Use of Gas by Gas Troops. Now we come to the use of gas by special gas troops. In the war, Gas Troops used 4-inch Stokes’ mortars and 8-inch Livens’ projectors and in a very short time would have used a new portable cylinder for setting off cloud gas, using liquid gases, such as phosgene. They will use these same weapons in future wars. All of these are short-range weapons, but since the Livens’ bomb or drum contains 50 per cent of its weight in gas while the artillery shell contains 10 per cent, they have an efficiency away beyond that of artillery or any other method of discharging gas except cloud gas. They will, therefore, produce more casualties than any other method known for the amount of material taken to the front. These short-range weapons were developed by the British for trench use and not for open warfare, and yet our troops developed methods with the Stokes’ mortars that enabled them to keep up with many of the Infantry divisions.
Phosphorus and Thermit Against Machine Gun Nests. The use of phosphorus and thermit against German machine gun nests by the Gas Troops is well known. How effective it was is not known to so many. Phosphorus and thermit were so used from the early days of the Marne fight in the latter part of July, 1918, to the very close of the war. There is no recorded instance where the Gas Troops failed to silence machine gun nests once the machine guns were located. In the future Gas Troops will put off the majority of all cloud gas attacks even with toxic smoke candles.
Necessity for Training in Peace. This is an outline of the subject of chemical warfare. As stated in the beginning, the fundamental underlying principles for the successful use of poisonous gas is necessarily the same as for any other war materials. The necessity for continuous training in peace is just the same with chemical warfare as with the rifle, the machine gun, with field artillery or any other weapon of war. Indeed it is more so because the use of gas is so perfectly adaptable to night work. Men must be taught to take precautionary measures when so sleepy, tired and worn out that they will sleep through the roar of artillery.
How Chemical Warfare Should be Considered. We ask you only to look at the use of chemical warfare materials as you look at the use of the artillery, infantry, cavalry, tanks or aeroplanes. Measure its possible future use; not simply by its use in the World War, but by considering all possible developments of the future. Remember that its use was barely four years old when the war closed, while the machine gun, the latest type of infantry weapon, had been known for more than one-third of a century. Chemical warfare developments are in the infant stage. Even those on the inside of chemical warfare when the Armistice was signed can see today things that are certain to come that were undreamed of at that time. This is bound to be so with a new weapon.
To sum up, gas is a universal weapon, applicable to every arm and every sort of action. Since we can choose gases that are either liquid or solid, that are irritating only or highly poisonous, that are visible or invisible, that persist for days or that pass with the wind, we have a weapon applicable to every act of war and for that matter, to every act of peace. But we must plan its use, remembering there is no middle ground in war, it is success or failure, life or death. Remember also that training outruns production in a great war, that 5,000,000 men can be raised and trained before they can be equipped unless we with proper foresight build up our essential industries, keep up our reserve of supplies, and above all, keep such perfect plans that we can turn all the wheels of peace into the wings of war on a moment’s notice.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE OFFENSIVE USE OF GAS
What Chemical Warfare Includes
Chemical Warfare includes all gas, smoke and incendiary materials and all defensive appliances, of which the mask is the principal item, used by the Army. Some of the items or materials in both offense and defense are used by the entire Army, while a few are used only by Chemical Warfare troops.
The Term “Gas”
The term “gas” is now taken to include all materials that are carried to the enemy by the air, after their liberation from cylinders, bombs or shell. It is necessary that this broad use of the term “gas” be thoroughly understood, because some of these materials are solids, while all others are liquids, until liberated from the containers at the time of the attack. These containers may be special cylinders for cloud gas attacks, special bombs for Livens’ projectors and mortars, or artillery shell, and even aviation bombs. Some of the liquids which have a very low boiling point volatilize quickly upon exposure to air, and hence require only enough explosive to open the shell and allow the liquid to escape. Practically all solids have to be pulverized by a large amount of high explosive, or driven off as smoke by some heating mixture.