WE ARE all more or less familiar with the general feeling about the use of chemicals in the World War, how people were stunned when Germany first used them in 1915.
We remember how there immediately sprang up very strong wartime propaganda against gas as a war agent, magnified by the ghastly posters, picturing men in the agonies of suffocation, that were placed everywhere before the people. This first gas used was chlorine, the smell of which is familiar to everyone. Chlorine causes strangulation and is necessarily severely painful; one can easily see what a thunderbolt was launched when it was let loose on unprotected and unsuspecting troops on April 22.
It came to the Allies with panic-creating effect. Death heralded by whistling shells exploding with a thunderous crash and with flying splinters of jagged steel, armies have known for decades; but, although in the end comparatively few lives were lost, this change in the method of warfare was a new sensation, and this mysterious death dealing agent seemed to be lurking everywhere. Its advent in the form of silent, invisible gas was new, and therefore had a great psychological effect.
There was the general belief that chemical warfare as developed in the World War was an entirely new method of waging war, however, when we go back into history we find that the Athenians and Spartans, 431-404 b.c., used wood saturated with sulphur and pitch, burning it under the walls to generate poisonous and choking fumes in order to stupefy the defenders. Later, in 360 b.c., pots filled with pitch, sulphur, and other substances were thrown from the walls upon the besiegers. Many other means were used as time went on in the form of incendiary arrows, and later what was known as Greek fire and flame projectors came into use.
In modern times, but prior to the World War, forms of chemical warfare were used by boarding parties during the War of 1812, and an attempt was made to use the same during the Civil War. At the siege of Charleston burning wood saturated with pitch and sulphur was used under parapets in the hope of suffocating and smoking the defenders out.
At the Hague Congress of 1899, whereby all powers except the United States pledged themselves not to use suffocating or poisonous gases, the American delegates were instructed by Secretary Hay against the proposed agreement with regard to asphyxiating shell. He said in part “the expediency of restraining the inventive genius of our people in the direction of devising means of defense is by no means clear, and considering the temptations to which men and nations may be exposed in time of conflict, it is doubtful if an international agreement to this end would prove effective.”
Admiral Mahan, one of our delegates to this Congress, expressed himself in part as follows:
The objection that a machine of war is barbarous has always been raised against new weapons, which were nevertheless finally adopted. In the middle ages it was fire-arms which were denounced as cruel. Later shells, and more recently torpedoes have been denounced. It seems to me that it cannot be proved that shells with asphyxiating gas are inhuman or unnecessarily cruel machines of war, and that they cannot produce decisive results.
I represent a nation that is animated by a lively desire to make warfare more humane, but which may nevertheless find itself forced to wage war; therefore it is a question of not depriving itself through hastily adopted resolutions of means of which it could later avail itself with good results.
It is illogical and not demonstrably human to be tender about asphyxiating men with gas, when all are prepared to admit that it is allowable to blow the bottom out of a ship at midnight, throwing four or fire hundred men into the sea to be choked by water with scarcely the remotest chance of escape.
As we all know, Germany was signatory to this Hague Declaration of 1899. In violating it and using gas she expected to force a speedy conclusion of the war, but as it turned out she only added another weapon to modern warfare.
With this weapon there came the necessity for protection, and in the minds of the Allies the desire for retaliation.
Perhaps one of the most serious errors in policy made by the German general staff during the war was in regard to the proper time to use gas. Twice the war might have been decided against the Allies if the use of gas had been delayed by the Germans until they had a sufficient quantity on hand to use it on a very large scale followed by a general offensive. Instead they employed it experimentally on a small sector, with the result that the Allies were able to provide protective devices.
Primarily this device was a pad saturated with chemicals. Immediately after the first gas attack, the women of England produced 100,000 of these masks or pads within twenty-four hours, upon the appeal of Lord Kitchener.
In the end there is the belief that Germany regrets very much having introduced gas, for with the exception of the German drive in March, 1918, which owed its success to a very large degree to chemicals, the Allies sent over to the Germans about ten times as much gas as they received. As it happened also the prevailing winds were toward the German lines.
