Inventions of the Great War

by A. Russell Bond

While chlorine was the first gas used, it was evident that it was not the only one that could be employed. British chemists had suspected that the Germans would use phosgene, which was a much more deadly gas, and in the long interval between June and December, 1915, masks were constructed which would keep out not only the fumes of chlorine but also the more poisonous phosgene. In one of their sorties the British succeeded in capturing some valuable notes on gas attacks, belonging to a German general, which showed that the Germans were actually preparing to use phosgene. This deadly gas is more insidious in its action than chlorine. The man who inhales phosgene may not know that he is gassed. He may experience no ill effects, but hours afterward, particularly if he has exercised in the meantime, he may suddenly fall dead, owing to its paralyzing action on the heart.

FREEING THE BRITISH TRENCHES OF RATS

Phosgene was not used alone, but had to be mixed with chlorine, and the deadly combination of the two destroyed all life for miles behind the trenches. However, the British were ready for it. They had been drilled to put on their masks in a few seconds' time, on the first warning of a gas attack. When the clouds of chlorine and phosgene came over No Man's Land, they were prepared, and, except for casualties among men whose masks proved defective, the soldiers in the trenches came through with very few losses. All animal life, however, was destroyed. This was a blessing to the British Tommy, whose trenches had been overrun with rats. The British had tried every known method to get rid of these pests, and now, thanks to the Germans, their quarters were most effectively fumigated with phosgene and every rat was killed. If only the "cooties" could have been destroyed in the same way, the Germans might have been forgiven many of their offenses.

The disadvantages in the use of gas clouds became increasingly apparent. What was wanted was some method of placing the gas among the opponents in concentrated form, without wasting any of it on its way across from one line to the other. This led to the use of shell filled with materials which would produce gas. There were many advantages in these shell. They could be thrown exactly where it was desired that they should fall, without the help of the fickle winds. When the shell landed and burst, the full effect of its contents was expended upon the enemy. A gas cloud would rise over a wood, but with shell the wood could be filled with gas, which, once there, would lurk among the trees for days. Chemicals could be used in shell which could not be used in a cloud attack. The shell could be filled with a liquid, or even with a solid, because when it burst the filling would be minutely pulverized. And so German chemists were set to work devising all sorts of fiendish schemes for poisoning, choking, or merely annoying their opponents.

GAS THAT MADE ONE WEEP

One of the novel shell the Germans used was known as the "tear-gas" shell. This was filled with a liquid, the vapor of which was very irritating to the eyes. The liquid vaporized very slowly and so its effect would last a long time. However, the vapor did not permanently injure the eyes; it merely filled them with tears to such an extent that a soldier was unable to see and consequently was confused and retarded in his work. The "tear-gas" shell were marked with a "T" by the Germans and were known as "T-shell."

Another type of shell, known as the "K-shell," contained a very poisonous liquid, the object of which was to destroy the enemy quickly. The effect of this shell was felt at once, but it left no slow vapors on the ground, and so it could be followed up almost immediately by an attack. Later on, the Germans developed three types of gas shell—one known as the "Green Cross," another as the "Yellow Cross," and the third as the "Blue Cross." The Green Cross shell was filled with diphosgene, or a particularly dangerous combination of phosgene in liquid form, which would remain in pools on the ground or soak into the ground and would vaporize when it became warm. Its vapors were deadly. One had always to be on his guard against them. In the morning, when the sun warmed the earth and vapors were seen to rise from the damp soil, tests were made of the vapors to see whether it was mere water vapor or diphosgene, before men were allowed to walk through it.

These vapors were heavier than air and would flow down into a trench, filling every nook and cranny. If phosgene entered a trench by a direct hit, the liquid would remain there for days, rendering that part of the trench uninhabitable except by men in gas-masks. The infected part of the trench, however, was cut off from the rest of the trench by means of gas-locks. In other words, blankets were used to keep the gas out, and usually two blankets were hung so that a man in passing from one part of the trench to another could lift up the first blanket, pass under it, and close it carefully behind him before opening the second blanket which led into the portion of the trench that was not infected.

The Germans had all sorts of fiendish schemes for increasing the discomfort of the Allies. For instance, to some of their diphosgene shell they added a gas which caused intense vomiting.

The Yellow Cross shell was another fiendish invention of the Huns. It was popularly known as "mustard gas" and was intended not to kill but merely to discomfort the enemy. The gas had a peculiar penetrating smell, something like garlic, and its fumes would burn the flesh wherever it was exposed to them, producing great blisters and sores that were most distressing. The material in the shell was a liquid which was very hard to get rid of because it would vaporize so slowly. On account of the persistence of this vapor, lasting as it did for days, these gas shell were usually not fired by the Germans on lines that they expected to attack immediately.