Development

Factfile

My judgements

Machine guns

Haig at first thought the machine gun “much over-rated", and that they could be overcome “by grit and determination".  He later changed his mind, and the production of Vickers guns rose from 266 in 1914 to nearly 40,000 by 1918.  Machine Gun Corps were formed in October 1915 and attached to Brigades.  In October 1915 also the Lewis became standard issue British Army machine gun and by 1916 approximately 50,000 had been produced. 

From 1917 troops used machine guns to mount an 'overhead barrage', firing continuously over the heads of advancing troops to pin down the defending Germans - used in conjunction with an artillery 'creeping barrage'.

Massively useful in defence at the start of the war, but too heavy to be used in a moving attack. 

Tanks

49 first used at the Somme (Cambrai, 1916).  Afforded protection for advancing troops.  A fascine attached to the front of the tank could clear barbed wire.  But top speed 4mph, got stuck, impossibly hot and cramped.  430 used in the attack of August 1918, but only six still working a week later. 

Effect psychological only

Poison gas

First used by the Germans at Ypres in 1915.  Unreliable – could blow back on your own lines.  It was not deadly, especially after the introduction of gas masks (it killed only 3,000 British soldiers) … but it tied up medical staff. 

Used to great effect by the artillery, otherwise no real impact. 

Aircraft

Used for reconnaissance, then in dogfights with enemy fighters.  Synchronised firing through the propeller was available from 1915, and used in the German Fokker, but British airmen preferred wing-mounted guns.  By 1918 the RFC had 23,000 planes – including the legendary Sopwith Camel – and ‘aces’ such as the Red Baron and Albert Ball were famous. 

Massively useful for the artillery, and aces raised public morale. 

Mines

Used in a number of key battles – the British mines used at the Somme were the largest man-made explosions in history up to that point.  Terrible conditions for the miners; listening tunnels were used to locate enemy miners, resulting in horrific hand-to-hand fighting underground. 

Worse than useless.  Warned the enemy an attack was coming.  At Messines a mine exploded late, killing advancing British soldiers. 

Artillery

At first useless – used at the Somme to pulverise the enemy, it failed to kill them or clear the barbed wire, with disastrous results. 

However:

  •  High Explosive shells replaced ineffective shrapnel shells and could penetrate dugouts.  Smoke rounds hid British troop movements from the enemy. 

  •  The new 106 fuze allowed HEs to explode on impact, instead of a timed fuse which aimed to explode before the shell buried itself in the ground. 

  •  Short, intense 'hurricane bombardments' just before an attack, rather than week-long bombardments that wrned the enemy an attack was coming.. 

  •  After 1915 British gunners developed the 'creeping barrage', which advanced just in front of advancing infantry, and the 'box barrage', preventing the enemy from approaching isolated British forces. 

  •  A new training manual was issued in February 1917. 

  •  After 1917 British Artillery developed ‘counter-battery fire’ – locating enemy artillery using aerial reconnaissance, flash-spotting and sound-ranging, thenneutralising it by bombarding them with HEs filled with poison gas. 

Massively useful in the war of attrition.  60% of the battlefield casualties in WWI were caused by artillery shells exploding.  But also a key element of the new infantry advancing tactics.  A 'war-winner'.

Motorized transport

Armoured cars increased mobility & motorbikes allowed better communication.  American 4-wheel-drive 'FWD' and 'Jeffery/Nash Quad' trucks revolutionised motorised transport.

Limited impact; the infantry were still largely foot-soldiers moved by train. 

Communications

The War saw the introduction of the phonetic alphabet, communications hubs well back from the front, miles of telephone wire, and the BF Trench Set radio (introduced after 1915, and with valves after 1916). 

Signal despatch remained the main form of communication throughout the war.  However, a pigeon called Cher Ami won a medal for saving a stranded US division … in October 1918!

Medical

The War saw the development of triage stations, absorbent field bandages, the splint, mobile X-ray units, prostheses, and the first blood bank (set up by Oswald Hope Robertson at the British 3rd Army Casualty Clearing Station, 1917). 

Wonderful for wounded men, but doctors were still powerless against blood-poisoning, and caring for the wounded was not a war-winning development. 

Army organisation

The Army in 1914 was about ¼ million, with another ¼ million territorials; by the end of 1918 it numbered almost 4 million. 

In 1914, the 28,000 officers were almost wholly former public school boys.  No serving British officer of the BEF had commanded more than a division.  After 1915, most officers were promoted from the ranks. 

In 1914, battalion commanders were aged 50+.  In 1918 the average age was 28, and men over 35 were no longer eligible to command battalions. 

Contrary to popular opinion, generals did not sit safe in chateaux behind the lines; some died in combat. 

In 1914, platoons took their instructions wholly from the battalion commander; after 1915, platoon leaders were authorised to make their own decisions. 

The doctrine of the bayonet died; in its place, the grenade was used to take enemy positions. 

The last, disastrous, cavalry charge of the war was by the 9th Lancers in Belgium on 24 August 1914.  Thereafter the cavalry were used as highly mobile reserve units, but they dismounted to fight. 

A new training manual in February 1917 marked the end of attacks made by lines of infantry.

Reform and modernisation was essential to win the war. 

Training

The men were intensively trained in the new tactics.

In each platoon, on addition to general training, some men specialised as Lewis gunners, grenade throwers, etc.

They learned the job of the man next to them, but also the officer above them, so they could step into that role if that soldier was killed or wounded; this avoided the chaos that occurred at the Battle of the Somme when the german gunners targeted the officers. 

Reform and modernisation was essential to win the war. 

Infiltration ('leap frog') tactics

It is a myth that generals simply sent men endlessly OTT to their deaths because they could not think of any other way to fight. 

At the Battle of Loos, the British used ‘wave’ tactics, with a second and then third wave passing through and advancing beyond the previous wave when it faltered. 

After 1916 they developed ‘infiltration tactics’:

  •  A Fighting platoon would drive deep into the weak points in enemy lines by-passing heavily-defended enemy positions, followed by

  •  A Support platoon would provide protective fire, followed by

  •  A Carrying platoon would attack the now-isolated strong points, followed by

  •  A Mopping-up platoon who would secure the captured area. 

In 1917, General Plumer introduced the idea of 'bite and hold', making shorter advances and then consolidating with the help of artillery.
In 1917, at Cambrai, the British used a 'combined arms' approach, integrating the different combat arms into a single plan.

Used by the Germans in Operation Michael in 1918, and by the British during the Hundred Days which won the war.