Before 1914, trench warfare was a type of fighting unforeseen by the armies of Britain, France and Germany, so none was equipped to fight it. Specialized weapons and equipment were needed for the violent environment of the trenches and these had to be developed and introduced to the Front as quickly as possible. In Britain, a plethora of inventions departments sprang up to address the problem and from these there emerged a number of remarkable weapons, although some came from civilians such as William Mills and Wilfrid Stokes. Hand and rifle grenades as well as trench mortars emerged as potent weapons that had a fundamental impact on the conduct of the fighting in the trenches.