THE BATTLE OF THE CHEMISTS
Some years ago the nations of the world gathered at the city of The
Hague, in Holland, to see what could be done to put an end to war.
They did not accomplish much in that direction, but they did draw up
certain rules of warfare which they agreed to abide by. There were some
practices which were considered too horrible for any civilized nation
to indulge in. Among these was the use of poisonous gases, and Germany
was one of the nations that took a solemn pledge not to use gas in war.
[Illustration: (C) Kadel & Herbert
Even the Horses had to be Masked]
[Illustration: Photograph by Kadel & Herbert
Portable Flame-throwing Apparatus]
Eighteen years later the German Army had dug itself into a line of
trenches reaching from the English Channel to Switzerland, and facing
them in another line of trenches were the armies of France and England,
determined to hold back the invaders. Neither side could make an
advance without frightful loss of life. But a German scientist came
forth with a scheme for breaking the dead-lock. This was Professor
Nernst, the inventor of a well-known electric lamp and a man who had
always violently hated the British. His plan was to drown out the
British with a flood of poisonous gas. To be sure, there was the pledge
taken at The Hague Conference, but why should that stand in Germany's
way? What cared the Germans for promises now? Already they had broken
a pledge in their violation of Belgium. Already they had rained
explosives from the sky on unfortified British cities (thus violating
another pledge of The Hague Conference); already they had determined to
war on defenseless merchantmen. To them promises meant nothing, if such
promises interfered with the success of German arms. They led the world
in the field of chemistry; why, they reasoned, shouldn't they make use
of this advantage?
POURING GAS LIKE WATER
It was really a new mode of warfare that the Germans were about to
launch and it called for much study. In the first place, they had to
decide what sort of gas to use. It must be a gas that could be obtained
in large quantities. It must be a very poisonous gas, that would act
quickly on the enemy; it must be easily compressed and liquefied so
that it could be carried in containers that were not too bulky; it must
vaporize when the pressure was released; and it must be heavier than
air, so that it would not be diluted by the atmosphere but would hug
the ground. You can pour gas just as you pour water, if it is heavier
than air. A heavy gas will stay in the bottom of an unstoppered bottle
and can be poured from one bottle into another like water. If the gas
is colored, you can see it flowing just as if it were a liquid. On the
other hand, a gas which is much lighter than air can also be kept in
unstoppered bottles if the bottles are turned upside down, and the gas
can be poured from one bottle into another; but it flows up instead of
down.
Chlorine gas was selected because it seemed to meet all requirements.
For the gas attack a point was chosen where the ground sloped gently
toward the opposing lines, so that the gas would actually flow down
hill into them. Preparations were carried out with the utmost secrecy.
Just under the parapet of the trenches deep pits were dug, about a
yard apart on a front of fifteen miles, or over twenty-five thousand
pits. In these pits were placed the chlorine tanks, each weighing
about ninety pounds. Each pit was then closed with a plank and this
was covered with a quilt filled with peat moss soaked in potash, so
that in case of any leakage the chlorine would be taken up by the
potash and rendered harmless. Over the quilts sandbags were piled to a
considerable height, to protect the tanks from shell-fragments.
Liquid chlorine will boil even in a temperature of 28 degrees below
zero Fahrenheit, but in tanks it cannot boil because there is no room
for it to turn into a gas. Upon release of the pressure at ordinary
temperatures, the liquid boils violently and big clouds of gas are
produced. If the gas were tapped off from the top of the cylinder, it
would freeze on pouring out, because any liquid that turns into a gas
has to draw heat from its surroundings. The greater the expansion, the
more heat the gas absorbs, and in the case of the chlorine tanks, had
the nozzles been set in the top of the tank they would very quickly
have been crusted with frost and choked, stopping the flow.
But the Germans had anticipated this difficulty, and instead of
drawing off the gas from the top of the tank, they drew off the liquid
from the bottom in small leaden tubes which passed up through the
liquid in the tank and were kept as warm as the surrounding liquid.
