Questions about World War I (WWI or WW1), also known as the First World War; a global war that lasted from 1914 to 1918.
Questions tagged [world-war-i]
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Was this Indian from British India the first to strike Berlin during World War I?
This article (since deleted, backup here) came to my eye recently.
The article glosses over the exploits of a citizen of British India who, purportedly, rose from utter obscurity to becoming an ace flier. A quote of some of the article is as…
Everyone
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Was the safety of a WW1 helmet called into question because survivorship bias was neglected?
A common story about the British "Brodie helmet", issued first in World War I, is the following:
After introduction of the helmet, the number of reported head injuries increased. This called the efficacy of the helmet into question among "high…
EpicBroccoli
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In WWI, did the British Board of Invention and Research propose conditioning seagulls to associate a submarine's periscope with food?
One of the more unusual ideas proposed by the BIR [British Board of Invention and Research] involved dragging a dummy periscope behind a ship while food was discharged nearby. The aim was to attract a flock of seagulls to the periscope and,…
Rebecca J. Stones
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Was the Browning Automatic Rifle kept from US troops during WWI?
On the History Channel show Modern Marvels: Engineering Disasters 2 (S05E30) there is a segment on the French Chauchat rifle. Dr. Jack Atwater, former director of the US Army Ordnance Museum, makes the claim that American soldiers were issued…
Tom
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Did Churchill have a hand in the sinking of the Lusitania?
In the hope that the loss of American lives would bring the United States into World War 1, did Winston Churchill play a part in getting the Lusitania to carry ammunition so that it would be sunk by German u-boats?
There are a few claims…
Scott
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Was a German WWI soldier made into a hat rack by a furious Scottish Lord?
In the TV show QI XL J16 - Just the Job Jeremy Clarkson tells a story, about a Scottish Lord making a hat rack out of a german WWI soldier. The story goes (from 21:20 in the video):
There were some people looking around an Auction at a Scottish…
SIMEL
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Was it common among soldiers to put boot blacking on other soldiers' private parts during WW I?
The claim is hidden in a long article about some other ... uhm delicate ... myths surrounding Hitler here:
according to a former comrade of Hitler's from the trenches, Hans
Mend, his comrades used to put boot blacking on the future Fuhrer's
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0xC0000022L
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