The Year 1916 in the Great War Slideshow (12) imagesViewBombers: This two-seater French designed ground-attack Voisin aircraft in the service of the Imperial Russian air forces is being readied for a bombing raid in early 1916 (or perhaps late 1915). Credits: Scientific American, March 4, 1916The Year 1916 in the Great WarShareMountain Warfare: In the bitterly cold Alps the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and Italy fought a desperate series of battles during World War One. Here, artillery is hoisted to a commanding position by Italian mountain troops... Scientific American, May 27, 1916The Big Guns: This image (colorized in 1916) shows British troops loading a 15-inch howitzer on the Somme battlefield. Such large guns were seen as a key to victory in trench warfare. Scientific American, December 9, 1916 (from an action on August 7, 1916)Factories in the Fighting: Production capacity (or money to buy it) became a vital wartime asset. This photograph from 1916 shows an American worker finishing the casing of a six-inch shell, probably for export to one of the warring nations. ... Scientific American Supplement, December 23, 1916Deep Underground: In a subterranean “lounging room” the French soldiers here are safe from the artillery fire that caused most of the casualties in the First World War. Scientific American Supplement, September 9, 1916AdvertisementTrench Warfare: Machine guns and artillery fire saturated the battlefields, so soldiers dug down into the ground for safety. This trench in France in 1916 is equipped with wooden foot paths over the mud and carries electric or telephone wires... Scientific American Supplement, June 17, 1916Bombers: This two-seater French designed ground-attack Voisin aircraft in the service of the Imperial Russian air forces is being readied for a bombing raid in early 1916 (or perhaps late 1915). ... Scientific American, March 4, 1916Equipment Failure: Science and technology in the service of military victory was all very nice, but such hardware needed constant servicing. This image from 1916 shows a British Army truck outfitted as a portable machine shop... Scientific American, September 9, 1916Protecting Valuables: The battles of the Great War destroyed centuries-old historical buildings. This photograph from 1916 shows the south transept of the 13th-century Amiens cathedral protected by a wall of sandbags. ... Scientific American Supplement, January 29, 1916AdvertisementAn Army Marches on its Stomach: In this photo from 1916 a large German detachment of bakers and their ovens are set up in the field, presumably as close to their troops as conditions allowed. Scientific American, February 5, 1916Flame Thrower: A sketch of the portable German version from 1916. This “scientific tool of destruction” was refined in World War One and “liquid fire” was considered by all sides to be useful in trench warfare... Scientific American Supplement, June 24, 1916Ambulance: This image is by American artist Neal Truslow, a volunteer with the American Red Cross Ambulance Service in 1915-1916 who worked near the beseiged town of Verdun, France. Scientific American, October 7, 1916On Guard: An American “Doughboy” watching a bridge into civil-war-torn Mexico is also a perfect metaphor for the U.S. as the country nervously looked at the carnage of the Great War in Europe... Scientific American Supplement, May 20, 1916AdvertisementPreviousNextAdvertisementRead More About this Slide Show