Pl. 24
Plate 24 of 87 · Class III, Artillery
Shrapnel shell
An anti-personnel shell that burst in the air above the target and sprayed forward the many bullets it carried. Named after Lieutenant Henry Shrapnel, who began developing it in 1784, it was increasingly replaced by high explosive as trench warfare set in from late 1914, although Britain kept using shrapnel heavily.
Mentioned in
- Chapter IV Deadlock §1 Why the Trenches? Firepower and the Shell Crisis§10 The Lusitania, Zeppelins and the War in the Air
- Chapter X The Machinery of War Overview§2 Artillery: The True Killer