CHEMICAL WARFARE -WORLD WAR 1 - awm.gov.au · PDF fileCHEMICAL WARFARE -WORLD WAR 1 First Attacks Several belligerents in World War I had been using munitions filled with irritants

VOLUNTARY GUIDES - BACKGROUNDER Number 51 Issue # 1 September 2001

CHEMICAL WARFARE -WORLD WAR 1 First Attacks Several belligerents in World War I had been using munitions filled with irritants from almost the beginning of hostilities. The French first used shells filled with ethyl bromoacetate in August 1914, less than one month into the war, and chloroacetone was introduced into the French arsenal in November 1914. ��On 27 October 1914, the Germans at Neuve-Chappelle used the "Ni-Schrapnell" 105 mm shell, which consisted of lead balls embedded in powdered o-dianisidine chlorosulfonate. On 31 January 1915 at Boloimow, the Germans introduced 150 mm shells filled with "T-Stoff," a mixture of brominated aromatics including xylyl bromide, xylylene bromide, and benzyl bromide. All these compounds are extreme irritants capable of severely limiting the effectiveness of unprotected troops. On 31 May 1915, chlorine was first employed on the eastern front, by the Germans at Bolimow, near Skierniewice, 50 km southeast of Warsaw. This attack employed 12,000 cylinders, releasing 264 tons of chlorine along a 12 km line. There were nearly 200 chemical attacks during World War I using gas released from cylinders; the largest of these occurred in October 1915 when the Germans released 550 tons of chlorine from 25,000 cylinders at Rhiems. Bischloroethyl sulfide (HS, mustard gas) First used in an artillery attack on 12 July 1917 by the Germans. This agent caused the most casualties of any agent used during World War I.

GERMAN GAS CYLINDERS "The Great War had been in progress for six months and the entrenched "attrition" line was in the initial stage of flux, when on April 22nd (days before the Gallipoli Landings) at 5 p.m. the "Second Battle of Ypres" was initiated by the discharge of the first German gas cloud (chlorine -�180,000 kg of chlorine gas from 5,730 cylinders) against the French Colonial troops near Langemarck. Timely, detailed and exact warning of the

impending gas attack, and of the preparation by the Germans of respirators made from tulle, had been received by the British, French and Belgian Commands from spies ( such as the French Agent Charles Lucieto ) and prisoners, but these had gone almost unheeded. For the unfortunate troops, therefore, the surprise was absolute. Wholly unprotected and unprepared, the Turcos (Algerian troops) fled gasping and in terror, leaving a gap of nearly five miIes between the French and British fronts. The German infantry, itself nervous as to the effects of the gas, did not thrust as far as it might and its penetration ended at the Ypres Canal. The Canadian Division, immediately south of the French, had not been directly attacked, and had held this line and formed a flank; but at 4 a.m. on the 24th a second gas cloud was released against them. The Turcos had run with the cloud to disaster; the reaction of the Canadian troops to "gas" was that of educated and resourceful men fighting against things they at least partly understood. Within a few hours of the first gas attack on April 22nd, Canadian medical officers had diagnosed the nature of the gas and had suggested improvised means of defence. The Canadians had borne heavy attacks on April 23rd; and now—

�� Western Front Gallery

"using socks, handkerchiefs, towels, bandoliers and so forth soaked with tea, water or sodium bicarbonate" and holding all vital parts of their position while the gas cloud rolled past them, they retained the "captaincy of their soul", and therewith the "mastery of their fate". Fortunately (says a Canadian Ambulance Commander) the supply was not unlimited and, after the gas cloud passed over, most of the men soon recovered from its effects.

By discipline and intelligence they saved the Channel ports perhaps the war for the Allies. The casualties through gassing, though heavy, were far less than those of the French native troops. Further gas attacks were made on May 1st, 2nd, and 24th, against various parts of the British front, by which time some less primitive means of defence were devised…." (1) The British replied in kind on 25 September of the same year when they released chlorine gas from cylinders against the German trenches at Loos. Unfortunately a shift in the wind blew the gas laterally across the trench lines so that it also gassed some British troops.

�AN AERIAL VIEW OF THE BEGINNING OF A GAS ATTACK. LARGE GAS CYLINDERS WERE BROUGHT UP TO THE FRONT WHERE THE GAS WOULD BE RELEASED UNDER FAVOURABLE WIND CONDITIONS. ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION THE WIND WOULD CHANGE DIRECTION AND BLOW THE GAS BACK INTO THE ATTACKER'S TRENCHES. Means of Delivery At the same time as they experimented with more lethal chemical agents, both sides worked to develop more effective methods of agent delivery. Gas cloud attacks relied on the wind; in the

absence of wind or if the wind blew from the wrong direction, gas cylinders were useless. If the wind shifted shortly after a release, the gas would blow back onto the attacking forces. Thus, a number of new means of delivering chemical warfare agents to the opposing forces were introduced:

• The 4 inch Stokes mortar developed for chemical agent delivery, first fielded in September 1915 at Loos; this represented the first use of projectiles filled with lethal chemicals in World War I.

