Editing Chemical weapons in World War I (section)

===1915: Large-scale use and lethal gases===
[[File:Russian Red Cross nurses tending gassed Russians brought in direct from trenches on stretchers 1915.jpg|thumb|alt=People laid out on stretchers|Russian Red Cross nurses tend to gassed Russians brought from the front lines, 1915]]

The first instance of large-scale use of gas as a weapon was on 31 January 1915, when Germany fired 18,000 [[artillery]] shells containing liquid [[xylyl bromide]] tear gas on [[Imperial Russian Army|Russian positions]] on the [[Rawka River]], west of [[Warsaw]] during the [[Battle of Bolimov]]. Instead of vaporizing, the chemical froze and failed to have the desired effect.<ref name="heller84" />

The first killing agent was [[chlorine]], used by the German Army.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Van der Kloot |first1=W. |s2cid=145243958 |title=April 1915: Five Future Nobel Prize-winners inaugurate weapons of mass destruction and the academic-industrial-military complex |journal=[[Notes and Records]] |date=2004 |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=149–260 |doi=10.1098/rsnr.2004.0053 }}</ref> Chlorine is a powerful irritant that can inflict damage to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. At high concentrations and prolonged exposure it can cause death by [[asphyxia]]tion.<ref>{{Cite book
 |author1=Romano, James A. |author2=Lukey, Brian J. |author3=Salem, Harry | title=Chemical warfare agents: chemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, and therapeutics | edition=2nd | page=5
 | publisher=CRC Press | year=2007 | isbn=978-1-4200-4661-8 }}</ref> German chemical companies [[BASF]], [[Hoechst AG|Hoechst]] and [[Bayer]] (which formed the [[IG Farben]] conglomerate in 1925) had been making chlorine as a by-product of their dye manufacturing.<ref>{{Cite web
 |author1=Legg, J. |author2=Parker, G. | year=2002
 | url=http://www.greatwar.co.uk/westfront/ypsalient/secondypres/prelude/gasdev.htm
 | title=The Germans develop a new weapon: the gas cloud
 | publisher=The Great War | access-date=6 August 2007 }}</ref> In cooperation with [[Fritz Haber]] of the [[Kaiser Wilhelm Institute]] for Chemistry in [[Berlin]], they began developing methods of discharging chlorine gas against enemy [[trench]]es.<ref name="Haber">{{cite web|title=Fritz Haber|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/fritz-haber|website=Science History Institute|access-date=20 March 2018|date=June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | first=Werner | last=Abelshauser | year=2003 | title=German Industry and Global Enterprise, BASF: The History of a Company | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=0-521-82726-4 | url=https://archive.org/details/germanindustrygl00wern }}</ref>

It may appear from a ''feldpost'' letter of Major Karl von Zingler that the first chlorine gas attack by German forces took place before 2 January 1915: "In other war theatres it does not go better and it has been said that our Chlorine is very effective. 140 English officers have been killed. This is a horrible weapon&nbsp;...".<ref>{{Cite journal | last=Aksulu | first=N. Melek | title=Die Feldpostbriefe Karl v. Zinglers aus dem Ersten Weltkrieg | journal=Nobilitas, Zeitschrift für deutsche Adelsforschung | date=May 2006 | volume=IX | issue=41 | page=57 | url=http://perweb.firat.edu.tr/personel/yayinlar/fua_241/241_26862.pdf | access-date=28 December 2008 | quote=Rousselare 2 Januar 15&nbsp;... Auf anderen Kriegsschauplätzen ist es ja auch nicht besser und die Wirkung von unserem Chlor soll ja sehr gut sein. Es sollen 140 englische Offiziere erledigt worden sein. Es ist doch eine furchtbare Waffe&nbsp;... | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305060856/http://perweb.firat.edu.tr/personel/yayinlar/fua_241/241_26862.pdf | archive-date=5 March 2009 }}</ref>  This letter must be discounted as evidence for early German use of chlorine, however, because the date "2 January 1915" may have been hastily scribbled instead of the intended "2 January 1916," the sort of common typographical error that is often made at the beginning of a new year. The deaths of so many English officers from gas at this time would certainly have been met with outrage, but a recent, extensive study of British reactions to chemical warfare says nothing of this supposed attack.<ref>{{Cite book
 | first=Marion | last=Girard | year=2008
 | title=A Strange and Formidable Weapon: British Responses to World War I Poison Gas
 | publisher=University of Nebraska Press
 | isbn=978-0-8032-2223-6 }}</ref> Perhaps this letter was referring to the chlorine-phosgene attack on British troops at [[Wieltje]] near Ypres, on 19 December 1915 (see below).

