Facts About World War 1
Facts about World War 1
World War 1 invokes impressions of a horrific slaughtering that took place in the trenches of the Western Front. While this gruesome picture surely leaves many with nausea, there are many World War 1 facts that most of us have no knowledge of.
The spark that initiated the war was the assassination of Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand on 28 June 1914. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the assassination and threatened war unless Serbia followed a harsh set of demands. Germany backed Austria-Hungary and Russia backed Serbia. On 28 July, war was declared and the split of Europe was inevitable with Britain, Russia and France – the Allies on one side and Germany & Austria-Hungary on the other. By the end of the war on 11 November …show more content…
1918, the death toll was 16 million soldiers and civilians and a divided Europe.
Quote: “The prominent Your Country Needs You war recruitment poster famously featured Lord Kitchener with a pointing finger.
World War 1 Trench Warfare Facts
The battlegrounds of the war were trenches with an estimated 25,000 miles (24,000 km) of trenches dug during the war. These would form the famous “fronts”.
Britain and France recruited around 140,000 Chinese labourers to dig trenches known as the Chinese Labour Corps.
The space between two opposing trenches was called No Man’s Land as no soldier wanted to cover the distance for fear of attack. No Man’s land was a mud bath that was so thick that soldiers would disappear in it never to be found.
German trenches were far superior to the filthy British trenches and some even had doorbells and windows.
World War 1 Unlikely Heroes
During the war 628 heroes received the Victoria Cross, the youngest being Jack Cornwell, aged 16.
The official conscription age was 19, but so many boys lied about their age to defend their country. The youngest found was a mere 12 years old.
An estimated 100,000 pigeons were used during the war to deliver messages across the battlefield. The most famous of these was Cher Ami – a homing pigeon that saved 200 American soldiers’ lives though badly wounded by German soldiers.
Dogs were used to lay down telegraph wires and terriers were used to hunt rats in the trenches, saving many lives.
Many brave British women served as nurses, doctors and soldiers on the battlefield. German forces arrested Edith Cavell after assisting the escape of Allied soldiers to the Netherlands from Belgium. She was executed in October 1915.
World War 1 Artillery
Tanks were initially called “landships”. In an attempt to disguise them as water storage units, the British code-named them “tanks”.
Britain classified their tanks in gender terms. Tanks with cannons were called “males” while tanks with heavy machine guns were called “females”.
The thirteen huge howitzers used by Germans were called Big Berthas, weight 48 tons, could fire a 250-pound (930 kg) shell 9.3 miles (15 km) and took 200 men six hours to assemble.
The Germans were the first to use the deadly chlorine gas during the war with a total of 30 poisonous gasses used on both sides. An estimated 1,200,000 soldiers were gassed with horrific scenes.
The Germans were also the first to use flamethrowers during World War 1 that could fire flames as far as 130 feet (40 m).
The French claimed that their “Devil Gun” – a 75mm cannon accurate up to four miles – won the war.
Major Edward “Mick” Mannock was a British World War 1 ace pilot and was responsible for 73 “kills”. He jumped from his plane after hit by ground fire, as British pilots were not allowed parachutes during World War 1.
Did you know?
“Little Willie” was the first prototype tank in WWI. Built in 1915, it carried a crew of three and could travel as fast as 3 mph (4.8 km/h).
More Interesting World War 1 Facts
Although A Long Way to Tipperary was the first hit of World War 1, the first song that went global was Pack Up Your Troubles after winning first prize as a marching song for troops.
An explosion in Belgium where over 900,000 pounds of explosives were detonated simultaneously was heard in London – 140 miles (225 km) away.
During World War 1, an astonishing 2 billion letters and 114 million parcels were delivered to the soldiers on the Western Front. It only took two days to deliver a letter in France.
Women’s skin turned yellow as a result of exposure to TNT toxins while preparing explosives to send to the front.
Bands of young women called The White Feather Brigade went around the streets of London and pinned a white feather on young men in civilian clothes to point out their cowardice in not being on the battlefield.
