior of the German A7V heavy tank. Manufactured in the spring of 1918, only twenty were ever known to have existed. Although the illustration depicts only two men, it is said that the tank had a crew of 18 and measured 26 feet, three inches in length and 10.5 feet in width. The A7V had two heavy Maxim machine guns placed within it’s turret, while the tank’s primary weapon was a 57mm gun mounted at the very front (these guns were believed to have been of Russian or Belgian origin). The tank could travel an estimated fifty miles at the top speed of 6 mph; it weighed 32 tons and sported armor plating that was 30mm thick at the bow and 20mm thick all around. The tank’s two 150 horse-power, 4-cylinder water cooled engines were made by Daimler.

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Trench Mortar (The Great War, 1918)

The attached is a photo from a 1918 issue of GREAT WAR MAGAZINE and pictures the Brandt Grenade-Thrower – designed in 1916 by the Frenchman Edgar William Brandt (1880 – 1960). A commonly used piece of trench artillery that was most often found in the French sectors, it is easily recognized by it’s highly pronounced barrel that narrowed at the muzzle. An air operated mortar of 75mm caliber, this piece was one of several compressed air projectors deployed by the French Army.

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The Cockpit of the Giant Goltha Bomber (j’ai vu…, 1918)

During the spring of 1917 the Germans developed a squadron of large aircraft capable of dropping 660-pound bombs on London -and drop them they did, killing as many as 788 human beings between May of 1917 and May of 1918. The Giant Goltha Bombers conducted these raids primarily at night and utterly terrified the East End of London. Eventually, German losses escalated and the London raids were canceled in favor of Paris and various other French targets. In 1917 this image of a Goltha cockpit appeared in the French press.

Click here to read an article about the development of aerial reconnaissance during W.W. I.

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Liquid Fire (Literary Digest, 1916)

– A well-illustrated article which sought to explain to American readers the workings of one of the most heinous inventions of the First World War:

This idea of projecting upon the adverse trenches and their occupants a rain of liquid fire was no sudden afterthought of the German mind. It was conceived, studied, and perfected for several years before the war, and its history may be traced in the German patent office.

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A Diagram of the French Renault Tank (Freedom’s Triumph, 1919)

The French made light Renault tank was first seen on the Western Front in 1918, it had a crew of two, measured 13 feet (4 meters) in length and weighed 6.5 tons. The tank’s 35 hp. engine moved it along at a top speed of 6 mph. The factory options were few: one turret was fashioned to accommodate a 37mm gun while the other was made for a machine gun. The American Army placed 227 of these tanks in the field; these Renaults were distinctly different from those commanded by their French allies: the American version sported an octagonal turret (the French used a circular one) and steel wheels (the French Army preferred wood).


If you wish to read about the only German tank of World War I, click here.


Read about the Patton tank in Korea…

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Helmets Along the Western Front (Literary Digest, 1915)

The tremendous advances in artillery that took place during the years leading up to the war helped to reintroduce an old, time-tested element to the uniforms of the 20th Century soldier: the helmet.


So numerous were head injuries from high-explosive shells during the first year of the war that it compelled the doctors on both sides to beg their respective generals to issue some measure of cranium protection in order to reduce the casualty figures. As you will read in the attached article, the French began to wear helmets in the fall of 1915; the British and Germans a year later.

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