By 22 April 1915, the [[German Army in World War I|German Army]] had 167 [[ton]]s of chlorine deployed in 5,730 cylinders from [[Langemark-Poelkapelle]], north of [[Ypres]]. At 17:30, in a slight easterly breeze, the liquid chlorine was siphoned from the tanks, producing gas which formed a grey-green cloud that drifted across positions held by troops of the [[45th Infantry Division (France)]], specifically the 1st [[Tirailleurs]] and the 2nd [[Zouaves]] from Algeria.<ref>General R. Huré, ''L'Armee d'Afrique 1830–1962'', Charles-Lavauzelle, 1972, p. 283.</ref> Faced with an unfamiliar threat these troops broke ranks, abandoning their trenches and creating an {{convert|8,000|yd|km|adj=on}} gap in the Allied line. The German infantry were also wary of the gas and, lacking reinforcements, failed to exploit the break before the [[1st Canadian Division]] and assorted French troops reformed the line in scattered, hastily prepared positions {{convert|1000|–|3000|yd|m}} apart.<ref name="heller84" /> The Entente governments claimed the attack was a flagrant violation of international law but Germany argued that the Hague treaty had only banned chemical shells, rather than the use of gas projectors.<ref>{{Cite book | first=Jonathan B. | last=Tucker | year=2006 | title=War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Queda | publisher=Pantheon Books | isbn=0-375-42229-3 | url=https://archive.org/details/warofnerveschemi00tuck }}</ref>

In what became the [[Second Battle of Ypres]], the Germans used gas on three more occasions; on 24 April against the 1st Canadian Division,<ref>{{Cite web
 | author=Staff
 | date=29 July 2004
 | url=http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=history/firstwar/canada/Canada4
 | title=On the Western Front: Ypres 1915
 | publisher=Veteran Affairs Canada
 | access-date=8 April 2008
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206024237/http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=history%2Ffirstwar%2Fcanada%2FCanada4
 | archive-date=6 December 2008
 | url-status=dead
 }}</ref> on 2 May near Mouse Trap Farm and on 5 May against the British at [[Battle of Hill 60 (Western Front)|Hill 60]].<ref>{{Cite book
 | first=Victor | last=Lefebure |author2=Wilson, Henry
 | title=The Riddle of the Rhine: Chemical Strategy in Peace and War
 | year=2004 | publisher=Kessinger Publishing | isbn=1-4179-3546-4 }}</ref> The British Official History stated that at Hill 60, "90 men died from gas poisoning in the trenches or before they could be got to a dressing station; of the 207 brought to the nearest dressing stations, 46 died almost immediately and 12 after long suffering."<ref>Edmonds and Wynne (1927): p. 289.</ref>

On 6 August, German troops under Field Marshal [[Paul von Hindenburg]] used chlorine gas against Russian troops defending [[Osowiec Fortress]]. Surviving defenders drove back the attack and retained the fortress. The event would later be called the [[Attack of the Dead Men]].