In fact, it was not gas from the top of the tank, but liquid from the
bottom, that was streamed out and this did not turn into gas until it
had left the nozzle.
WAITING FOR THE WIND
Everything was ready for the attack on the British in April, 1915. A
point had been chosen where the British lines made a juncture with
the French. The Germans reckoned that a joint of this sort in the
opponent's lines would be a spot of weakness. Also, they had very
craftily picked out this particular spot because the French portion of
the line was manned by Turcos, or Algerians, who would be likely to
think there was something supernatural about a death-dealing cloud.
On the left of the Africans was a division of Canadians, but the main
brunt of the gas was designed to fall upon the Turcos. Several times
the attack was about to be made, but was abandoned because the wind
was not just right. The Germans wished to pick out a time when the
breeze was blowing steadily--not so fast as to scatter the gas, but yet
so fast that it would overtake men who attempted to run away from it.
It was not until April 22 that conditions were ideal, and then the new
mode of warfare was launched.
Just as had been expected, the Turcos were awe-struck when they saw,
coming out of the German trenches, volumes of greenish-yellow gas,
which rolled toward them, pouring down into shell-holes and flowing
over into the trenches as if it were a liquid. They were seized with
superstitious fear, particularly when the gas overcame numbers of them,
stifling them and leaving them gasping for breath. Immediately there
was a panic and they raced back, striving to out-speed the pursuing
cloud.
For a stretch of fifteen miles the Allied trenches were emptied,
and the Germans, who followed in the wake of the gas, met with no
opposition except in the sector held by the Canadians. Here, on
the fringe of the gas cloud, so determined a fight was put up that
the Germans faltered, and the brave Canadians held them until
reinforcements arrived and the gap in the line was closed.
The Germans themselves were new at the game or they could have made a
complete success of this surprise attack. Had they made the attack on
a broader front, nothing could have kept them from breaking through
to Calais. The valiant Canadians who struggled and fought without
protection in the stifling clouds of chlorine, were almost wiped out.
But many of them who were on the fringe of the cloud escaped by wetting
handkerchiefs, socks, or other pieces of cloth, and wrapping them
around their mouths and noses.
The world was horrified when it read of this German gas attack,
but there was no time to be lost. Immediately orders went out for
gas-masks, and in all parts of England, and of France as well, women
were busy sewing the masks. These were very simple affairs--merely
a pad of cotton soaked in washing-soda and arranged to be tied over
the mouth and nose. But when the next attack came, not long after the
first, the men were prepared in some measure for it, and again it
failed to bring the Germans the success they had counted upon.
One thing that the Germans had not counted upon was the fact that the
prevailing winds in Flanders blow from west to east. During the entire
summer and autumn of 1915, the winds refused to favor them, and no gas
attacks were staged from June to December. This gave the British a long
respite and enabled them not only to prepare better gas-masks, but also
to make plans to give the Hun a dose of his own medicine.
[Illustration: (C) Kadel & Herbert
Liquid Fire Streaming from Fixed Flame-throwing Apparatus]
WHEN THE WIND PLAYED A TRICK ON THE GERMANS
There were many disadvantages in the use of gas clouds, which developed
as the Germans gathered experience. The gas started from their own
lines in a very dense cloud, but the cloud grew thinner and thinner as
it traveled toward the enemy, and lost a great deal of its strength.
If the wind were higher than fifteen miles an hour, it would swirl the
gas around and dissipate it before it did much harm to the opposing
fighters. If the wind were light, there were other dangers. On one
occasion in 1916 a cloud of gas was released upon an Irish regiment.
The wind was rather fickle. It carried the gas toward the British
trenches, but before reaching them the cloud hesitated, the wind
veered around, and soon the gas began to pour back upon the German
lines. The Germans were entirely unprepared for this boomerang attack.
Many of the Huns had no gas-masks on, and those who had, found that the
masks were not in proper working-order. As a result of this whim of the
winds, eleven thousand Germans were killed.
