Battlefield Orders

Research weapons used in the Great War and explain how they are changing the face of war in 1918. Weapons to explore: flamethrower, tank, machine gun, submarine, airplane, and 3" mortar.

Tanks

The caterpillar track, upon which the tank travelled, was designed in its crudest form in 1770 by Richard Edgeworth.

Submarines

As German submarines became more numerous and effective, the British sought ways to protect their merchant ships. "Q-ships," attack vessels disguised as civilian ships, were one early strategy.
Consolidating merchant ships into convoys protected by one or more armed navy vessels was adopted later in the war

Airplanes

a German invention that allowed a machine gun to be mounted behind the propeller so the pilot could fire directly ahead, along the plane's flight path.Large planes with a pilot and an observer were used to reconnoiter enemy positions and bomb their supply bases. Because they were large and slow, these planes made easy targets for enemy fighter planes.

3" Motar

A mortar is essentially a short, stumpy tube designed to fire a projectile at a steep angle (by definition higher than 45 degrees) so that it falls straight down on the enemy.