World+War+1+OP

Barbed Wire

=Dangers=

[[image:U96800P-A.jpg align="right"]]
Working with barbed wire was a nasty job under any circumstances, but when you were handling it in the dark and within a hundred yards of rifles and machine guns that would shoot at the least sound, you were doing one of the most nerve-wracking bits of work that could possibly be imagined...the slightest move might mean death for half your party. = New technology =

The outbreak of World War I sparked a revolution in modern warfare, and the use of barbed wire on the battlefield was one of the many technologies relied on to hamper the enemy's attack. Originally used by American cattle ranchers since the 1870s, barbed wire was adapted on the Western Front to serve a more gruesome purpose than containing livestock.

= Equipment and methods =

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Due to the extreme dangers inherent with no man's land, specialized tools and methods were implemented to make the process quieter and more efficient. Pickets, or metal posts, were originally used to hold up the wire and were hammered in by a muffled mallet. However, this still produced noise, rendering the sappers targets for the enemies. Therefore, screw-pickets or 'cork-screws' were produced.These looped steel posts had a drill-like end, allowing it to be twisted into the ground noiselessly and the wire then wrapped around it.=====