U-boat Attack, 1916

Prior to World War I, prevailing naval opinion considered the submarine an ineffective weapon for blockading an enemy
country. Submarines, filled with exposed piping and crammed with machinery, had no space to take prisoners aboard.
Additionally, the submarine could never carry enough sailors to provide crews to man captured ships. Therefore, the
submarine was considered a useless weapon against civilian shipping.
In February 1915 the German government announced its solution to the problem -- unrestricted submarine warfare. The
Germans realized they didn't have to capture a merchant ship, just sink it - crew and all. They declared a war zone
around the British Isles within which they would sink any allied merchant vessel on sight. Fifty ships were hit between
February and September including the liner Lusitania. One hundred thirty-eight Americans were among the 1,198 lives
lost in the Lusitania sinking. American public opinion was outraged, many clamoring for war. President Wilson protested
to the Germans. Afraid that America might join the war, and mindful that they didn't have enough subs to do the job
right, the Germans suspended their campaign -- but only temporarily.
In February 1917, with U-boats available in quantity, the Germans again declared their policy of unrestricted submarine
warfare. This time not only allied but neutral ships (such as those of the U.S.) would be sunk on sight. It was a big
gamble. The Germans knew it would bring America into the war. But, they reasoned they could starve the Brits out first.
It was a gamble they almost won. By April, when America declared war , Britain was almost on its knees. Over 1,030
merchant ships had been sunk and Britain was only six weeks away from starvation. The introduction of the escorted
convoy helped saved the day. Ship losses dropped dramatically and the supply route from America to Britain began to
flow.

"I saw that the bubble-track of the torpedo had been discovered."

Adolf K.G.E. von Spiegel commanded a German U-boat during the First World War. He published his memoirs in 1919.
Here he describes the attack on a cargo vessel in April 1916.
"The steamer appeared to be close to us and looked colossal. I saw the captain walking on his bridge, a small whistle in
his mouth. I saw the crew cleaning the deck forward, and I saw, with surprise and a slight shudder, long rows of wooden
partitions right along all decks, from which gleamed the shining black and brown backs of horses."
'Oh heavens, horses! What a pity, those lovely beasts!'
'But it cannot be helped,' I went on thinking. 'War is war, and every horse the fewer on the Western front is a reduction
of England's fighting power.' I must acknowledge, however, that the thought of what must come was a most unpleasant
one, and I will describe what happened as briefly as possible."
'Stand by for firing a torpedo!' I called down to the control room.'
'FIRE!'
" A slight tremor went through the boat - the torpedo had gone."


"The death-bringing shot was a true one, and the torpedo ran towards the doomed ship at high speed. I could follow its
course exactly by the light streak of bubbles which was left in its wake."
"I saw that the bubble-track of the torpedo had been discovered on the bridge of the steamer, as frightened arms
pointed towards the water and the captain put his hands in front of his eyes and waited resignedly. Then a frightful
explosion followed, and we were all thrown against one another by the concussion, and then, like Vulcan, huge and
majestic, a column of water two hundred metres high and fifty metres broad, terrible in its beauty and power, shot up to
the heavens."
'Hit abaft the second funnel,' I shouted down to the control room."
"All her decks were visible to me. From all the hatchways a storming, despairing mass of men were fighting their way on
deck, grimy stokers, officers, soldiers, groom, cooks. They all rushed, ran, screamed for boats, tore and thrust one
another from the ladders leading down to them, fought for the lifebelts and jostled one another on the sloping deck. All
amongst them, rearing, slipping horses are wedged. The starboard boats could not be lowered on account of the list;
everyone therefore ran across to the port boats, which in the hurry and panic, had been lowered with great stupidity
either half full or overcrowded. The men left behind were wringing their hands in despair and running to and fro along
the decks; finally they threw themselves into the water so as to swim to the boats."
"Then - a second explosion, followed by the escape of white hissing steam from all hatchways and scuttles. The white
steam drove the horses mad. I saw a beautiful long-tailed dapple-grey horse take a mighty leap over the berthing rails
and land into a fully laden boat. At that point I could not bear the sight any longer, and I lowered the periscope and
dived deep."


http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/himu-boat.htm
The Battlefield Debut
of the Tank, 1916






WWI Tank





















It was the summer of 1915 and the British were desperate. Fighting on the Western Front had degenerated into
stalemate. The ditches that separated the opposing forces proved an insurmountable barrier that had transformed the
conflict from a war of movement into a deadly battle of attrition. A new fighting vehicle was needed - one that could
traverse the cratered moonscape of the Western Front and breach the line of enemy trenches. This would allow the
cavalry to pour through the exposed gap and envelop the Germans from behind. What was needed was a tank.
Development of the tank began in the summer of 1915. The idea was to combine the caterpillar tracks of an American
tractor with an iron-clad machine that could straddle the enemy's trenches. By spring of the following year a working
model was available for testing. Manned by a crew of four, the 30-ton weapon's armament consisted of two cannon
mounted on its sides. It lumbered along at three miles an hour. Encased in an unlit steel box, the crew suffered in an
atmosphere that was only one step removed from Hell - unbearably hot, dusty, noisy, the air filled with the nauseating
stench of gas fumes.
The new weapon made its battlefield debut on September 15, 1916 when fifty of the machines joined the Battle of the
Somme in a third attempt to attack and break through the German defenses. The attack failed - no breakthrough
occurred. Only 35 of the tanks actually took part in the battle. Their presence shocked the enemy, but their practical
impact was minimal due to a lack of effective tactics and numerous mechanical failures. But, the door to the future was
opened and the first step taken in the development of a weapon that would dominate the battlefield of future wars.

