World War I may have signaled the dawn of a true revolution in military hardware, but it
was still filled with some of the craziest and weirdest weapons ever seen on a battlefield- and
one American weapon was so terrifying that Germany threatened to execute any POW discovered with it.
Tsar Tank – Russian Empire
Our first weird weapon of World War 1 never actually made it to the battlefield,
but it was so weird and would have been so terrifying, that it deserves a mention.
In the years before World War I militaries around the world were starting to put the internal
combustion engine to the test in an attempt to develop awesome new weapons of military might.
Russian engineer Nikolai Lebedenko however may have had the absolute craziest idea of them all.
In essence, Lebedenko invented the ferris wheel from hell, a massive tank far outsizing even
the largest tanks of World War 2, which instead of using tracks was driven by two
massive wheels with a third smaller wheel to stabilize it in the rear. The idea first got the
attention of the Russian Tsar when Lebedenko made a tiny prototype with a spring motor,
which he wound and then let loose in front of several thick books. The tiny tank
managed to climb the books with ease, thoroughly impressing the Russian leader. Almost immediately,
he authorized the equivalent of tens of millions of dollars for research and development.
In theory, the Tsar Tank solved the problem of trying to move a vehicle through a battlefield
with a brilliantly simple solution- make wheels big enough that they can
climb over any obstacle. The tank thus had two massive wheels out in front extending
off two separate arms. In the rear, a third arm ended in a much smaller wheel
which would help stabilize the vehicle. The body of the tank would be thin and vertical,
much unlike anything we might think of as resembling a traditional tank,
and would have multiple levels where solders could fire cannons and machine guns from.
With the Tsar's funding, the Russian army built a single prototype in 1914.
Two 250 horsepower engines powered each of the massive wheels, but all that power
was delivered very inefficiently to the wheels, resulting in a loss of
capability. More critically however was the miscalculation concerning the rear,
unpowered wheel. Because of the way weight was distributed on the massive tank, the rear wheel
ended up bearing too much of the vehicle's weight which resulted in it frequently becoming stuck.
Even more practical concerns plagued the prototype though, such as the fact that the
tank crew's fields of fire were severely limited by the dual massive wheels out in front of the
vehicle, which were themselves extremely vulnerable to being damaged by enemy fire.
The prototype saw a single demonstration- during which it became stuck- and just like
that the Russian ferris wheel from hell was canceled forever. In our opinion,
the Russians should've stuck with it, and instead of arming the thing with machine guns and cannons
they should've just slapped some giant speakers on it that blasted out nightmarish carnival tunes as
the massive tanks careened towards enemy soldiers. World War I may have been the only conflict in
human history to use weapons en masse that were obsolete for thousands of years though.
Trench Raiding Clubs – Allies and Central powers Sometimes progress goes in reverse, and nothing
attests to the sheer brutality of World War I than the Trench Club.
A weapon borrowed straight from the dawn of warfare, the trench club was carried by troops
conducting nighttime raids on enemy trenches. Because rifles would cause too much noise,
these daring raiders needed weapons that could kill quickly and very, very violently.
Enter the trench club. Literally just that- a club- soldiers would use them to bash enemy
infantry to bits in daring nighttime raids. The goal of these raids was to
destroy enemy weapon and supply depots, take prisoners, and gather intelligence,
rather than a serious attempt to actually take and hold territory. Thus raiders would
ditch their traditional rifles and pistols, which would give them away,
and opt for a more brutal way of killing up close and personal- but very quietly.
Trench clubs varied in design,
and were largely ad hoc weapons. Like something out of 1979's The Warriors,
these clubs could be outfitted with spikes and nails driven through them to enhance their
lethality. Boards wrapped in barbed wire or simply embedded with random bits of sharpened metal
also made for effective trench clubs. The sheer variety of trench clubs was staggering, and some
soldiers opted to go full-on Dark Souls and even craft homemade flails complete with spiked balls
Clubs were excellent weapons for brutal trench warfare,
but one American weapon was so effective that Germany threatened to execute any American POW
armed with it. The Shotgun – USA
Shotguns may seem ubiquitous today,
but when Germany came face to face with American troops armed with shotguns,
they were so horrified with the results that they issued a diplomatic protest against their use.
The United States had been using shotguns in combat since 1900,
when 200 shotguns were sent to the Philippines to aid US troops in fighting
off Moro tribesmen. The Moro warriors would frequently rush American soldiers,
forcing them into hand-to-hand combat where they had the advantage and rifles were largely useless.
All that changed with the issuing of the Winchester Model 1897 to US troops.
As World War I raged on, American observers kept close tabs on the fighting and quickly learned how
brutal trench combat was. They put this knowledge to good use, and when America inevitably joined
the fighting, she brought with her soldiers armed with modified Model 1987s, more than ready for
savage close-quarters combat. These specially modified shotguns had a heat shield that would
keep the soldier's hand off the barrel, which would heat up during intense and prolonged firing.
An additional modification was to add a bayonet lug on which an M1917 bayonet could be affixed.
The barrel was shortened to 20 inches and soldiers were issued with buckshot ammunition. These trench
loads contained nine double 'oh buckshot pellets, making the Model 1897 a veritable
cannon in the tight quarters of European trenches. A modified action which allowed the soldier to
keep the trigger depressed while working the action meant that the 1897 could unload its
5 round load in rapid succession, which quickly earned it the nickname of the 'trench sweeper'.
