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consuming and after Messines it had lost its surprise strategy. Beside the
bayonet, the early grenades did enable troops to use distance to their
advantage and lob this weapon into opposition soldiers from a safer
distance; if they could get close enough - something that was hard to do
against the machine gun. Tanks and aircraft working so effectively in
concert in World War 2 were in their infancy in World War 1 and only the
tank working in conjunction with infantry and heavy artillery near the end
of the war had some influence on the final defeat of Germany. For
example, in the First Battle of Bullecourt all tanks had broken down
before their start line.
Further Research
What was a “Wombat Borer?’
10. While
artillery fire
with its associated shrapnel damage proved a
constant and evil menace to troops it was unable to prove a winner against
heavily entrenched troops. However, as Peter Fitzsimmons says, whatever
the weapons the fact that attacking soldiers had to cross open ground in
the face of machine guns on higher ground proved insurmountable Page
311
Fromelles and Pozieres: in the Trenches of Hell
. The use of aircraft
and zeppelins that could fly above opposition positions and report on
enemy movements allowed artillery fire and mortars to be very effective
against enemy positions. Many people would not be aware of the attacks
on Britain by German aircraft and zeppelins in World War 1. The damage
that the artillery fire could do can be demonstrated by the damage done to
the church and the surrounding buildings at Villers Bretonneux, shown in
the photograph below. Many French villages were raised to the ground.
Australian War Memorial AWM Photo E02157
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