Mortars of the Great War

Short range Mortars were almost unknown before WW1 since they had, at most, a minor role in field operations envisaged for conflict in Europe. However, the war, especially on the Western Front, became static with deep entrenchments and field fortifications by the end of 1914. Most field artillery pieces were unable to attack these effectively and very rapidly a new class of "trench mortars" evolved which gave short range, high angle fire. Trench mortars grew into a massive proliferation of types. There have been relatively few attempts to survey and explain the multiple types especially since only a few types were used after WW1 although mortars remained an important weapon system. This section will contain articles on the trench mortars of WW1. There was another class, the siege mortars, much heavier weapons which can be found in the artillery section.