The world was horrified when it read of this German gas attack, but there was no time to be lost. Immediately orders went out for gas-masks, and in all parts of England, and of France as well, women were busy sewing the masks. These were very simple affairs—merely a pad of cotton soaked in washing-soda and arranged to be tied over the mouth and nose. But when the next attack came, not long after the first, the men were prepared in some measure for it, and again it failed to bring the Germans the success they had counted upon.
One thing that the Germans had not counted upon was the fact that the prevailing winds in Flanders blow from west to east. During the entire summer and autumn of 1915, the winds refused to favor them, and no gas attacks were staged from June to December. This gave the British a long respite and enabled them not only to prepare better gas-masks, but also to make plans to give the Hun a dose of his own medicine.
(C) Kadel & Herbert
Liquid Fire Streaming from Fixed Flame-throwing Apparatus
WHEN THE WIND PLAYED A TRICK ON THE GERMANS
There were many disadvantages in the use of gas clouds, which developed as the Germans gathered experience. The gas started from their own lines in a very dense cloud, but the cloud grew thinner and thinner as it traveled toward the enemy, and lost a great deal of its strength. If the wind were higher than fifteen miles an hour, it would swirl the gas around and dissipate it before it did much harm to the opposing fighters. If the wind were light, there were other dangers. On one occasion in 1916 a cloud of gas was released upon an Irish regiment. The wind was rather fickle. It carried the gas toward the British trenches, but before reaching them the cloud hesitated, the wind veered around, and soon the gas began to pour back upon the German lines. The Germans were entirely unprepared for this boomerang attack. Many of the Huns had no gas-masks on, and those who had, found that the masks were not in proper working-order. As a result of this whim of the winds, eleven thousand Germans were killed.
Courtesy of "Scientific American"
Cleaning Up a Dugout with the "Fire Broom"