Tank

Although I have read books and watched movies about WWI, I still had a lot to learn about this war. I knew little things about this topic, such as the war stopped before Christmas and restarted after New Year’s day. But, I always wondered why there was a truce over Christmas and was eager to learn more. I also knew that the German army was the strongest army in Europe and wanted to learn more about what made them so strong. After reading the book Truce by Jim Murphy I learned a lot more about…

Imagine being the leader of an eleven-man team made of a hodge-podge group of both Engineers and Infantrymen trying to cross an open river with what seemed like an unending number of French defenses. Imagine having a whole division sized mission stalled by French Artillery from the far bank. This was the situation that Staff Sergeant Walter Rubarth and his team encountered in mid-May, 1940. His leadership helped to open a path for both the 10th Panzer Division and the 1st Panzer Division to…

Trebuchet: A machine used in medieval siege warfare for hurling large stones or other missiles. This is one of the most important and game changing weapon of all time. When the trebuchet is fired, the weight box falls and the force of gravity causes rotational acceleration of the attached throwing arm around the axle (the fulcrum of the lever). The throwing arm is usually four to six times the length of the counterweight portion. These factors multiply the acceleration transmitted to the…

A catapult by definition is a ballistic device use to launch a projectile some distance, in particular. A catapult was a large machine on wheels with a basket attached to a long wooden arm and a power source for hurling projectiles such as large stones and spears. The catapults were integral to the Siege Warfare. They were one of the most effective weapons during the Siege Warfare. They were used by the Greeks, Romans, and Chinese. The first catapults were early attempts to increase the range…

During the Battle of Yorktown the Americans and French used three different types of artillery which where categorized as howitzers, cannons, and mortars. Each piece of artillery had a different use or propose during the battle. Since the artillery was not as precise as it is today, the success of the artillery fell upon the expertise and talent of the gun crews. Most crews where a six man team made up of a Gun Commander, Firer, Vent Tender, Ram and Sponge, Worm and Loader, Powder Handler,…

Advancements in Medieval Warfare; The Trebuchet Throughout the Middle Ages, the art of warfare progressed, and siege warfare was introduced. Many new weapons were created along with the introduction of siege warfare, one of them being the trebuchet. This weapon was developed in the seventh century and used until the fifteenth century. Trebuchets worked by flinging objects over fortress walls and destroying both the fortifications and people at the same time. As many weapons there were both…

In 1914 Australian men went out to sign up for war many not knowing what they were signing up for. The Australian troops had a tough life on the Western Front as they had to face horrid conditions not only fighting and risking lives for their country but living in places where you get bad trench conditions including trench foot and fever, have pests which bring diseases and steal your food, have health problems and not able to treat them as there isn’t much aid for everyone to be treated. The…

Summarizing Handout Beginning: In 1914, trenches in western Europe extended. In late Autumn of 1916, the Canadians moved north, during the time they spent the winter of the war strengthening defences. Continuing invading from march had cost the Canadians 1,400 people killed or wounded, however, the knowledge they got helped the Canadians take Vimy objectives with less losses. A replica of the battle area was made so Canadians could exercise and prepare for the battle. The French, Germans and…

"Thank you. But I'm better and I don't need the water." Nelberg said stopping his coughs. "You can go with Reinhard and depart to chase that cannons. Keep an eye on the lieutenant. He and his men had been trained as Cuirassiers (**) and it is possible that they had the temptation to engage the enemy cavalry in combat. Just kill as much artillerymen as you can catch, spike their cannons and return to the fortress." ------------------------------ The sun was setting and Erick went up the stairs to…

From behind us, guerrillas from another group appeared carrying Molotov cocktails. The crowd fell back as they saw the flaming bottles headed their direction. Most hit the shields, but one hit a Crasher while his guard was down. The fire began to cover him as he pulled his mask off in desperation. Another put down his shield to help put out the fire. The line was broken and the crowd exploited the weakness. The remaining Crashers tried to push off the crowd, but there was too many of them. One…