At the start of World War 1, no soldier had a metal helmet and was only introduced in 1915.
Disease accounted for one third of the deaths like trench foot and lice. Brothels, however, caused 150,000 British soldiers go down with venereal diseases.
Brothels were established because it was believed that the soldiers needed sexual activity. Brothels with blue lamps were for officers and those with red lamps for …show more content…
soldiers.
Food shortages became so severe in Britain caused by the effectiveness of German U-boats downing British ships that the use of rice at weddings and the feeding of pigeons were banned. To protect merchant ships from enemy attacks, a Royal Navy volunteer came up with the idea of painting the ships in bold colours in an effort to confuse the enemy.
Harold Gillies, an English doctor, pioneered plastic surgery during World War 1 as thousands of soldiers had to wear masks due to the horrific injuries to their face.
Their own side, mostly for desertion, shot over 300 British soldiers. When they were found drunk, they were pinned to a gun wheel or post, very often within range of enemy fire.
Superstitions played a big role among soldiers in the trenches. One of these was not to light three cigarettes in a row with the same match. Enemy snipers used this to see, aim and fire. Some saw angels appear that protected them from disaster and many saw phantom cavalry.
The British Army introduced blood transfusions during World War 1 where blood was transferred directly from one person to another. Captain Oswald Robertson of the US Army established the first blood bank on the Western Front in 1917.
Daylight Savings Time was introduced by Germany in an attempt to save fuel needed for the war effort. They advanced their clocks by one hour at 23h00 until the following October. Many countries followed suit including Britain.
America only joined Word War 1 in 1917 due to Germany’s continuation of unrestricted submarine warfare in the North
Atlantic.
When soldiers returned home after the war births increased by nearly 50% from 1918 – 1920, however, the great flu epidemic killed more people than the war itself.
World War 1 caused Britain to be bankrupt, as no one has foreseen the massive costs involved in the first global war. Bullets fired in a 24-hour period were nearly four million pounds.
One of the most evil men this world will ever know – Adolf Hitler – fought in World War 1 and escaped with his life on numerous times.
World War 1 invokes impressions of a horrific slaughtering that took place in the trenches of the Western Front. While this gruesome picture surely leaves many with nausea, there are many World War 1 facts that most of us have no knowledge of.
The spark that initiated the war was the assassination of Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand on 28 June 1914. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the assassination and threatened war unless Serbia followed a harsh set of demands. Germany backed Austria-Hungary and Russia backed Serbia. On 28 July, war was declared and the split of Europe was inevitable with Britain, Russia and France – the Allies on one side and Germany & Austria-Hungary on the other. By the end of the war on 11 November …show more content…
1918, the death toll was 16 million soldiers and civilians and a divided Europe.
Quote: “The prominent Your Country Needs You war recruitment poster famously featured Lord Kitchener with a pointing finger.
World War 1 Trench Warfare Facts
The battlegrounds of the war were trenches with an estimated 25,000 miles (24,000 km) of trenches dug during the war. These would form the famous “fronts”.
Britain and France recruited around 140,000 Chinese labourers to dig trenches known as the Chinese Labour Corps.
The space between two opposing trenches was called No Man’s Land as no soldier wanted to cover the distance for fear of attack. No Man’s land was a mud bath that was so thick that soldiers would disappear in it never to be found.
German trenches were far superior to the filthy British trenches and some even had doorbells and windows.
World War 1 Unlikely Heroes
During the war 628 heroes received the Victoria Cross, the youngest being Jack Cornwell, aged 16.
The official conscription age was 19, but so many boys lied about their age to defend their country. The youngest found was a mere 12 years old.
An estimated 100,000 pigeons were used during the war to deliver messages across the battlefield. The most famous of these was Cher Ami – a homing pigeon that saved 200 American soldiers’ lives though badly wounded by German soldiers.
Dogs were used to lay down telegraph wires and terriers were used to hunt rats in the trenches, saving many lives.
Many brave British women served as nurses, doctors and soldiers on the battlefield. German forces arrested Edith Cavell after assisting the escape of Allied soldiers to the Netherlands from Belgium. She was executed in October 1915.
