Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which combatants are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. It became archetypically associated with World War I (1914–1918), when the Race to the Sea rapidly expanded trench use on the Western Front starting in September 1914.
The Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank (PIAT) Mk I was a British man-portable anti-tank weapon developed during the Second World War. The PIAT was designed in 1942 in response to the British Army's need for a more effective infantry anti-tank weapon and entered service in 1943.
A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large-caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke, or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The most common type are man-portable, shoulder-fired weapons issued to individuals, although larger crew-served launchers are issued at higher levels of organization by military forces.
A mortar is usually a simple, lightweight, man-portable, muzzle-loaded weapon, consisting of a smooth-bore metal tube fixed to a base plate with a lightweight bipod mount and a sight. Mortars launch explosive shells in high-arching ballistic trajectories. Mortars are typically used as indirect fire weapons for close fire support with a variety of ammunition.
The Battle of Thiepval Ridge was the first large offensive of the Reserve Army, during the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front during the First World War. The attack was intended to benefit from the Fourth Army attack in the Battle of Morval, by starting 24 hours afterwards. The battle was fought on a front from Courcelette in the east, near the Albert–Bapaume road, to Thiepval and the Schwaben Redoubt in the west, which overlooked the German defences further north in the Ancre valley, the rising ground towards Beaumont-Hamel and Serre beyond.
The Battle of the Ancre Heights, is the name given to the continuation of British attacks after the Battle of Thiepval Ridge from 26 to 28 September during the Battle of the Somme. The battle was conducted by the Reserve Army from Courcelette near the Albert–Bapaume road, west to Thiepval on Bazentin Ridge. British possession of the heights would deprive the German 1st Army of observation towards Albert to the south-west and give the British observation north over the Ancre valley to the German positions around Beaumont-Hamel, Serre and Beaucourt. The Reserve Army conducted large attacks on 1, 8, 21, 25 October and from 10 to 11 November.
The Livens Projector was a simple mortar-like weapon that could throw large drums filled with flammable or toxic chemicals.
The Mortier de 58 mm type 2 or Mortier de 58 mm T N°2, also known as the Crapouillot or "little toad" from its appearance, was the standard French medium trench mortar of World War I.
In military munitions, a fuze is the part of the device that initiates function. In some applications, such as torpedoes, a fuze may be identified by function as the exploder. The relative complexity of even the earliest fuze designs can be seen in cutaway diagrams.
A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand, but can also refer to a shell shot from the muzzle of a rifle or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade generally consists of an explosive charge ("filler"), a detonator mechanism, an internal striker to trigger the detonator, an arming safety secured by a transport safety. The user removes the transport safety before throwing, and once the grenade leaves the hand the arming safety gets released, allowing the striker to trigger a primer that ignites a fuze, which burns down to the detonator and explodes the main charge.
The Capture of Regina Trench was a tactical incident in 1916 during the Battle of the Somme during the First World War. Regina Trench was the Canadian name for a German trench dug along the north-facing slope of a ridge running from north-west of the village of Le Sars, south-westwards to Stuff Redoubt, close to the German fortifications at Thiepval. It was the longest such German trench on the Western Front. Attacked several times by the Canadian Corps during the Battle of the Ancre Heights, the 5th Canadian Brigade of the 2nd Canadian Division briefly controlled a section of the trench on 1 October but was repulsed by counter-attacks of the German Marine Brigade, which had been brought from the Belgian coast. On 8 October, attacks by the 1st Canadian Division and the 3rd Canadian Division on Regina Trench also failed.
The British Army used a variety of standardized battle uniforms and weapons during World War I. According to the British official historian Brigadier James E. Edmonds writing in 1925, "The British Army of 1914 was the best trained best equipped and best organized British Army ever sent to war". The value of drab clothing was quickly recognised by the British Army, who introduced Khaki drill for Indian and colonial warfare from the mid-19th century on. As part of a series of reforms following the Second Boer War, a darker khaki serge was adopted in 1902, for service dress in Britain itself. The British military authorities showed more foresight than their French counterparts, who retained highly visible blue coats and red trousers for active service until the final units received a new uniform over a year into World War I. The soldier was issued with the 1908 Pattern Webbing for carrying personal equipment, and he was armed with the Short Magazine Lee–Enfield rifle.
The No. 15 ball grenade, also called the cricket ball grenade, was a grenade used by the British during World War I.
The Battle of Hill 170 was a battle between the British 3rd Commando Brigade and the Japanese 54th Division during the Second World War. The battle was fought in January 1945, as part of the Burma Campaign.
The Leach trench catapult was a bomb-throwing catapult used by the British Army on the Western Front during World War I. It was designed to throw a 2 lb (0.91 kg) projectile in a high trajectory into enemy trenches. Although called a catapult, it was effectively a combination crossbow and slingshot. It was invented by Claude Pemberton Leach as an answer to the German Wurfmaschine, a spring-powered device for propelling a hand grenade about 200 m (220 yd).
The Arbalète sauterelle type A, or simply Sauterelle, was a bomb-throwing crossbow used by French and British forces on the Western Front during World War I. It was designed to throw a hand grenade in a high trajectory into enemy trenches. It was initially dismissed by the French Army but General Henri Berthelot thought it had practical value.
The Garland trench mortar was an improvised mortar used by Australian and British forces at Gallipoli during the Dardanelles Campaign of 1915–16. Developed early in the war by Herbert Garland, a pre-war metallurgist and superintendent of laboratories at the Cairo Citadel, it was the most numerous mortar of the Gallipoli Campaign. A simple, improvised design, the Garland mortar consisted of a smoothbore steel barrel fixed at 45 degrees to a solid wooden base. By means of a powder charge it propelled a variant of the jam tin grenade. Its design meant that the whole weapon had to be turned to change its traverse and raised on a box to increase its range but despite these limitations it was reported to have done "good work" in the front line.
The Capture of Gueudecourt is a tactical incident of the First World War during the Battle of the Somme. The village lies on the Le Sars–Le Transloy road, north-east of Flers and north-west of Lesbœufs. Behind Gueudecourt lay open country which had hardly been shelled with Le Barque in the middle distance and then Bapaume beyond. German troops had passed through the village in late September 1914 during the First Battle of Albert, part of reciprocal attempts by the German and Franco-British armies to advance round the northern flank of their opponent during the operations known as the Race to the Sea. The village became a backwater until 1916 when the Germans built a third defensive position behind the Somme front, in preparation for the British–French offensive being prepared on the Somme.
The Garland grenade was a grenade and trench mortar bomb developed and used by British Empire forces in the First World War. It was invented by the metallurgist Herbert Garland at the Cairo Citadel, and more than 174,000 were issued to the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. The grenade was also used during the Arab Revolt. The Mark I grenade was relatively primitive, being formed of an explosive-filled food tin with a fuse that was lit with a match. The Mark II version was made of cast iron and could be fired from the Garland Trench Mortar.
The kleineGranatenwerfer 16 or Gr.W.16(Small Grenade Launcher Model 1916) in English, was an infantry mortar used by the Central Powers during the First World War. It was designed by a Hungarian priest named Father Vécer and was first used by the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1915. In Austro-Hungarian service, they received the nickname "Priesterwerfers". In 1916 Germany began producing a modified version under license for the Imperial German Army.