[Illustration: Courtesy of "Scientific American"
Cleaning Up a Dugout with the "Fire Broom"]
While chlorine was the first gas used, it was evident that it was not
the only one that could be employed. British chemists had suspected
that the Germans would use phosgene, which was a much more deadly gas,
and in the long interval between June and December, 1915, masks were
constructed which would keep out not only the fumes of chlorine but
also the more poisonous phosgene. In one of their sorties the British
succeeded in capturing some valuable notes on gas attacks, belonging to
a German general, which showed that the Germans were actually preparing
to use phosgene. This deadly gas is more insidious in its action than
chlorine. The man who inhales phosgene may not know that he is gassed.
He may experience no ill effects, but hours afterward, particularly if
he has exercised in the meantime, he may suddenly fall dead, owing to
its paralyzing action on the heart.
FREEING THE BRITISH TRENCHES OF RATS
Phosgene was not used alone, but had to be mixed with chlorine, and the
deadly combination of the two destroyed all life for miles behind the
trenches. However, the British were ready for it. They had been drilled
to put on their masks in a few seconds' time, on the first warning of
a gas attack. When the clouds of chlorine and phosgene came over No
Man's Land, they were prepared, and, except for casualties among men
whose masks proved defective, the soldiers in the trenches came through
with very few losses. All animal life, however, was destroyed. This
was a blessing to the British Tommy, whose trenches had been overrun
with rats. The British had tried every known method to get rid of
these pests, and now, thanks to the Germans, their quarters were most
effectively fumigated with phosgene and every rat was killed. If only
the "cooties" could have been destroyed in the same way, the Germans
might have been forgiven many of their offenses.
The disadvantages in the use of gas clouds became increasingly
apparent. What was wanted was some method of placing the gas among the
opponents in concentrated form, without wasting any of it on its way
across from one line to the other. This led to the use of shell filled
with materials which would produce gas. There were many advantages in
these shell. They could be thrown exactly where it was desired that
they should fall, without the help of the fickle winds. When the shell
landed and burst, the full effect of its contents was expended upon
the enemy. A gas cloud would rise over a wood, but with shell the wood
could be filled with gas, which, once there, would lurk among the trees
for days. Chemicals could be used in shell which could not be used in a
cloud attack. The shell could be filled with a liquid, or even with a
solid, because when it burst the filling would be minutely pulverized.
And so German chemists were set to work devising all sorts of fiendish
schemes for poisoning, choking, or merely annoying their opponents.
GAS THAT MADE ONE WEEP
One of the novel shell the Germans used was known as the "tear-gas"
shell. This was filled with a liquid, the vapor of which was very
irritating to the eyes. The liquid vaporized very slowly and so its
effect would last a long time. However, the vapor did not permanently
injure the eyes; it merely filled them with tears to such an extent
that a soldier was unable to see and consequently was confused and
retarded in his work. The "tear-gas" shell were marked with a "T" by
the Germans and were known as "T-shell."
Another type of shell, known as the "K-shell," contained a very
poisonous liquid, the object of which was to destroy the enemy quickly.
The effect of this shell was felt at once, but it left no slow vapors
on the ground, and so it could be followed up almost immediately by an
attack. Later on, the Germans developed three types of gas shell--one
known as the "Green Cross," another as the "Yellow Cross," and the
third as the "Blue Cross." The Green Cross shell was filled with
diphosgene, or a particularly dangerous combination of phosgene in
liquid form, which would remain in pools on the ground or soak into the
ground and would vaporize when it became warm. Its vapors were deadly.
One had always to be on his guard against them. In the morning, when
the sun warmed the earth and vapors were seen to rise from the damp
soil, tests were made of the vapors to see whether it was mere water
vapor or diphosgene, before men were allowed to walk through it.
