Which Weapons Helped Win WWI?

"This bolt-action rifle of joint US-British design had been in production in one form or another since 1888. It was a reliable and fast-loading gun with a 10-round or a 5-round magazine of .303 ammunition. An experienced soldier could fire off from 15 to 20 rounds a minute. The rifle was effective up to a range of around 600 yards (550 metres) and could be fitted with an M1907 bayonet, a knife with a 17-inch (43-cm) long blade and handle, for brutal close-quarter fighting."

"The machine gun probably claimed more lives than any other weapon in the trench warfare of the Western Front (although artillery caused more wounds). Specialised units operated machine guns, and these belonged to the Machine Gun Corps, created in 1915. A US-designed light machine gun, the Lewis gun, proved remarkably adaptable and was used by the British Army and Royal Flying Corps. Manufactured in Britain and Belgium, the gun used gas to fire 450-500 rounds a minute."

The First World War introduced numerous new weapons to overcome static trench warfare on the Western Front. British forces combined tried-and-tested arms like the Lee-Enfield rifle and battleships with innovations such as hand grenades, heavy artillery, armoured cars, tanks, and fighter planes. The Lee-Enfield was a reliable bolt-action rifle with 5- or 10-round magazines, effective to about 600 yards, and often paired with an M1907 bayonet for close combat. Machine guns, organized under the Machine Gun Corps, inflicted heavy casualties; the Lewis light machine gun fired 450–500 rounds per minute and the Vickers was mass-produced by 1918. These weapons reshaped battlefield lethality.

Read at World History Encyclopedia