The weapons were so devastatingly effective that Germany soon launched an official
diplomatic protest against America, citing the 1907 Hague Convention on Land Warfare
which forbade the use of weapons designed to cause unnecessary suffering. After careful
consideration, Judge Advocate General of the Army, Secretary of State Robert Lansing,
decided that the law did not apply to American shotguns. The reply enraged the Germans,
who threatened to retaliate on any captured American troops found to be wielding shotguns.
The US responded by threatening to retaliate in kind against German troops equipped
with flame throwers and serrated bayonets. World War I was largely fought in the trenches,
and if you thought trench clubs were insane, wait until you see the next item on our list.
Gauntlet Dagger
World War I may have been the most peculiar conflict in human history. On one hand the
fruits of the Industrial revolution had yielded weapons that changed the face of war forever, such
as the machine gun and the tank. On the other, the war still often devolved into the most crude and
ancient forms of fighting imaginable- and the gauntlet dagger is yet another such example.
This weapon consisted of a large metal gauntlet that was worn over the wearer's hand
and forearm. The sheet metal protected the wielder from enemy knives and bayonets,
and inside of the gauntlet itself was a crossbar that the wielder would grip with his hand.
A long metal spike protruded from the end of the gauntlet, which would be used to
repeatedly stab one's foes. Hooks on the sides of the gauntlet would allow the wearer to lace
it tightly onto their arm, securing it in place even in the heaviest of fighting.
While the weapon would prohibit the use of a rifle, it was a devastating
close quarters weapon meant to be used in trench raiding. However,
if we had our choice of a gauntlet dagger or an American shotgun, we'd gladly take the latter.
With the introduction of the airplane, allied and central power pilots were quick to come up
with a very weird, but terrifying use for it. Aerial Darts – French, Germans, and British
In World War I the airplane was slowly defining its role on the battlefield.
Initially used as an aerial scout, eventually airplanes became armed so they could shoot down
other airplanes and enemy airships. Recognizing the potential in a machine that could deliver
an explosive payload to the enemy from directly above, airplanes were even fitted with bombs-
however, these early airplanes didn't have the power to carry aloft significant loads.
The Italians however saw a solution to this problem in 1911,
and developed the aerial dart. Weighing far less than a bomb, an airplane could carry
several hundred of these wickedly sharp, long metal spikes. Stabilized by everything from
small fins to feathers, the darts would be used to saturate an enemy formation.
The French were the first to use them in World War I, with canisters full of the darts attached
to the underside of aircraft. The pilot would then fly very high over an enemy formation, and
pull a wire which would open the canister holding the darts. The released darts would then begin to
fall from tremendous height, picking up speed and energy as they fell. The result was devastating,
as the long, thin darts could easily penetrate steel helmets if dropped from high enough,
and deliver long, thin wounds that penetrated deep and resulted in severe internal damage.
Aerial darts would be equipped by both sides aboard their airplanes and airships, dropped
by the thousands over enemy lines. One french pilot alone dropped 18,000 darts in a single
day in 1915. However, the darts soon grew out of favor with both Central and Allied war planners.
The biggest problem with the darts was that they were completely unguided,
and largely relied on blind luck to actually strike their targets. Because pilots would
have to fly at great heights to ensure the darts gained enough speed to become lethal,
their accuracy was greatly diminished. Even when used against enemy airships the darts
simply proved ineffective. Their greatest flaw however was the fact that the darts
needed to score a direct hit to be lethal, as the darts fell with such speed that they'd embed
themselves harmlessly into the soil if they missed. Eventually the darts were phased out,
though were still in limited use in 1917. Necessity is the mother of invention, and
the need to not get one’s head blown off led to the invention of the weirdest rifles in history.
Periscope Rifle – Central and Allied powers
When World War I began, Germany assumed it would be a brief, if bloody conflict. However,
both the Central and Allied powers seriously misunderstood how the machine gun had completely
changed the face of war forever. With the ability to put out hundreds of rounds of
ammunition a minute, these early machine guns may not have been terribly accurate,
but they rarely ever needed to be. Mass infantry charges would
be absolutely decimated by machine gun fire, with men cut down in their dozens.
Trench warfare was the inevitable result, as the machine gun ground
the conflict to all but a complete halt. Troops became stuck in their trenches,
unable to undertake any sort of offensive action without overwhelming numbers.
The trench war had become so deadly, that even just lifting one's head
up and out of the trench for a quick look could be a good way to get your ticket punched. Both
sides employed snipers who's sole job was to demoralize the enemy by taking
out any soldier unwary or foolish enough to expose themselves. The periscope rifle was
thus quickly developed by inventors on both sides as a way of allowing friendly forces
the ability to fire on the enemy without exposing the soldier doing the firing.
The rifles varied in design but had very common elements. The rifles would be fitted to a frame of
some sort which could be used to prop the weapon up and over the trench. A periscope consisting of
a reflective mirror would allow a soldier to look down the weapon's sights even from several feet
below. The great weight of the frame also helped to stabilize the weapon, and most rifles would
be fitted with specially modified magazines holding many times more rounds than normal.
The weapons were surprisingly effective, and despite their clumsy appearance could
be accurate upwards of a few hundred yards - though modern recreations make it probable
that the weapon was only truly accurate up to 100 yards. The weapon was so effective
though that during the Gallipoli campaign British forces completely abandoned the use
of traditional rifles during the daytime. The inventor of one of the first periscope rifles
used by the British was even awarded 100 pounds- about 4,000 in today's currency-
after the war by the British War Office for his great contribution to the war effort.
The periscope rifle design became so popular that
eventually machine guns were modified to operate in a similar matter. Incredibly,
even pistols received a trench upgrade- which makes more sense than it might seem
at first considering that sometimes opposing trenches were as close as five yards apart.
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