• The Germans produced chemical agent-filled projectiles for 77 mm., 105 mm, and 150 mm artillery

pieces, and the French produced agent projectiles for their 75 mm rapid firing gun. • *The British Livens Projector was a large-scale mortar developed for delivering large amounts of

chemical warfare agent. The projector was a device that lobbed a football size gas projectile into the enemy trench. The idea with both was to get the gas as far from friendly forces as possible before releasing it.

By the end of the war, one in four artillery rounds fired was a gas shell. At first, the signalling apparatus for giving the alarm when gas was detected was crude. Gongs made from empty shell cases beaten on with an iron bolt, rattles, klaxons, anything to warn the men in the front line. Later, the British Strombus Horn which could be heard five miles away was used.

Artillery men referred to "yellow crosses" (Mustard Gas) and "blue and green crosses" - these were the markings used to differentiate the various gas shell types

The Gases Gas was invented as a terror weapon meant to instill confusion and panic among the enemy prior to an offensive. It was a sort of physiological weapon with the non-lethal tearing agents inflicting as much panic as the dreaded mustard gas. Gas was available in three basic varieties: Lachrymator (tearing agent) Much like today's tear gas and mace, this gas caused temporary blindness and greatly inflamed the nose and throat of the victim. A gas mask offered very good protection from this type of gas. xylyl bromide was a popular tearing agent since it was easily brewed. Asphyxiant These are the poisonous gases. This class includes chlorine, phosgene and diphosgene. Chlorine inflicts damage by forming hydrochloric acid when coming in contact with moisture such as found in the lungs and eyes. It is lethal at a mix of 1:5000 (gas/air) whereas phosgene is deadly at 1:10,000 (gas/air) - twice as toxic! Diphosgene, first used by the Germans at Verdun on 22-Jun-1916, was deadlier still and could not be effectively filtered by standard issue gas masks. Blistering Agent Dichlorethylsulphide: the most dreaded of all chemical weapons in World War I - mustard gas ( "Yperite " to the French). Unlike the other gases which attack the respiratory system, this gas acts on any exposed, moist skin. This includes, but is not limited to, the eyes, lungs, armpits and groin. A gas mask could offer very little protection. The oily agent would produce large burn-like blisters wherever it came in contact with skin. It also had a nasty way of hanging about in low areas for hours, even days, after being dispersed. A soldier jumping into a shell crater to seek cover could find himself blinded, with skin blistering and lungs bleeding. "…...'In the early hours of the 28th Oct. Cpl. Noel was on duty (test strip). The others were sitting or laying on the duckboards, in readiness to go out on the lines when required. Word was given to put gas masks on, as Fritz had mixed gas shells with a bombardment of high explosives, and then one gas shell arrived near

ANZAC Hall -1918 Ending the Great War- Livens Projector

British Livens Gas Projectors

British working party wiring Livens Projectors

our door. We all showed signs of being gassed. After a hectic night my eyes started to close and burn in the corners. I indulged in a series of bouts of coughing and sickness. On Oct 30 1 was told to go and get my eyes dressed and bandaged at the 2nd Brigade. An AMC soldier told me vomiting would help. He placed me with others in a single file and then told us to put our paws on the chap in front. Like this, blind, we scrambled along duckboards and stopped at a dressing station then were put on a horse-drawn ambulance, later changed into a motor ambulance near Ypres. We arrived at 2nd Canadian Clearing Station, and after being inoculated etc, I was placed on a stretcher , undressed, washed, eyes dressed, had a terrific headache, was then placed on an ambulance train……" 'Then my days were a repetition of doctor's visits, eyes burning pretty bad, eyes dressed twice before dinner, eyes dressed before and after tea, indulged in .coughing, restlessness, throughout the night, lost my voice to a whisper (later I was to receive a letter from Australia. It had been stamped 4.11.17 and signed "deceased" at the 22nd G.H.B. where I was still alive). A Scotch chap in the next bed informed me that the night sister had sat alongside me, and that I had been delirious. He wished me luck, and mentioned that the last that occupied my bed had passed out from gas.... 'In the early hours of Nov. 7th I was told to dress for Blighty and be ready in one hour's time, my togs being socks, pyjama shirt and pants, cardigan, a tie, cap comforter, a small bag for my pocket things. with a Blighty label pinned on me. A nurse assisted me, then we were driven to Etaples in a Motor Ambulance….From Etaples we trained to Calais, …(2) Gas Masks:

THE FIRST ARMY ISSUE GAS MASKS WERE LITTLE MORE THAN GAUZE BANDAGES WITH TIES. THESE WOULD BE MOISTENED WITH WATER TO IMPROVE THEIR EFFECTIVENESS IN FILTERING OUT THE GAS.