"...lumbering slowly towards us came three huge mechanical monsters such as we had never seen before."

Bert Chaney was a nineteen-year-old signal officer and had a front-row seat as three of the new weapons made their
appearance in his sector of the battlefield. We join his story as the tanks lumber into position before the attack:
"We heard strange throbbing noises, and lumbering slowly towards us came three huge mechanical monsters such as
we had never seen before. My first impression was that they looked ready to topple on their noses, but their tails and
the two little wheels at the back held them down and kept them level. Big metal things they were, with two sets of
caterpillar wheels that went right round the body. There was a huge bulge on each side with a door in the bulging part,
and machine guns on swivels poked out from either side. The engine, a petrol engine of massive proportions, occupied
practically all the inside space. Mounted behind each door was a motor-cycle type of saddle, seat and there was just
about enough room left for the belts of ammunition and the drivers.
I was attached to battalion headquarters and the colonel, adjutant, sergeant-major and myself with four signallers had
come up to the front line. From this position the colonel could see his men leave the assembly trench, move forward
with the tanks, jump over us and advance to the enemy trenches. As a new style of attack he thought it would be one of
the highlights of the' war.
While it was still dark we heard the steady drone of heavy engines and by the time the sun had risen the tanks were
approaching our front line, dead on time. The Germans must have heard them too and, although they had no idea what
to expect, they promptly laid down a heavy curtain of fire on our front line. This had the effect of making us keep our
heads down, but every now and again we felt compelled to pop up and look back to see how the tanks were
progressing. It was most heartening to watch their advance, we were almost ready to cheer. But there was a surprise in
store for us.
Instead of going on to the German lines the three tanks assigned to us straddled our front line, stopped and then
opened up a murderous machine gun fire, enfilading us left and right. There they sat, squat monstrous things, noses
stuck up in the air, crushing the sides of our trench out of shape with their machine guns swiveling around and firing like
mad.
Everyone dived for cover, except the colonel. He jumped on top of the parapet, shouting at the top of his voice, "Runner,
runner, go tell those tanks to stop firing at once. At once, I say." By now the enemy fire had risen to a crescendo but,
giving no thought to his personal safety as he saw the tanks firing on his own men, he ran forward and furiously rained
blows with his cane on the side of one of the tanks in an endeavour to attract their attention.
Although, what with the sounds of the engines and the firing in such an enclosed space, no one in the tank could hear
him, they finally realised they were on the wrong trench and moved on, frightening the Jerries out of their wits and
making them scuttle like frightened rabbits. One of the tanks got caught up on a tree stump and never reached their
front line and a second had its rear steering wheels shot off and could not guide itself The crew thought it more prudent
to stop, so they told us afterwards, rather than to keep going as they felt they might go out of control and run on until
they reached Berlin.
The third tank went on and ran through Flers, flattening everything they thought should be flattened, pushing down
walls and thoroughly enjoying themselves, our lads coming up behind them, taking over the village, or what was left of
it, and digging in on the line prescribed for them before the attack. This was one of the rare occasions when they had
passed through the enemy fire and they were enjoying themselves chasing and rounding up the Jerries, collecting
thousands of prisoners and sending them back to our lines escorted only by Pioneers armed with shovels.
The four men in the tank that had got itself hung up dismounted, all in the heat of the battle, stretching themselves,
scratching their heads, then slowly and deliberately walked round their vehicle inspecting it from every angle and
appeared to hold a conference among themselves. After standing around for a few minutes, looking somewhat lost,
they calmly took out from the inside of the tank a primus stove and, using the side of the tank as a cover from enemy
fire, sat down on the ground and made themselves some tea. The battle was over as far as they were concerned."


http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/himtanks.htm
The War in the Air: Airplanes in WWI





