Men And Machines: German Army During WW1

The Great War of 1914-18. went down in history as the first armed conflict with massive use of the latest technical resources and achievements of civilization for extermination.  The debut of tanks and chemical weapons took place then. Guns became larger and long-range, operetta gala uniforms gave way to the muddy colors of khaki.

Here are some images of the German Army during WW1: Both men and machines.

German soldiers with captured machine guns and a car on a rail carriage

German anti-aircraft guns were called "Balloon defense guns" (Ballon-Abwehr-Kanonen- BAK). They were to shoot down observation balloons.

The balloon-busting BAK again

The Ballon Abwehr Kanone were meant to shoot down balloons but they shot a British warplane. Wreck of a RE8 fitted with V12 engines. The Royal Aircraft Factory (R.E.8 ) was a British two-seat biplane reconnaissance and bomber aircraft of the First World War designed by John Kenworthy.

This German plane LVG B.11 has crashed neatly. And it did not burst into flames. LVG had been involved in the operation of dirigibles before it started design, in 1912, of the company's first original design, the B.I. The B.I was an unequal-span two-seat biplane with a fixed tailskid landing gear. It was powered by a nose-mounted 80 kW (100 hp) Mercedes D.I engine. After entering service an improved variant, the B.II was developed with a cut-out in the upper wing to improve visibility for the pilot in the rear cockpit and fitted with a 90 kW (120 hp) Mercedes D.II engine. The B.II entered service in 1915 and although mainly used as a trainer it was also used for unarmed reconnaissance and scouting duties. A further variant was the B.III which had structural strengthening to allow it to be used as a trainer.

A German field artillery gun is carried on a truck. 1916.

The trucks were used mainly for carrying troops. Note that the truck had no power steering and no pneumatic inflatable tyres of today. No weakling could drive the truck.

1917. German army trucks.

This German staff car met with an accident in Munich in 1915. The driver proudly poses for an photograph.

 A German 21 cm gun towed by a tractor

 Cadets from a German military school fool around

A German propaganda picture. The foes are soldiers of the Allied armies including a bearded Cossack

Two German soldiers pose against a destroyed 25cm British gun

A German soldier looks at a British tank during the Battle of Arras

A German soldier poses against a destroyed French tank, Schneider CA1 which was the first tank the French made.

A trophy in Paris. "Elfrida". A monster A7V vehicle.

WHAT WAS A7V?

The A7V was a tank introduced by Germany in 1918, near the end of World War I. One hundred vehicles were ordered during the spring of 1918, but only 20 were delivered. It was nicknamed "The Moving Fortress" by the British because of the shape of the hull. They were used in action from March to October of that year, and were the only tanks produced by Germany in World War I to be used in operations

A mountain of German guns at Champs Elysees, Paris in 1918.