As with the grenade the mortar was yet another old weapon which found a new lease of life during World War One. A trench mortar is essentially a short, stumpy tube designed to fire a projectile at a steep angle (by definition higher than 45 degrees) so that it falls straight down on the enemy.

These were the new and upgraded versions of cannons. Never in the history of man, where there so many cannons used in one war alone. For four years the British had been using artillery and firing 170 million shells in that time. But Germany had a plan up their sleeve. For years, German scientists were developing the biggest artillery ever known. It was called the ‘Big Bertha’. Big Bertha was so powerful it could fire at the heart of Paris from 120 kilometres away. Mortars were variously used to take out enemy machine gun posts, suspected sniper posts or other designated features. Larger mortars were occasionally used to cut enemy barbed wire, generally in situations were field artillery could not be used.

The cannons weren’t the only things that had been improved. The shells were upgraded as well. Instead of ordinary shells, new high-explosive shells were developed. The shells were thin casings and were filled with tiny lead pellets. This was so effective, that artillery fire killed hundreds and thousands of men. It also blew the ground, which made hiding much more difficult.