10 facts to know about World War I

The World War I that started in 1914, marked a centenary this year. A war that shook the world, caused destruction of life and property began on July 28, 1914, when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.This appeared to be a small conflict but it spread its wings rapidly. Soon Germany, Russia, Great Britain, France and America were all drawn into the war.This war was a major turning point for the world from every aspect. While most people are aware of the war, some interesting facts remain lesser known.While the war caused a lot of devastation that cannot be resurrected again, we can for sure, pluck out some unseeingly positive outcomes through. Here are 10 interesting facts of the Great War or WWI: 1. In 1918 a pigeon, Cher Ami, one of about 100,000 homing pigeons used during the war, managed to save 500 US soldiers. In October 1918, as the war neared its end, 194 American soldiers found themselves trapped by German soldiers. They were cut off from other Allied soldiers and had no working radios. The only chance they had of alerting anybody about their desperate situation was to send a pigeon with their co-ordinates attacked to its leg.The pigeon's name was Cher Ami. When released it flew 25 miles from behind German lines to the Americans headquarters. Cher Ami covered the 25 miles in just 25 minutes. Despite being shot at by German soldiers, Cher Ami bravely delivered a vital message from the soldiers who had been cut off behind enemy lines.She lost an eye and a leg, but US army doctors saved her life and gave her a wooden leg. She was awarded the Croix de Guerre for bravery!2. The youngest British soldier was 12 years oldSidney Lewis was just 12 years old when he lied about his age and joined the army during World War One. He was one of thousands of eager underage boys who enlisted and ended up fighting alongside their adult counterparts on the front. Some were motivated by patriotism, but for others it was an escape from their depressingly dull and bleak lives.At the outbreak of war in 1914, the British Army had 700,000 available men. Germany's wartime army was over 3.7 million.When a campaign for volunteers was launched, thousands answered the call to fight. Among them were 250,000 boys and young men under the age of 19, the legal limit for armed service overseas.3. Explosions in France were heard in London While the war raged on in the mud and trenches, a very different war was taking place underground. A group of miners, who operated in complete secrecy, dug tunnels up to 100ft underground to plant and detonate mines beneath the enemy's trenches.Their biggest success was at Messines Ridge in Belgium where over 900,000lbs of explosives were simultaneously detonated in 19 underground tunnels.Much of the German front line was destroyed, and the explosions were heard 140 miles away by the British Prime Minister in Downing Street, London.The World war was not just fought by soldiers but also civilians who had little or no military training.4. When the war started, British soldiers went into battle with just a cloth cap for protectionIn 1914, when the war began, steel helmets were not available. So the soldiers had to use pieces of cloth to protect themselves. Old socks, soaked in their own urine were also used as shield. Luckily, steel Brodie helmets were introduced in 1915. The German army called them "Salad Bowls"! They were very uncomfortable, but at least they gave the soldiers some protection. There were no gas masks for the soldiers either. They used cloth against gas attacks until masks were made.Gas masks used in World War One were made as a result of poison gas attacks that took the Allies in the trenches on the Western Front by surprise.5. Fear of Germans resulted in German dogs being killed in America In America, suspicion of the Germans was so high that even German shepherd dogs were killed. The names of frankfurters, hamburgers, sauerkraut and dachshunds were all changed to American names. German stopped being taught in schools and German-language books were banned.Before the war, it had been the second most widely spoken language in the US.The breed was named Deutscher Schäferhund by von Stephanitz, literally translating to "German Shepherd Dog".The direct translation of the name was adopted for use in the official breed registry; however, at the conclusion of World War I, it was believed that the inclusion of the word "German" would harm the breed's popularity, due to the anti-German sentiment of the era.The breed was officially renamed by the UK Kennel Club to "Alsatian Wolf Dog",after the French-German border area of Alsace-Lorraine. 6. Before the First World War most women stayed at home or worked in domestic service.But as more and more men joined the army to participate in the war, women had to take over their jobs.Suddenly women were working on the buses, in offices and in factories, all jobs that would have been frowned upon in peacetime.The women who worked in munitions factories were nicknamed "canaries" because their skin sometimes turned yellow when they came into contact with the dangerous chemicals! At that tie women were looked upon as fragile beings incapable of handling tedious or intellectual task. The WWI, changed that perception as women became more independent and discharged duty with responsibility. Women, post war, achieved stature of equality.7. Many people suffered facial injuries during the First World WarOne of the most dangerous weapons in the war and the cause of many facial injuries was shrapnel. Unlike the wounds inflicted by bullets, the twisted metal shards produced from a shrapnel blast could rip a face off. Improved medical care meant that more injured soldiers could be kept alive, but urgently dealing with such devastating injuries was a new challenge. Harold Gillies was the man the British Army tasked with fixing these grisly wounds. Born in New Zealand, he studied medicine at Cambridge before joining the British Army Medical Corps at the outset of World War One. Gillies was shocked by the injuries he saw in the field, and requested that the army set up their own plastic surgery unit. As plastic surgery was primitive, artists created copper masks to hide the injuries. The masks were held on by glasses and painted to match each soldier's skin tone. Some even featured eyelashes made from curled metal. In a way, this war gave birth to plastic surgery. 8. Blood banks were developed during WW1The British Army began the routine use of blood transfusion in treating wounded soldiers. Blood was transferred directly from one person to another.A US Army doctor, Captain Oswald Robertson, established the first blood bank on the Western Front in 1917. Blood was kept on ice for up to 28 days and then transported to casualty clearing stations for use in life-saving surgery where it was needed most.Soldiers living in the pathetic conditions of the WWI were susceptible to a range of infections, including typhus fever carried by lice.The treatment of so-called trench fever extended our understanding of how to break the spread of such infections, with the more hygienic practises adopted in First World War base hospitals helping to structure modern approaches. Developments in wound shock treatment in the First World War - from the use of saline, through direct donor-to-patient blood transfusion and the development of techniques to store blood - have helped shape much of modern practise.9. Journalists faced execution during The WarA handful of journalists risked their lives to report on the realities of war. As the Government sought to control the flow of information from the frontline at the start of the war, journalists were banned. Reporting on the conflict was, in the opinion of the War Office, helping the enemy. If caught, they faced the death penalty. The First World War was characterized by rigid censorship. Till March 1915 war correspondents such as Philip Gibbs and Basil Clarke, who defied the ban, lived like fugitives in France, and smuggled back their dispatches any way they could.10. Tanks were developed by the British during the First World War Tanks developed in England were a top secret work.Even the factory workers who assembled the vehicles were kept in the dark. They were told they were making mobile water tanks for desert warfare. Tanks were originally called "landships", but this was changed to "tanks" to confuse the enemy.At the beginning of the war, tanks were grouped according to their ‘gender'. The male tanks had cannons attached while the females carried machine guns. The prototype tank was named Little Willie.Though initially crude and unreliable, tanks eventually became a mainstay of ground armies.