Germany used chemical weapons on the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]] in an attack at [[Rawka (river)]], west of Warsaw. The [[Imperial Russian Army|Russian Army]] took 9,000 casualties, with more than 1,000 fatalities. In response, the artillery branch of the Russian Army organised a commission to study the delivery of poison gas in shells.<ref name="sic15">{{Cite journal |last=Kojevnikov |first=A. |date=June 2002 | title=The Great War, the Russian Civil War, and the Invention of Big Science |journal=Science in Context |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=239–275 | url=https://www.history.ubc.ca/documents/BigScience2002.pdf |pmid=12467271 |doi=10.1017/S0269889702000443 |s2cid=23740816 |access-date=11 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120613102624/https://www.history.ubc.ca/documents/BigScience2002.pdf |archive-date=13 June 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Effectiveness and countermeasures====
[[File:Nach Gasangriff 1917.jpg|thumb|British emplacement after German gas attack (probably phosgene)]]

It quickly became evident that the men who stayed in their places suffered less than those who ran away, as any movement worsened the effects of the gas, and that those who stood up on the fire step suffered less—indeed they often escaped any serious effects—than those who lay down or sat at the bottom of a trench. Men who stood on the parapet suffered least, as the gas was denser near the ground. The worst sufferers were the wounded lying on the ground, or on stretchers, and the men who moved back with the cloud.<ref>Edmonds and Wynne (1927): pp.&nbsp;177–178.</ref> Chlorine was less effective as a weapon than the Germans had hoped, particularly as soon as simple countermeasures were introduced. The gas produced a visible greenish cloud and strong odour, making it easy to detect. It was water-soluble, so the simple expedient of covering the mouth and nose with a damp cloth was effective at reducing the effect of the gas. It was thought to be even more effective to use [[urine]] rather than water, as it was known at the time that chlorine reacted with [[urea]] (present in urine) to form dichloro urea.<ref>For example, see: {{Cite journal
 | last=Chattaway | first=Frederick Daniel
 | date=22 December 1908
 | title=The Action of Chlorine upon Urea Whereby a Dichloro Urea is Produced
 | journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London
 | volume=81
 | issue=549 | pages=381–388 |  doi=10.1098/rspa.1908.0094
| jstor=93011| bibcode=1908RSPSA..81..381C| doi-access=free}}</ref>

Chlorine required a concentration of 1,000 parts per million to be fatal, destroying [[Biological tissue|tissue]] in the lungs, likely through the formation of [[hypochlorous acid#Formation, stability and reactions|hypochlorous and hydrochloric acids]] when dissolved in the water in the lungs.<ref>{{Cite web
 | last=O'Leary | first=Donal | year=2000
 | url=http://www.ucc.ie/academic/chem/dolchem/html/elem/elem017.html
 | title=Chlorine | publisher=University College Cork
 | access-date=2 August 2007 }}</ref> Despite its limitations, chlorine was an effective psychological weapon—the sight of an oncoming cloud of the gas was a continual source of dread for the infantry.<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=Jones, E. |author2=Everitt, B. |author3=Ironside, S. |author4=Palmer, I. |author5=Wessely, S. | title=Psychological effects of chemical weapons: a follow-up study of First World War veterans
 | journal=Psychological Medicine | volume=38 | issue=10
 | pages=1419–1426 | pmid=18237455| year=2008| doi=10.1017/S003329170800278X|s2cid=2448895 }}</ref>

[[File:A sentry watching for any sign of gas attacks. He is squatting beside a notice which reads, 'gas gong'. The gong appears to be a large metal drum, like an oil drum. The drumstick is hanging from a (4687961895).jpg|thumb|right|A sentry stands watch next to a "gas gong".]]

