Lectures on Land Warfare; A tactical Manual for the Use of Infantry Officers / An Examination of the Principles Which Underlie the Art of Warfare, with Illustrations of the Principles by Examples Taken from Military History, from the Battle of Thermopylae, B.C. 480, to the Battle of the Sambre, November 1-11, 1918

by Anonymous

GAS

"The advisability of employing gas as a military weapon is a matter for consideration by the authorities concerned before a campaign begins. Once authorised, however, and assuming that weather conditions are favourable, gas may be expected to play a part in every action. . . . The different methods in which gas can be employed make it a weapon which can be used by all arms, thus Artillery deal with gas shells, Infantry with light mortar gas bombs, Aircraft with aërial gas bombs, and Engineers with all methods of use that call for special manipulation" ("Field Service Regulations," vol. ii. (1921)).

Gas was introduced by the Germans during the Second Battle of Ypres (April 22-May 18, 1915), and the numerous experiments and trials necessary before gas can be used, and the great preparations which have to be made for its manufacture, show that its employment was not the result of a desperate decision, but had been prepared for deliberately. During the First Battle of the Somme (September 1-November 18, 1916) "the employment by the enemy of gas and liquid flame as weapons of offence compelled us not only to discover ways to protect our troops from their effects, but also to devise means to make use of the same instruments of destruction. . . . Since we have been compelled, in self-defence, to use similar methods, it is satisfactory to be able to record, on the evidence of prisoners, of documents captured, and of our own observation, that the enemy has suffered heavy casualties from our gas attacks, while the means of protection adopted by us {177} have proved thoroughly effective" (Sir D. Haig's Dispatches).