In the summer of 1914, the airplane was less than eleven years old. Aviation was a fledgling technology that fascinated
many but still generated skepticism when it came to practical applications. Most airplanes of the time were slow, flimsy
contraptions with barely enough power to lift a single pilot and perhaps one passenger. While numerous countries had
shown an interest in military aviation, the concept of using airplanes to wage war was still a fairly radical idea. All that
changed during the course of World War I.
Reconnaissance Planes
Early in the war, military strategists realized that aircraft could be very useful for spying on enemy troop movements. Thus,
the reconnaissance plane was borna tool that all sides in the war used to varying degrees. These aircraft typically carried
a pilot and an observer with a camera, who would photograph troop positions on the ground. The use of aircraft for
reconnaissance grew rapidly during the first few months of the war and played an increasingly crucial role in achieving
victories. Such aircraft proved vital to the British and French forces during the Battle of Mons and the Battle of the Marne,
for example.
Fighter Planes
As aerial reconnaissance became more common, so did the need for ways to stop enemy observation planes. One way was
by firing upon them from the ground, which was ineffective until guns could be better adapted for the purpose. The other
way was to develop a means for one aircraft to attack another. The first such attempts were made using the observation
aircraft themselves, as pilots and observers attempted to shoot at other planes using rifles and even pistolsa method
that quickly proved hopeless. Some pilots tried throwing hand grenades, bricks, or even long ropes with grappling hooks at
planes below them. The ideal solution was the machine gun, which could fire a continuous stream of bullets, significantly
increasing the chance of hitting a target.
Machine guns tended to be large and heavy, however, and only a few were small and light enough to be practicable for use
on an airplane. Another problem was that firing sideways seriously decreased accuracy, while firing forward meant that the
airplanes propeller would be in the way. The problem was not solved until mid-1915, when a Dutch aircraft designer
named Anton Fokker developed the interrupter gear, a timing mechanism that synchronized the machine gun with the
moving propeller blades.
On August 1, 1915, German pilots Oswald Boelcke and Max Immelmann became the first pilots to shoot down another
aircraft using Fokkers new method. This development gave the Germans a strong advantage for several months until
French and British designers succeeded in adapting the device for their own use about one year later.

Bombers
Bombing was an obvious offensive tactic for use in air warfare, but different countries approached the concept in different
ways. Russia was the first to develop an airplane specifically for this purpose: the Murometz, a large four-engine airplane
that Igor Sikorsky had developed in 1913 as a passenger plane, was adapted for use as a bomber in 1914 and was used
successfully throughout the war.
Myths and Realities of Air Warfare
As the war went on and airplane technology improved, large battles in the sky became an ever more common occurrence,
and fantastic legends and stories grew around great air aces, such as Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron) and Eddie
Rickenbacker. These men came to be seen by the public as modern-day knights, fighting a more exotic and elegant war
than the grotesque nightmare happening on the ground below.
The truth was quite different. Newly recruited pilots were often sent into the skies with only a crude understanding of how
to fly (typically less than five hours training). As the war progressed, it actually became unusual for a new pilot to survive
the first few weeks of his duty. Due to this lack of experience, pilots not only fell victim to enemy aces but also succumbed
regularly to bad weather, mechanical problems, or loss of control due to pilot error. It was also common for pilots simply to
become lost and then run out of fuel over enemy lines. Most of those who were shot down lost their lives not in
spectacular dogfights but after being shot from behind without ever having even been aware of their attackers. Although
parachutes had been invented decades before, pilots from some countriesBritain in particularwere not allowed to
carry them, because military leaders believed their use to be cowardly.
Overall Importance of the Air War
On the whole, aerial warfare cannot be said to have played a fundamental role in World War I, as it did in World War II.
Bombing served more as a psychological weapon than a practical one, and the technology necessary to cause the kind of
massive damage that bombing would be able to inflict in the near future had not yet been developed.
On the other hand, World War I itself encouraged the rapid improvement of the airplane, both in general and specifically
as a weapon. During the four years of conflict, the overall stability and safety of flying improved tremendously, as did the
power, speed, and maneuverability of the newest designs. Moreover, the war fostered the general publics respect for
aviation and spawned a new generation of pilots and aircraft designers, who would go on to take human flight to the next
level after the war.
















The "Red Baron" Scores Two Victories, 1917

The Red
Barons Air
plane



















With 80 confirmed kills, Baron Manfred von Richthofen was World War One's highest scoring combat pilot and its most
famous flyer. He began his military career as a cavalryman but switched to the air corps in 1915 first as an observer and
then as a fighter pilot. He scored his first combat kill in September of 1916.
Richthofen became Germany's top-scoring living ace in January 1917 after shooting down his 16th victim. He was
awarded the Orden Pour le Merite (the famous "Blue Max"), Germany's highest military honor and given command of
his own unit populated with the cream of the crop of Germany's combat pilots. In order to distinguish himself to his
fellow flyers and to ground troops, Richthofen painted his plane a blazing red, earning the name the "Red Baron" from
his British opponents. Richthofen's comrades followed suit and painted their planes with unique colors prompting the
British to refer to Richthofen's unit as the "Flying Circus".
By the spring of 1918 the Red Baron had shot down 80 victims. His luck was about to run out. On April 21 he chased
what would have been kill number 81 far behind the British lines. The grim ballet between hunter and hunted brought
both planes closer and closer to the ground. With his quarry firmly in his sights, the Red Baron was suddenly felled by a
single bullet coming either from troops on the ground or from a Canadian pilot flying in hot pursuit and desperately
trying to save his comrade.

The British buried their famous opponent the following day with full military honors. Richthofen was 25 years old.



http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/himflyingace.htm













Other Weapons http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/himwwIcombat.htm