a large number of bodies. Attacks across No Man's Land were always very difficult. Not only did the soldiers have to avoid being shot or blown-up they also had to cope with barbed-wire and water-filled shell-holes. The Germans were the first to introduce the machine gun into military combat. There machine-gunners were often housed inside pillboxes with very thick walls they were difficult to destroy but during an enemy attack the machine guns were placed either on the top or at the side of the pillbox. The British built very few machine-gun pillboxes because not building them was that such work was not worth the labor or the cost. Probably the real reason was that the Commanders feared that if the troops had such solid defenses they would be less on the offence. Both sides also used smaller machine-gun posts. The British tended to use Bergmann machine-gun rather than Maxims in these posts (Livesey 106). Machine-gunners were deeply hated by the infantry and they were more likely to be killed when captured than other soldiers. Soldiers in front-line trenches suffered from enemy snipers. These men were usually specially trained marksmen that had rifles with telescopic sights. German snipers did not normally work from their own trenches. The main strategy was to creep out at dawn into No Mans Land and remain there all day. Wearing camouflaged clothing and using the cover of a fake tree they waited for a British soldier to pop his head above the parapet. A common trick was to send up a kite with English writing on it. Anyone who raised his head to read it was shot. At the beginning of the WW1 mounted troops were still considered as the main component of offensive warfare. In battle members of the cavalry carried a sword rifle which was for use when dismounted and sometimes a lance. Cavalry regiments were also equipped with one or two machine guns carried by a team and cart. The reconnaissance function of the cavalry during the WW1 was rende...