World War 1 Artillery
Tanks were initially called “landships”. In an attempt to disguise them as water storage units, the British code-named them “tanks”.
Britain classified their tanks in gender terms. Tanks with cannons were called “males” while tanks with heavy machine guns were called “females”.
The thirteen huge howitzers used by Germans were called Big Berthas, weight 48 tons, could fire a 250-pound (930 kg) shell 9.3 miles (15 km) and took 200 men six hours to assemble.
The Germans were the first to use the deadly chlorine gas during the war with a total of 30 poisonous gasses used on both sides. An estimated 1,200,000 soldiers were gassed with horrific scenes.
The Germans were also the first to use flamethrowers during World War 1 that could fire flames as far as 130 feet (40 m).
The French claimed that their “Devil Gun” – a 75mm cannon accurate up to four miles – won the war.
Major Edward “Mick” Mannock was a British World War 1 ace pilot and was responsible for 73 “kills”. He jumped from his plane after hit by ground fire, as British pilots were not allowed parachutes during World War 1.
Did you know?
“Little Willie” was the first prototype tank in WWI. Built in 1915, it carried a crew of three and could travel as fast as 3 mph (4.8 km/h).
More Interesting World War 1 Facts
Although A Long Way to Tipperary was the first hit of World War 1, the first song that went global was Pack Up Your Troubles after winning first prize as a marching song for troops.
An explosion in Belgium where over 900,000 pounds of explosives were detonated simultaneously was heard in London – 140 miles (225 km) away.
During World War 1, an astonishing 2 billion letters and 114 million parcels were delivered to the soldiers on the Western Front. It only took two days to deliver a letter in France.
Women’s skin turned yellow as a result of exposure to TNT toxins while preparing explosives to send to the front.
Bands of young women called The White Feather Brigade went around the streets of London and pinned a white feather on young men in civilian clothes to point out their cowardice in not being on the battlefield.
At the start of World War 1, no soldier had a metal helmet and was only introduced in 1915.
Disease accounted for one third of the deaths like trench foot and lice. Brothels, however, caused 150,000 British soldiers go down with venereal diseases.
Brothels were established because it was believed that the soldiers needed sexual activity. Brothels with blue lamps were for officers and those with red lamps for …show more content…
soldiers.
Food shortages became so severe in Britain caused by the effectiveness of German U-boats downing British ships that the use of rice at weddings and the feeding of pigeons were banned. To protect merchant ships from enemy attacks, a Royal Navy volunteer came up with the idea of painting the ships in bold colours in an effort to confuse the enemy.
Harold Gillies, an English doctor, pioneered plastic surgery during World War 1 as thousands of soldiers had to wear masks due to the horrific injuries to their face.
Their own side, mostly for desertion, shot over 300 British soldiers. When they were found drunk, they were pinned to a gun wheel or post, very often within range of enemy fire.
Superstitions played a big role among soldiers in the trenches. One of these was not to light three cigarettes in a row with the same match. Enemy snipers used this to see, aim and fire. Some saw angels appear that protected them from disaster and many saw phantom cavalry.
The British Army introduced blood transfusions during World War 1 where blood was transferred directly from one person to another. Captain Oswald Robertson of the US Army established the first blood bank on the Western Front in 1917.
Daylight Savings Time was introduced by Germany in an attempt to save fuel needed for the war effort. They advanced their clocks by one hour at 23h00 until the following October. Many countries followed suit including Britain.
America only joined Word War 1 in 1917 due to Germany’s continuation of unrestricted submarine warfare in the North
Atlantic.
When soldiers returned home after the war births increased by nearly 50% from 1918 – 1920, however, the great flu epidemic killed more people than the war itself.
World War 1 caused Britain to be bankrupt, as no one has foreseen the massive costs involved in the first global war. Bullets fired in a 24-hour period were nearly four million pounds.
One of the most evil men this world will ever know – Adolf Hitler – fought in World War 1 and escaped with his life on numerous times.