Collections Spotlight On April 22, 1915 at 5 p.m. a wave of asphyxiating gas released from cylinders embedded in the ground by German specialist troops smothered the Allied line on the northern end of the Ypres salient, causing panic and a struggle to survive a new form of weapon. The attack forced two colonial French divisions north of Ypres from their positions, creating a 5-mile gap in the Allied line defending the city. This was the first effective use of poison gas on the Western
Front and the debut of Germany’s newest weapon in its chemical arsenal, chlorine gas, which irritated the lung tissue causing a choking effect that could cause death. A British officer described the effect of the gas on the French colonial soldiers: There was no technology to protect the soldiers from this new weapon; an operational gas mask was not available, so the Allied soldiers improvised with linen masks soaked in water and “respirators” made from lint and tape. Stunned by their overwhelming outcome of the attack, the Germans tentatively advanced, losing an opportunity to exploit their success. After this initial use of poison gas, the technology and operational tactics of
gas warfare quickly developed and were implemented by the Germans and the Allies throughout the war, including various gases and liquids, practical gas masks and gas alarm equipment. Combatant nations created chemical warfare units and schools to train them in the tactics of offensive and defensive gas warfare. An archival collection
(viewable through the Museum's online collections database) recently acquired by the Museum examines this new warfare from the experience of a German officer and gas school instructor. Kurt Eduard “Fritz” Sabersky was the commanding officer of Sanitary Company 3 of the Prussian Guard Reserve Corps from 1915-16 and
then an instructor at the Royal Prussian Army Gas School in Berlin from March 1917 to the end of the war. The collection includes:
In one weekly schedule there is a class on “Warfare agents” that discusses gas mixture formulations such as percentage of chlorine to percentage of phosgene and “Tactic for gas emission” discussing with measurements for the optimum length of gas cloud and amount of gas in tons. By the end of the war the Germans produced the most poison gas with 68,000 tons, the French second with approximately 36,000 tons and the British produced approximately 25,000 tons. About three percent of gas casualties were fatal, but hundreds of thousands suffered temporary or permanent injuries. More than 97 percent of the objects and documents from the Museum’s collection are donated. Learn how you can support the Museum with a donation. Prolonged exposure to the gas could be fatal. But British private George White recalled how unconcerned he felt about it. Well, we weren’t in the thick of it but we were in the tail end of it so that we could smell it. So what we used to do was to wet a piece of implement and wear that across your mouth while the gas attack was on. That’s how it was. I don’t think there’s anything worse than gas. But it never seemed to occur to me about getting killed or anything of that sort. You just went about the job and that was that. When the gas approached Allied lines, many of the troops understandably fled from it. Bert Newman of the Royal Army Medical Corps remembered this in particular. And when this gas came over you could see on the brow all these Algerians running from this gas. Of course, the Canadians were there also and they got badly gassed. In the end you could see all these poor chaps laying on the Menin Road, gasping for breath. And the thing was it was no gas masks then, you see, and a lot of these chaps just had to wet their handkerchiefs and put it over their mouth or do what they could, you see. Well, we had a sergeant major with us called Bright who served in the South African war. And he thought to himself, ‘Well, I don’t know, I must try and relieve them somehow.’ So he got two or three big jars of Vaseline and he put it in the throats of these poor chaps to try to relieve them a bit, you see. There was no treatment for them but that’s what he did to try to stop them from gasping with this gas you see. British NCO Alfred West recalled another way in which troops tried to counter the effects of the gas. I remember them coming back with their handkerchiefs putting them in the water but a lot of them were… And the wounded – these French Algerians, I saw some of those. They were trying to drink some water out the side of the road. And they were almost visibly blowing up – their bodies were going coloured, but they were blowing up. You could put your finger and make a little hole, almost, in them. And ’cause all the roads there were, instead of hedges it was water channels – most of the roads round there – and there was plenty of water, you see. But the water wasn’t good and they were lying down, getting down and drinking it but that was the worst thing they could do. But there was nothing else they could do. Jack Dorgan, of the Northumberland Fusiliers, suffered from the poison gas. He explained how he and the other British soldiers were affected. Our eyes were streaming with water and with pain. Luckily again for me I was one of those who could still see. But we had no protection, no gas masks or anything of that kind. All we had was roll of bandages from our first aid kit which we carried in the corner of our tunic. So we had very little protection for our eyes. And then you had to be sent back. Anyone who could see, like I was, would go in front. And half a dozen or 10 or 12 men each with their hand on the shoulder of the man in front of them and lines – you could see lines and lines and lines of British soldiers going back with rolls of bandages round their eyes going back towards Ypres. Beryl Hutchinson, a member of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, helped treat gassed soldiers. Afterwards, she was summoned to British General Headquarters. So we went and climbed that long hill at Montreuil and got to the holy of holies, and were duly admitted. And sent in to an enormous room – yards of room – it was under the castle there, you know what these French castles are. And at the far end was this enormous table with officers dotted all around as though it was a stage set. So we trotted up, our knees shattering not knowing whether we were going to be executed as spies or not! And it appears they hadn’t had any real word about the gas attack and the effects. And they started asking us about it, ‘Were our respirators any good?’ And we said no, they weren’t, they were just little bits of wet cotton wool. And all those sorts of questions as they had no idea about what the gas attack was. Stretcher bearer William Collins described the primitive means of combating the gas that soldiers were supplied with. About midday that day, supplies of the first so-called gas masks came up. And all it consisted of was a pad of wool covered by gauze with an elastic band running right round and about four inches by two. It fitted over the nostrils and mouth and then the elastic went up over the head. But I found that in using it in the gas cloud that after a couple of minutes one couldn’t breathe and so it was pushed up over the forehead and we swallowed the gas. And could only put the thing back again for very short periods. It was not a practical proposition at all. Which statement describes an effect of poisonous gas is used in combat during World War I Brainly?Poisonous gases blistered soldiers' skin, eyes, and lungs are the statement describes an effect of poisonous gases used in combat during World War I.
How was poison gas used in ww1?Most gas was delivered by artillery shells. The agent(s) were in liquid form in glass bottles inside the warhead, which would break on contact and the liquid would evaporate. Shells were color coded in a system started by the Germans. Green Cross shells contained the pulmonary agents: chlorine, phosgene and diphosgene.
How did gas warfare change the face of combat during World War I?Answer and Explanation: Gas warfare, particularly agents like chlorine gas and mustard gas, changed the face of combat during World War I by making it far more deadly and unpredictable.
What were the effects of the poison gas according to the reporter quizlet?What were the effects of the poison gas, according to the reporter? Soldiers suffered from nausea, passed out, and even died from the effects. This is from a soldier's journal about his experiences fighting on the western front.
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Which statement describes an effect of poisonous gases used in combat during world war i?
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