Furthermore it is contended that the use of gas was a big factor in ending the war. Up to the signing of the Armistice a very small percentage of American manufactured chemicals had actually reached the front, although the daily production of toxic gases in America at the time exceeded the total daily output of all other countries put together. It is possible that the knowledge on the part of Germany of the vast quantities of gas that were on their way to the front had more or less influence on her decision to seek an armistice and peace.
We are all familiar with chlorine as a commercial product, and among other things its use in a mild concentration as a cure for colds.
At the time Germany first used this there existed the popular impression that she had exercised unusual scientific foresight and capacity, but it must be remembered that chlorine was first discovered in Sweden, 1774. Later the method of producing it by electrolysis was discovered by the British, and its application as a bleaching unit was rendered possible by the French.
As the Allies became more proficient in protecting themselves against chlorine so that the psychological effect of its use became nullified the Germans found the necessity of introducing new agents against which the gas mask and other protective agencies of the Allies were not efficient.
In December, 1915, they disclosed a surprise in the form of phosgene, a more deadly gas but with about the same persistency as chlorine. This gas attacks the lower lungs, but it is not very easy to protect against. In fact the Germans thought that by using phosgene they would win the war, since they did not believe it could be protected against. In this, however, they were again mistaken. The British intelligence service discovered in advance that this was to be used, and when the attack came over the British Army was already equipped with suitable protection.
For some time after this there were few surprises, the interval being used in perfecting the methods of projecting the gases into enemy territory. This ranged all the way from the release of gas from cylinders planted near their own lines allowing the wind to carry the cloud down over the enemy, to mortars, projectors, hand-grenades, and what are known as gas-shells.
Lachrymators, commonly known as tear- gases, were used extensively in many forms, such as chlorpicrin, a persistent gas which besides causing tears is poisonous, and causes extreme nausea.' A pet trick was to send over a cloud of this gas which would make men caught unawares quite sick forcing them to remove their masks, so that they were unprepared for the cloud of more deadly gas, phosgene, which followed soon after.
And now I will touch on one more agent, the king of them all, mustard. This gas was called mustard by the British soldiers because of its burning effect on the skin, and of its odor. This is not a mustard oil, but an artificial compound, and was first used in July, 1917, by Germany.
This event marked the great milestone in the development of chemical warfare. Although protection against inhalation was available in the regular gas-mask, over 6,000 casualties occurred because the British were not familiar with the properties of the new gas, and because due to the faint odor they were not aware of its presence. Here again the Germans covered but a small sector, thereby losing another opportunity to obtain decisive results.
From that time on mustard gas developed into one of the biggest problems of the war, as one can easily realize since at ordinary temperatures mustard is an oily liquid a few drops of which on the sole of one’s shoe, puttee, or clothing may cause a casualty.
An illustration of this in recent times is provided by the case of an officer who was taking the regular chemical warfare course at Edgewood arsenal.
During some practical demonstrations in the open to show the students how the gases appeared, and what they smelled like, one officer, without realizing it, accidentally kicked over a small test-tube containing liquid mustard. •
A little while later one of the instructors discovering that the tube had been knocked over, immediately endeavored to find out who had done it, since he realized the possibility that whoever had might receive a bad burn.
By process of elimination the officer was finally discovered, and immediately sent to his home a few hundred yards away to change his clothing as quickly as possible.
The accident occurred at about three o’clock in the afternoon, and he felt no effects until about six thirty. As the result of a few drops of mustard splashed unnoticed on this officer’s puttees he received several bad burns, which caused him to remain in the hospital for several weeks.
When one realizes that this chemical can be projected in bombs or shells, or sprinkled on the ground where it will remain at ordinary temperatures in small droplets like dew, rendering an area untenable and dangerous to passage, you hesitate to do otherwise than treat it with great respect.
All energies of the Allies were concentrated upon the education of the troops in the properties of mustard, and method of protection against it, and, upon the production of protective devices.