Countermeasures were quickly introduced in response to the use of chlorine. The Germans issued their troops with small gauze pads filled with cotton waste, and bottles of a [[Sodium bicarbonate|bicarbonate]] solution with which to dampen the pads. Immediately following the use of chlorine gas by the Germans, instructions were sent to British and French troops to hold wet handkerchiefs or cloths over their mouths. Simple pad respirators similar to those issued to German troops were soon proposed by Lieutenant-Colonel N. C. Ferguson, the Assistant Director Medical Services of the [[28th Division (United Kingdom)|28th Division]]. These pads were intended to be used damp, preferably dipped into a solution of bicarbonate kept in buckets for that purpose; other liquids were also used. Because such pads could not be expected to arrive at the front for several days, army divisions set about making them for themselves. Locally available muslin, flannel and gauze were used, officers were sent to [[Paris]] to buy more and local French women were employed making up rudimentary pads with string ties. Other units used lint bandages manufactured in the convent at [[Poperinge]]. Pad respirators were sent up with rations to British troops in the line as early as the evening of 24 April.<ref name="ew217" />

In Britain the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' newspaper encouraged women to manufacture cotton pads, and within one month a variety of pad respirators were available to British and French troops, along with motoring goggles to protect the eyes. The response was enormous and a million gas masks were produced in a day. The ''Mail''{{'}}s design was useless when dry and caused suffocation when wet—the respirator was responsible for the deaths of scores of men.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} By 6 July 1915, the entire British army was equipped with the more effective "[[Hypo helmet|smoke helmet]]" designed by Major [[Cluny Macpherson (physician)|Cluny MacPherson]], [[Royal Newfoundland Regiment|Newfoundland Regiment]], which was a flannel bag with a celluloid window, which entirely covered the head. The race was then on between the introduction of new and more effective poison gases and the production of effective countermeasures, which marked gas warfare until the armistice in November 1918.<ref name="ew217">Edmonds and Wynne (1927): p. 217.</ref>

====British gas attacks====
The British expressed outrage at Germany's use of poison gas at Ypres and responded by developing their own gas warfare capability. The commander of [[II Corps (United Kingdom)|II Corps]], [[Sir Charles Fergusson, 7th Baronet|Lieutenant General Sir Charles Ferguson]], said of gas:

{{Blockquote |It is a cowardly form of warfare which does not commend itself to me or other English soldiers&nbsp;... We cannot win this war unless we kill or incapacitate more of our enemies than they do of us, and if this can only be done by our copying the enemy in his choice of weapons, we must not refuse to do so.<ref>{{Cite book
 | author=Cook, Tim
 | year=1999
 | title=No Place to Run: The Canadian Corps and Gas Warfare in the First World War
 | publisher=UBC Press
 | page=37 | isbn=0-7748-0740-7}}</ref>}}

The first use of gas by the British was at the [[Battle of Loos]], 25 September 1915, but the attempt was a disaster. Chlorine, codenamed ''Red Star'', was the agent to be used (140 tons arrayed in 5,100 cylinders), and the attack was dependent on a favourable wind. On this occasion the wind proved fickle, and the gas either lingered in [[no man's land]] or, in places, blew back on the British trenches.<ref name="heller84" /> This was compounded when the gas could not be released from all the British canisters because the wrong turning keys were sent with them. Subsequent retaliatory German shelling hit some of those unused full cylinders, releasing gas among the British troops.<ref>{{Cite journal | publisher = First World War | journal =  Weaponry | url = http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/gas.htm | title = Gas }}</ref> Exacerbating the situation were the primitive flannel gas masks distributed to the British. The masks got hot, and the small eye-pieces misted over, reducing visibility. Some of the troops lifted the masks to get fresh air, causing them to be gassed.<ref>{{cite book
 | first=Philip | last=Warner | year=2000
 | title=The Battle of Loos | page=37
 | series=Wordsworth Military Library
 | publisher=Wordsworth Editions | isbn=1-84022-229-8
 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OClz6xxwgCUC&pg=PA37 }}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="135px">
File:British infantry advancing at Loos 25 September 1915.jpg|British infantry advancing through gas at [[Battle of Loos|Loos]], 25 September 1915
File:World War I, British soccer team with gas masks, 1916.jpg|Football team of British soldiers with gas masks, Western front, 1916
File:Englische Gasbomben.jpg|A British gas bomb from 1915
</gallery>