These vapors were heavier than air and would flow down into a trench,
filling every nook and cranny. If phosgene entered a trench by a direct
hit, the liquid would remain there for days, rendering that part of the
trench uninhabitable except by men in gas-masks. The infected part of
the trench, however, was cut off from the rest of the trench by means
of gas-locks. In other words, blankets were used to keep the gas out,
and usually two blankets were hung so that a man in passing from one
part of the trench to another could lift up the first blanket, pass
under it, and close it carefully behind him before opening the second
blanket which led into the portion of the trench that was not infected.
The Germans had all sorts of fiendish schemes for increasing the
discomfort of the Allies. For instance, to some of their diphosgene
shell they added a gas which caused intense vomiting.
The Yellow Cross shell was another fiendish invention of the Huns. It
was popularly known as "mustard gas" and was intended not to kill but
merely to discomfort the enemy. The gas had a peculiar penetrating
smell, something like garlic, and its fumes would burn the flesh
wherever it was exposed to them, producing great blisters and sores
that were most distressing. The material in the shell was a liquid
which was very hard to get rid of because it would vaporize so slowly.
On account of the persistence of this vapor, lasting as it did for
days, these gas shell were usually not fired by the Germans on lines
that they expected to attack immediately.
THE SNEEZING-SHELL
The Blue Cross shell was comparatively harmless, although very
annoying. It contained a solid which was atomized by the explosion of
the shell, and which, after it got into the nostrils, caused a violent
sneezing. The material, however, was not poisonous and did not produce
any casualties to speak of, although it was most unpleasant. A storm of
Blue Cross shell could be followed almost immediately by an attack,
because the effect of the shell would have been dissipated before
the attackers reached the enemy who were still suffering from the
irritation of their nostrils.
GAS-MASKS
As the different kinds of gas shell were developed, the gas-masks
were improved to meet them. In every attack there were "duds" or
unexploded shell, which the chemists of the Allies analyzed. Also, they
were constantly experimenting with new gases, themselves, and often
could anticipate the Germans. The Allies were better able to protect
themselves against gas attacks than the Germans, because there was a
scarcity of rubber in Germany for the manufacture of masks. When it was
found that phosgene was going to be used, the simple cotton-wad masks
had to give way to more elaborate affairs with chemicals that would
neutralize this deadly gas. And later when the mustard gas was used
which attacked the eyes, and the sneezing-gas that attacked the nose,
it was found necessary to cover the face completely, particularly the
eyes; and so helmets of rubber were constructed which were tightly
fitted around the neck under the coat collar. The inhaled air was
purified by passage through a box or can filled with chemicals and
charcoal made of various materials, such as cocoanut shells, peach
pits, horse-chestnuts, and the like. Because the Germans had no rubber
to spare, they were obliged to use leather, which made their masks
stiff and heavy.
GLASS THAT WILL NOT SHATTER
One of the greatest difficulties that had to be contended with was the
covering of the eyes. There was danger in the use of glass, because it
was liable to be cracked or broken, letting in the deadly fumes and
gassing the wearer. Experiments were made with celluloid and similar
materials, but the finest gas-masks produced in the war were those made
for our own soldiers, in which the goggles were of glass, built up in
layers, with a celluloid-like material between, which makes a tough
composition that will stand up against a very hard blow. Even if it
cracks, this glass will not shatter.
The glasses were apt to become coated on the inside with moisture
coming from the perspiration of the face, and some means had to be
provided for wiping them off. The French hit upon a clever scheme of
having the inhaled air strike the glasses in a jet which would dry off
the moisture and keep the glasses clear. Before this was done, the
masks were provided with little sponges on the end of a finger-piece,
with which the glasses could be wiped dry without taking the masks off.
But all this time, the Allies were not merely standing on the
defensive. No sooner had the Germans launched their first attack than
the British and French chemists began to pay back the Hun in kind.
More attention was paid to the shell than the cloud attack, and soon
gas shell began to rain upon the Germans. Not only were the German
shell copied, but new gases were tried. Gas shell were manufactured in
immense quantities.
Then America took a hand in the war and our chemists added their help,
while our factories turned out steady streams of shell. If Germany
wanted gas warfare, the Allies were determined that she should have it.