Experiments were immediately begun with a view to manufacturing mustard in large quantities, but not until eleven months later were shells containing this gas fired by the Allies.
During the World War approximately thirty per cent of the total American casualties were from gas. Of this percentage only two per cent died, whereas twenty-four per cent of the other combined casualties died.
Now that the war has been over for a few years it is a matter of record that the permanent injuries sustained by gas casualties who recovered are practically nil in comparison to those sustained by casualties from other sources.
Materials which can be used for the manufacture of war chemicals are in constant demand in the commercial world, and are always at hand. The United States has the raw materials, the chemical industries, and therefore the facilities needed for the production of chemical agents. Consequently it only seems logical that in order to insure ourselves against surprise by another nation we should push forward our research work, not only in regard to agents that might be used, but in protective devices as well.
A great many parts of the world have the materials for manufacturing chemicals, utilized in peace times for the making of dye stuffs. As a result of the use of poison gas in the last war and this availability of materials, all the principal nations are carrying on some form of preparation for chemical warfare as a part of their national defense scheme. This does not indicate any intention on their part to wage war any more than do their other military preparations, but it does show that they have accepted the advent of chemicals as a method of carrying on war.
According to recent accounts it is interesting to note that Russia, in particular, has organized a complete chemical warfare arm, and is developing it on a large scale, larger than any other country.
Our own interest in this matter is centered in a separate branch of the Army called “Chemical Warfare Service” with its research work, manufacturing plant, and school, centered at Edgewood arsenal, Edge- wood (near Baltimore), Maryland. At Edge- wood not only activities for the Army are carried on, but those for the Navy as well.
There is attached to the arsenal a naval unit composed of two line officers, a marine officer, and a medical officer, the senior line officer being in command of the unit. In addition to working on naval problems the junior line officer and the marine officer are instructors in the school. The medical officer is associated with the research work.
All gas masks, protective clothing, and other materials of like nature are manufactured or prepared by the arsenal for the use of the Navy. Through the activities of the naval unit at Edgewood, under fleet training, all experiments and training in the Navy are carried out.
During the World War the Navy of course escaped the experience of actually using poison gas, although it is said that some gas shells were used in the Battle of Jutland. It was not known by the British at the time, however, because the Germans had simply taken high explosive shells and replaced a part of the explosive by a lead canister filled with chemical. The explosion was so great that the liquid was decomposed, therefore no effect was produced. Authorities, however, raise the question of this use, so that gas as a factor at the Battle of Jutland cannot be accepted as authentic.
Developments have up to the present time progressed to a point where it is not only possible but probable that chemicals would be used in naval warfare. Consequently we must not forget either the value or possibility of using chemicals in problems which involve the combined operations of the Army and the Navy, the securing and holding of advanced bases, the silencing of land fortifications, and the neutralization of areas on shore.
The Navy must not only be prepared to use chemical agents in time of war, but it is far more important that she be thoroughly capable of protecting herself against their use by a possible enemy. For some time we have all been quite familiar with the presence of gas masks aboard ship, but further than that it is doubtful whether the service as a whole is entirely familiar with their use, how they should be cared for, or their importance as a method of protection.
Many times during the war when gas was first used there were unnecessarily heavy casualties because the men would not carry out their instructions. Later as gas discipline became much better among the troops, the casualties resulting from gas attacks were materially reduced.
In order to bring the naval service into closer contact with the subject of chemical warfare, and to have in the Navy officers who are able to more readily aid in bringing it up to a logical state of preparedness against chemical agents, the Navy Department each year sends several groups of officers to Edgewood for a six weeks’ course at the school. Each group is composed of from twenty to thirty officers.
When we realize that the art of using chemicals has progressed to the point where ships are subject to being sprinkled with mustard, or attacked with gas bombs from the air, enveloped by a poison gas cloud, or perhaps hit with a gas filled shell likely to explode in a closed compartment, it seems time that we give the subject a great deal more than just a little thought. Were any of these things to happen to any of our capital ships at the present time how good would be the gas discipline, and how efficient would be the protection, and the work of the cleanup squads afterwards?