Although this weapon continued to be used right through the campaign, it did not exert that influence which first acquaintance with it might have led one to conclude. At the same time, there exists a mistaken notion that the flame projector was a negligible quantity. This may be fairly true of the huge non-portable types, but it is certainly not true of the very efficient portable flame projector which was the form officially adopted by the German, and later by the French, armies. On a number of occasions Germany gained local successes purely owing to the momentary surprise effect of the flame projector, and the French made some use of it for clearing out captured trench systems over which successful waves of assault had passed. Further, the idea of flame projection is not without certain possibilities for war.
German Phosgene Clouds.—Germany had by no means abandoned cloud gas, however. She had merely been planning to regain what the Ypres attacks had lost for her, the cloud gas initiative. We have seen how phosgene had occupied the attention of the German research organisation in the first months of the war. Once alive to its great importance, they must have strained all efforts to obtain an efficient method of using it at the front. Phosgene was remarkable for its peculiar "delayed" effect. Relatively small quantities, inhaled and followed by vigorous or even normal exercise, led to sudden collapse and fatal effects sometimes more than twenty-four hours after the attack. The case of a German prisoner in a First Army raid after a British gas attack was often quoted on the front. He passed through the various Intelligence headquarters as far as the Army, explaining the feeble effect of the British gas and his own complete recovery. But he died from delayed action within twenty-four hours of his last interrogation. This effect imposed strict conditions of discipline, and men merely suspected of exposure to phosgene were compelled to report as serious casualties and carried as such even from the front line.
The successful development of the phosgene cloud probably arrived too late for the Ypres attacks, and a variety of reasons must have led to the postponement of its use until such time as it might once again give Germany the real initiative. Accordingly, on December 19, 1915, a formidable cloud gas attack was made on the north-east of the Ypres salient, using a mixture of phosgene and chlorine in a very high concentration. Fortunately, by this time we had established an anti-gas organisation, which had forestalled the production of cloud phosgene by special modifications in the British respirator. The conditions were similar to those of April 22nd, 1915. Instead of the first use of cloud gas, we had the first use of the new gas in highly concentrated cloud. In both cases the Germans reckoned on our lack of protection, correctly in the first case, but incorrectly in the second. In both cases they were sure that great difficulties in production would meet our attempts at retaliation. In general this proved true, but in this case and increasingly throughout the war, they reckoned without Allied adaptability. The French development of phosgene manufacture was indeed remarkable.
Very interesting light is thrown on this attack by Major Barley, D.S.O., Chemical Adviser to the British Second Army. It appears that in November, 1915, the French captured a prisoner who had attended a gas school in one of the factories of the I.G. Here lecturers explained that a new gas was to be used against the British forces, many thousands of casualties were expected, and an attack would follow, which, correcting the errors of the effort at Ypres, would lead to the capture of the Channel ports. Efforts were at once made to obtain information on gas preparation by the Germans in front of the British sectors. In this way a sergeant-major was captured on the morning of December 16th, and he revealed the date and front on which the cylinders were installed. About 35,000 British troops were found to be in the direct line of the gas, but owing to the timely warning and to the protection which had recently been adopted, we experienced very few casualties. The Germans had prepared a huge infantry attack, and used a new type of gas shell on this occasion. German troops massing must have received huge casualties owing to our preparation and the failure of their gas attack.
The last German cloud attack on the British front occurred on August 8, 1916. There were later attacks against the French, but the Germans were replacing the cloud method by other methods which they considered more suitable. These will be discussed later on, when considering our own reaction against the chemical offensive.
Gas and the Eastern Theatre.—The German surprise was not limited to activities on the Western front. In fact, apart from the first Ypres attack, cloud gas probably reaped more casualties in the East against Russia. We learn from Schwarte's book: "From reliable descriptions we know that our gas troops caused an unusual amount of damage to the enemy—especially in the East— with very little expenditure of effort. The special battalion formed by Austria-Hungary was, unfortunately, of no special importance for various reasons."
Had the nature of the Russian campaign been different, with a smaller front, and nearer critical objectives to the front of attack, we have no doubt that gas would have assumed enormous importance in the East. Russia, even more feebly organised for production than ourselves, would have been at a tremendous disadvantage, both from the point of view of protection and of the retention of satisfactory morale by retaliation.
Conclusion.—This, then, was the period of the German surprise, during which the first big shock occurred, and which promised most success for further attempts owing to the lack of comprehensive protection by the Allies. Looking at the matter in a very broad way, ignoring the moral and legal aspects of the case, we can describe this period as an example of brilliant chemical opportunism. According to plan or otherwise, conditions for this experiment were ripe in Germany as in no other country. Overcoming whatever prejudices may have existed, the German authorities realised this, seized the opportunity, and very nearly succeeded.