Our chemists were not afraid to be pitted against the German chemists
and the factories of the Allies were more than a match for those of
the Central Powers. When the Germans first started the use of gas,
apparently they counted only their own success, which they thought
would be immediate and overwhelming. They soon learned that they must
take what they gave. The Allies set them a pace that they could not
keep up with.
When the armistice brought the war to a sudden stop, the United States
alone was making each day two tons of gas for every mile of the
western front. If the war had continued, the Germans would have been
simply deluged. As it was, they were getting far more gas than they
could possibly produce in their own factories and they had plenty of
reason to regret their rash disregard of their contract at The Hague
Conference. One gas we were making was of the same order as mustard gas
but far more volatile, and had we had a chance to use it against the
Germans they would have found it very difficult to protect themselves
against its penetrating fumes.
BATTLING WITH LIQUID FIRE
Somewhat associated with gas warfare was another form of offensive
which was introduced with the purpose of breaking up the dead-lock
of trench warfare. A man could protect himself against gas by using
a suitable mask and clothing, but what could he do against fire? It
looked as if trench defenders would have to give up if attacked with
fire, and so, early in the war, the Germans devised apparatus for
shooting forth streams of liquid fire, and the Allies were not slow to
copy the idea.
The apparatus was either fixed or portable, but it was not often
that the fixed apparatus could be used to advantage, because at best
the range of the flame-thrower was limited and in few places were
the trenches near enough for flaming oil to be thrown across the
intervening gap. For this reason portable apparatus was chiefly used,
with which a man could send out a stream for from a hundred to a
hundred and fifty feet. On his back he carried the oil-tank, in the
upper part of which there was a charge of compressed air. A pipe led
from the tank to a nozzle which the man held in his hand, using it to
direct the spray.
There was some danger to the operator in handling a highly inflammable
oil. The blaze might flare back and burn him, particularly when he
was lighting the stream, and so a special way of setting fire to the
spray had to be devised. Of course, the value of the apparatus lay
in its power to shoot the stream as far as possible. The compressed
air would send the stream to a good distance, but after lighting, the
oil might be consumed before it reached the desired range. Some way
had to be found of igniting the oil stream far from the nozzle or as
near the limit of its range as possible. And so two nozzles were used,
one with a small opening so that it would send out a fine jet of long
range, while the main stream of oil issued from the second nozzle.
The first nozzle was movable with respect to the second and the two
streams could be regulated to come together at any desired distance
from the operator within the range of the apparatus. The fine stream
was ignited and carried the flame out to the main stream, setting fire
to it near the limit of its range. In this way a flare-back was avoided
and the oil blazed where the flame was needed. The same sort of double
nozzle was used on the stationary apparatus and because weight was not
a consideration, heavier apparatus was used which shot the stream to a
greater distance.
But flame-throwing apparatus had its drawbacks: there was always the
danger that the tank of highly inflammable oil might be burst open by a
shell or hand-grenade and its contents set on fire. The fixed apparatus
was buried under bags of sand, but the man who carried flame-throwing
apparatus on his back had to take his chances, not knowing at what
instant the oil he carried might be set ablaze, turning him into a
living, writhing, human torch. Because of this hazard, liquid fire did
not play a very important part in trench warfare; to set fire to the
spray at its source with a well directed hand-grenade was too easy.
THE "FIRE BROOM"
There were certain situations, however, in which liquid fire played a
very important part. After a line of trenches had been captured it was
difficult to clear out the enemy who lurked in dugouts and underground
passages. They would not surrender, and from their hidden recesses they
could pour out a deadly machine-gun fire. The only way of dislodging
them was to use the "fire broom." In other words, a stream of liquid
fire was poured into the dugout, burning out the men trapped in it.
If there were a second exit, they would come tumbling out in a hurry.
If not, they would be burned to death. After the first sweep of the
"broom," if there were any survivors, there would not be any fight left
in them, and they would be quick to surrender before being subjected to
a second dose of fire.