" ..Our respirators - we called them ""aspirators" were simply chemically impregnated pieces of cloth kept in a protective pouch and we were informed that if the cloth dried out urine could revive the anti-gas properties in an emergency," Jim McPhee says….(2) THE CANNISTER GAS MASK WAS DEVELOPED TO PROTECT THE SOLDIER FROM THE USE OF CHLORINE GAS AND TEARING AGENTS SUCH AS XYLYL BROMIDE. THIS TYPE OF MASK WAS NOT EFFECTIVE IN FILTERING OUT THE MORE DEADLY PHOSGENE AND DIPHOSGENE GASES. THERE WAS NO MASK THAT COULD OFFER PROTECTION FROM THE BLISTERING MUSTARD GAS WHICH ATTACKS ALL EXPOSED FLESH.

Orientation Gallery- Black Veil gas mask, one of the first attempts at countering German gas warfare. Veil was rung out in a solution of Sodium Hyposulphate, Sodium Carbonate, Glycerine and water,then tied over the mouth and nose.The accompanying letter was given to troops on the use of the cloths in Gallipoli in 1915.

Western Front Gallery ("Man in the Mud" and below France 1916)

VICKERS GUNNERS WEARING GAS HELMETS IN ACTION NEAR OVILLERS. BAPAUME AREA, FRANCE.

1918.H08853

"……..Even items issued for their own safety were tiresome. At Fromelles on l5 July 1916, Sergeant

Stevens (58th Battalion) wrote: 'Wakened early with the cry. "Gas! Gas!" Donned helmets.... later ... we had to don our gas helmets again, this time for our own gas which was passing over our lines to the enemy. It is very uncomfortable wearing these helmets for one must breathe through the nose and out through the mouth in which is a rubber tube which will only open on being blown through - air cannot pass in. Air can come through the material as the latter is saturated with chemicals - purifying the air as it comes through.'…"(2)

Orientation Gallery- P or PH hood used against gas prior to the small box respirator. The P replaced the black veil mask by the end of 1915 and was in turn replaced by the PH by July 1916.

GASSED AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS LYING OUT IN THE OPEN AT AN OVERCROWDED AID POST NEAR BOIS DE

L’ABBE, FRANCE MAY 1918. E04851

"...'Back at H.Q., on May 27th Fritz opened up at 3 a.m. He made things pretty lively with H.E. (High explosive) and gas shells. Sgt. McAllister and Drake were sleeping in an upstairs bedroom in a house, a gas shell came through the roof. McAllister reeled into our place, choking with gas and unable to talk. He just gurgled and pointed and we thought Drake was still in the room, so Jack Dawes and I raced in without our helmets. We got a mouthful of gas, shot down the stairs and put our helmets on and went back up again, but Drake had got out. The gas was phosgene and we were all sick, choking, when the Q.M. arrived with rum. We swallowed some and the fumes ot rum and gas made us horribly sick and we vomited most of the gas out. After a couple of hours we only had a bad headache and didn't have to go out of action. Rum is the best cure for phosgene gas, but no good for other kinds….." (2) Casualties "…..The one wound that terrified all men was to be gassed. The fear of this silent weapon did almost as much damage as did the actual gas. They were, to a man, terrified of it. The physical effects were bronchitis, emphysema, fibrosis of the lungs, asthma, vertigo, palpitations, pulse rate up to 130, vomiting, pain after food, streaming, painful eyes and temporary blindness…"(2) It is difficult to find a definitive figure for the numbers of men injured and killed by chemical warfare agents during World War .The following Summary provided by Butler (1) indicates that nearly 21,000 Australians

Western Front Gallery- Photograph Dernacourt Diaorama

were gassed and that at least 404 died .It is unclear to what degree the official figures include individuals who were injured in gas attacks but who developed serious symptoms only after the war. SUMMARY OF GAS CASUALTIES IN FRANCE (1)

FORCE NUMBERS GASSED

% OF TOTAL WOUNDED ( EXL GAS)

CASE MORTALI

TY % December 1915-August 1916

British 4207 .. 24.08 AIF 156 0.65 7.69 July 1916-July 1917 British 8806 .. 6.04 AIF 1374 2.42 2.26 July -December 1917 AIF 3702 12.52 1.89 July 1917-November 1918

British 160526 .. 2.55 AIF 15727 22.79 1.85

The approximate British total of admissions to medical units of gas casualties in France is given as 180,983 and the total deaths 6,062. References: (1) The Australian Medical Services in the War of 1914-1918.Volume III .A.G. Butler.1943 (2) The ANZACS Patsy Adam-Smith 1978 ISBN 0 17 005066 1 (3) Internet Websites various including Trenches on the Web. PJH