23 Lesser known World War One Facts

In 1916, there were over one million causalities in what’s known as the Battle of Verdun. Tweet This

Artillery harvested 2/3 of the soldiers, died on the battlefield. Tweet This

France was the first country to use tear gas, in 1914. Germany responded with the poisonous chlorine gas the year after. Tweet This

Over 30 poisonous gases were deployed during WWI, gassing more than one million soldiers and killing 100,000 of them. Tweet This

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250,000 British soldiers underwent at least one amputation. Tweet This

German soldiers shot and killed 150 civilians in Aarschot, Belgium, as part of their strategy to terrorise the civilians. Tweet This

Right after WWI, Germany made bicycles tires out of metal springs as there was no rubber available. Tweet This

Paul Kern, a Hungarian soldier, was shot in the frontal lobe, and as a result he could not fall asleep. He lived like that for years after the war. Tweet This

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Anibal Milhais, a Portuguese soldier nicknamed “Soldier Millions”, fought all alone the Germans for three days without eating or drinking, making them believe they were facing an entire company. Tweet This

Canadians got through the first chemical attack without gas masks just fine. They urinated on their handkerchiefs and held them as masks at their faces. Tweet This

Steel was scarce and ships were built out of concrete. Tweet This

The deadliest nonnuclear explosion occurred in French Lochnagar mine, and was heard in London. Allies used over 100,000 pounds (50 ton) explosives and evaporated several thousand Germans. Tweet This

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While loading in secrecy tons of explosives underneath German positions, U.K. officer reportedly said “Maybe we won’t change the outcome of the war today, but we will for sure change the landscape”. Tweet This

Nearly 900,000 British men died in France in WWI, one in eight of those who went to war. Tweet This

In May 1917, approximately half the French army mutinied. After 50 executions, the order was restored. Tweet This

Christmas day of 1914 will be remembered with a spontaneous truce between British and German troops. They met in No Man’s Land to exchange small gifts or even play football. Tweet This

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Military permitted troops to visit licenced brothels. “Maisons de tolerance” for officers had blue lamps, and those for plain soldiers – red lamps. Tweet This

150,000 British soldiers suffered from venereal infections. Tweet This

The ban on condoms in U.S. which lasted until 1972 led to much higher rates of STDs among American soldiers during the WWI and WWII. Tweet This

In 1918, the Great Influenza Pandemic killed up to 100 million worldwide. Tweet This

It was called Spanish Flu as Spanish press was free to report the real death toll while the other countries suppressed the numbers. Tweet This

U.S. Army lost 60% of its soldiers to the flu. Tweet This

French fries were invented by American soldiers stationed in Belgium.  Tweet This