Weapons of the Trench War, 1914-18

Before 1914, trench warfare was a kind of fighting unforeseen by the armies of Britain, France and Germany, so none was equipped to fight it. Specialized weaons and equipment were needed for the violent environment of the trenches and these had to be developed and introduced to the Front as quickly as possible. In Britain, a plethora of "inventions departments" sprang up to address the problem, and from these there emerged a number of remarkable weapons, although some also came from civilians such as William Mills and Wilfrid Stokes. Hand and rifle grenades as well as trench mortars emerged as potent trench weapons and had a fundamental effect on the conduct of fighting in the trenches. This text takes a detailed look at innovation in the trenches, principally from the British viewpoint, but also considers equipment used by other combatants. The author includes weapons and associated equipment designed to overcome the problems of trench warfare at trench level, and examines some of the unsuccessful ideas that never made it to the Front. Some of the weapons, like the Livens projector, have remained largely unknown.
Anthony Saunders narrative describes each type of equipment, its development and effectiveness, and what the troops at the Front thought of it, as well as official reaction to the weapons. The source material has been drawn from files in the Public Record Office and from UK patents - a rich but little-used source of detailed information about World War I weapons inventions. The range of illustrations supporting the text include contemporary photographs and detailed drawings.