Chemical warfare

by Amos A. Fries; Clarence J. West

Technical

Gas Laboratory in Paris. Early in January, 1918, the first members of the Chemical Service Section, National Army, under the command of Colonel R. F. Bacon, arrived in France and reported for duty. Previously, a laboratory site at Puteaux, a suburb of Paris, had been selected. This plant had been built by a society for investigation into tuberculosis. Previous to the arrival of the Chemical Service Section, information had been requested from the United States by cable as to the size of the laboratory section to be sent over. The reply stated that the number would probably total about 100 commissioned and enlisted. The site at Puteaux was accordingly definitely decided upon. Just following this decision two cables, one after the other, came from the United States recommending certain specified buildings in Paris for the laboratory. It was found upon investigation in both cases that the buildings were either absolutely unsuited or unfinished. This was another case of trying to fight a war over 4,000 miles of cable. Colonel Bacon was made head of the Technical Division, which position he held throughout the war.

Fig. 18.—Shaper for Opening Captured Gas Shell.

Technically Trained Men. In January, 1918, in response to a cable from the United States a request had been made on the French Government to send six of their ablest glass blowers to the United States to aid in making glass lined shells. The French Gas authorities said that it would be impossible to send those or indeed any other men trained in the manufacture or handling of poisonous gases or gas containers as they did not have enough such men for their own work. Accordingly a cablegram was drafted and sent to the United States, requesting that 50 men experienced in various lines of technical and chemical work be sent to France. The French authorities said they would put them in any factories, laboratories or experimental places that the Chief of the Gas Service desired. A second inquiry about these men was sent but nevertheless no answer was ever received and no men were sent.

Protection Against Particulate Clouds. Just at this time, about the first of February, 1918, the danger that the Germans might devise some better method of sending over diphenylchloroarsine than by pulverizing it in high explosive shell was felt to be serious. The British had just then perfected protection against diphenylchloroarsine by employing unsized sulfate wood pulp paper—48 to 60 layers being required. This number of layers was found to be necessary as they are very thin and porous. The British had developed a method of putting this paper around a canister and yet keeping the canister small enough to fit into the knapsack by reversing its position therein; that is, putting the canister in the compartment of the knapsack made for the face piece and putting the face piece in the other compartment. Some of our own officers and enlisted men were sent to England to work with the British on this and an order given them for 200,000 of the protected canisters. They improved on the methods of the British and as it was found that sulfate paper was very scarce, investigations were made to see if any of it could be manufactured in France. Very soon thereafter such a place was located near the city of Nancy. Following this a cablegram was sent to the United States giving complete specifications for making this diphenylchloroarsine protection. From this cablegram successful samples were made though somewhat more bulky than those developed in England. Very few, however, of these were made in the United States due, we were informed, to the poor quality of the sulfate paper. Work was however begun energetically in the United States on other methods of protection against diphenylchloroarsine.

Numbers of Chemists Needed. It was figured that out of a total force of some 1,400 gas officers there would be needed in the A. E. F., exclusive of those in regiments, approximately 200 chemists, i.e., about 15 per cent of the whole. We arranged to have a good chemist on each Division, Corps and Army Staff, and a certain number with the gas troops. It was proposed to put 20 to 40 in the laboratory in Paris and not to exceed 20 at the experimental field. This subject of personnel is touched on for the reason that a few people seem to have the idea that the Chemical Warfare Service should be made up of chemists exclusively. This is very far from being true. It was and is believed that the Chemical Warfare Service should be composed of men from every walk of life. In three positions out of every four in the field a good personality combined with energy, hard work and common sense count for more than mere technical training.

Hanlon (Experimental) Field. As early as December 15, 1917, it was decided that an experimental field in France was necessary, and a letter was written to the General Staff requesting authority to establish one. After considerable delay the authority was granted and search for a site begun. This was no easy task. While the French were loading millions of gas shells at the edge of Paris, they appeared unwilling at first to have us establish a gas experimental field except in abandoned or inaccessible spots. Finally a very good site was found and agreed to by the French some 7 miles south of General Headquarters. Just when we were ready to start work the French discovered that the proposed field included a portion of one of their artillery firing ranges. They then suggested another site within 3 miles of General Headquarters. This was a rather fortunate accident as the site suggested was a better one than at first picked out. The field was roughly rectangular from 7 to 8 miles in length, and 3 to 4 miles in width. The total area was about 20 square miles. The work of this experimental field proved a great success and was rapidly becoming the real center of the Gas Service in France.

The old saying that the history of a happy country is very brief applies to this story of the Technical Section of the Gas Service in France. Its work did not begin as early as that of the other sections, and as considerable of it was of a nature that could be put off without immediate fatal effects, the Section was enabled to grow without the very serious drawbacks encountered by other Sections of the Gas Service.

Nevertheless its usefulness was very great. Those of the Technical Section either at the experimental field or at the laboratory were charged with the opening of all sorts of known and unknown gas and high explosive shells, fuses and similar things to determine their contents and their poisonous or explosive qualities. This was work of a very technical nature, and at the same time highly dangerous.

As stated elsewhere, the determination of the life of the masks became one of the problems which the laboratory was trying to solve. Hundreds of canisters were tested, and hundreds per month would have continued to have been tested throughout the remainder of the war had the war gone into 1919. It was on the Technical Section that devolved the duty of determining at the earliest possible moment the physical properties as well as the physiological effects of any new gas.

Also on that Section fell the preliminary reports as to the probable usefulness in war of a new gas whether sent over by the enemy or suggested by our own Technical men, or those of our Allies. This was indeed a task by itself, as it required a wide knowledge of the methods of using gases, methods of manufacturing them, and methods of projecting them on the field of battle.

In addition, it was the duty of the Technical Section to keep the Chief of the Service fully informed on all the latest developments in gases and to get that information in shape so that the Chief with his increasingly wide range of duties would be enabled to keep track of them without reading the enormous amount ordinarily written.

A much earlier start on technical work would have proved of immense advantage. In case of another war, the technical side of chemical warfare should be taken up with the very first expedition that proceeds to the hostile zone. Had that been done in France, we would have had masks and gases and proper shells and bombs at least six months before we did.