First World War - did you know?

You are in [Events] [First World War] [Did you know?]

This article includes a number of interesting facst about the First World War:

• More than 65 million men volunteered or were conscripted to fight in mass citizen armies. Millions of civilians also contributed to the war effort by working in industry, agriculture or jobs left open when men enlisted.
• Britain produced nearly four million rifles, 250,000 machine guns, 52,000 aeroplanes, 2,800 tanks, 25,000 artillery pieces, and more than 170 million rounds of artillery shells by 1918.
• Medical advances made the First World War the first major conflict in which British deaths in battle outnumbered deaths caused by disease.
• The introduction of aircraft into war left soldiers and civilians vulnerable to attacks from above for the first time.
• The First World War left an estimated 16 million soldiers and civilians dead, and countless others physically and psychologically wounded. The war also altered the world's social and political landscape forever. It accelerated changes in attitudes towards gender and class.
• Communications:
  - 12.5 million letters left the Home Depot in England for the forces abroad.
  - By the end of the war, 2 billion letters and 114 million pacels had passed through Regent's Park.
  - 19,000 mailbags crossed the channnel every day. It took just two days for a letter to reach the front line.
  - 375,000 letters were censored each day at the height of the war.
  - By 1918 22,000 pigeons were carrying post to the front line.