Consequently it was determined to purchase complete equipment for gas troops and for the defensive side of the service from the British and to make no attempt to produce new materials, methods or equipment until ample supplies of the standard equipment of the British were at hand or in process of manufacture or delivery. This was another exceedingly wise conclusion. No supplies of any kind were received from the United States for the next eight months, and then only masks and certain defensive supplies. Indeed, no cylinders, mortars, projectors or artillery shell containing gas were received from the United States until just before the Armistice, though gas had been available in the United States for months in large quantities, over 3,600 tons having been shipped in one ton containers to the English and French. The Ordnance material was what was lacking.

Obtaining Personnel. On September. 8, Colonel R. W. Crawford was assigned to duty with the Gas Service. This matter of obtaining personnel became immediately, and continued for almost a year to be, one of the most serious difficulties facing the new Gas Service. The troubles here again were the same as those in respect to supplies. None of the old departments were especially interested in gas and hence none of them desired to let good officers be transferred.

Officers were scarce in the early days in France in every department of the Service, consequently a new department with no organization in the United States and no precedents or opportunities for promotion made the obtaining of officers almost a matter of impossibility. Further than this, while the Engineer Department was at first supposed to furnish most of the officer personnel, it failed to do so, apparently looking upon the Gas Service as an unimportant matter when compared with the regular work of the Engineers. It was necessary to make direct application to the Chief of Staff to obtain Colonel Crawford and shortly thereafter to cable directly to the United States for officers. A year later enough officers were obtained but only after the organization of a separate Service in the United States.

Supplies for Gas Troops. Colonel Crawford was at once put in Charge of all supplies for the Gas Service, including the location and construction of separate depots for that Service. Prior to this the General Staff had decided to have chemical supplies stored in depots separate from those of other supplies on account of the poisonous nature of the gases which might prove very annoying if leakage occurred near any other class of supplies. Colonel Crawford took hold of this work with zeal and energy and so conducted it as to relieve the Chief of the Gas Service of all anxiety in that matter. As before stated, on the 10th of September a requisition for a very large quantity of offensive supplies for gas troops was submitted to the General Staff for approval. Inasmuch as this involved approximately 50,000 gas cylinders, 50,000 Liven’s drums, with at least 20,000 Liven’s projectors and a large number of Stokes’ mortars and bombs, there was considerable difficulty in getting it approved. Finally Colonel Malone of the Training Section, who took an active interest in the Chemical Warfare Service, got it approved. Then began the difficulty of getting the order placed and of trying to expedite the filling of the order on time. These difficulties were never overcome until after the entire purchase of supplies was, as previously related, taken care of by the Gas Service.

First Inter-allied Gas Conference. The first inter-allied gas conference was held in Paris on September 16th, and consisted of American, British, French, Italian, and Belgian delegates. The conference busied itself mainly with questions of the medical treatment of gassed cases and of defense against gas.

Mustard Gas. The principal topic under consideration at this conference was the effects of the new mustard gas first used at Ypres against the British on the nights of the 11th and 12th of July, 1917. The British suffered nearly 20,000 casualties from this gas during the first six weeks of its use, and were so worried over it that the start of the attacks carried out later in the fall of 1917 against Ypres were delayed several days. The casualties were particularly heavy because the smell of the gas was entirely new and not unpleasant and because of the delayed action of the gas, whereby men got no indication of its seriousness until 4 to 8 hours after exposure. For these reasons men simply took shelter from the bombardment without putting on masks or taking other precautions. As a result of the Paris conference a long cable was sent to the United States asking among other things that immediate report be made on the possibilities of producing ethylene chlorhydrin, one of the essentials in the manufacture of mustard gas by the only method then known.

Within two weeks after this conference, there occurred an incident which illustrates the very great danger in taking the views of any one man unless certain that he is in a position to be posted on all sides of the question under discussion. A high British official was asked what he had heard in regard to the new mustard gas, and what and how it was considered. He said with emphasis that the British had no further fear of it since they had learned what it was and how to take care of themselves and that it had ceased to be any longer a problem with them.

Fries, knowing what he did, was convinced that this did not represent the attitude of the British authorities who knew what the gas was doing, and the statement was not allowed to influence the American Gas Service in the least. This was a very fortunate thing as events later proved. It should also be added that a quite similar report was made by a French officer in regard to mustard gas some time in the month of October. The French officer had more reason for his attitude than the British officer as up to that time mustard gas had not been largely used against the French. However, both cases simply emphasize the danger of accepting the views of any man who has seen but one angle of a problem so complicated as gas in war.

Training

Training in Gas Defense. In the latter part of October seventeen young engineer officers, who had just arrived in France, were assigned to the Gas Service and were promptly sent to British Gas Schools for training in mask inspection, salvage and repair and in training men to wear masks and take other necessary precautions against gas in the field. It was also necessary at this time to establish gas training in the First Division, and Captain Boothby was assigned to that work.