Military History Photo Friday: WWI Grenade Catapult

World War one was a strange combination of modern and medieval. While it saw the development of aircraft, tanks, and poison gas, it also saw men wearing armor, wielding clubs, and even launching grenades with catapults.

This image dates from 1915 and shows French troops improving their throwing arm by using a catapult to chuck grenades at the German trenches. All sides used these, although they were never terribly widespread. Their accuracy was not the best and better armaments such as the trench mortar soon became available.

I might have to put one of these babies in an upcoming Trench Raiders novel!

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.