Consequences of gas attacks of the First World War. Chemical weapon

On April 24, 1915, on a front line near the city of Ypres, French and British soldiers noticed a strange yellow-green cloud that was rapidly moving towards them. It seemed that nothing foreshadowed trouble, but when this fog reached the first line of trenches, the people in it began to fall, cough, suffocate and die.

This day became the official date of the first massive use of chemical weapons. The German army, on a six-kilometer-wide front, released 168 tons of chlorine towards enemy trenches. The poison affected 15 thousand people, of which 5 thousand died almost instantly, and the survivors died later in hospitals or remained disabled for life. After using the gas, the German troops went on the attack and occupied enemy positions without losses, because there was no one left to defend them.

The first use of chemical weapons was considered successful, so it soon became a real nightmare for soldiers on the opposing sides. All countries participating in the conflict used chemical warfare agents: chemical weapons became a real “calling card” of the First World War. By the way, the city of Ypres was “lucky” in this regard: two years later, the Germans in the same area used dichlorodiethyl sulfide against the French, a blister chemical weapon called “mustard gas.”

This small town, like Hiroshima, has become a symbol of one of the worst crimes against humanity.

On May 31, 1915, chemical weapons were used against the Russian army for the first time - the Germans used phosgene. The gas cloud was mistaken for camouflage and even more soldiers were transferred to the front line. The consequences of the gas attack were terrible: 9 thousand people died a painful death, even the grass died due to the effects of the poison.

History of chemical weapons

The history of chemical warfare agents (CWA) goes back hundreds of years. Various chemical compounds were used to poison enemy soldiers or temporarily incapacitate them. Most often, such methods were used during the siege of fortresses, since using toxic substances during a war of maneuver is not very convenient.

For example, in the West (including Russia) they used artillery “stinking” cannonballs, which emitted suffocating and poisonous smoke, and the Persians used an ignited mixture of sulfur and crude oil when storming cities.

However, of course, there was no need to talk about the massive use of toxic substances in the old days. Chemical weapons began to be considered by generals as one of the means of warfare only after toxic substances began to be obtained in industrial quantities and they learned how to store them safely.

Certain changes were also required in the psychology of the military: back in the 19th century, poisoning one’s opponents like rats was considered an ignoble and unworthy thing. The British military elite reacted with indignation to the use of sulfur dioxide as a chemical warfare agent by British Admiral Thomas Gokhran.

Already during the First World War, the first methods of protection against toxic substances appeared. At first these were various bandages or capes impregnated with various substances, but they usually did not give the desired effect. Then gas masks were invented, similar in appearance to modern ones. However, gas masks at first were far from perfect and did not provide the required level of protection. Special gas masks have been developed for horses and even dogs.

The means of delivering toxic substances did not stand still either. If at the beginning of the war gas was easily sprayed from cylinders towards the enemy, then artillery shells and mines began to be used to deliver chemical agents. New, more deadly types of chemical weapons have emerged.

After the end of the First World War, work in the field of creating toxic substances did not stop: methods of delivering chemical agents and methods of protection against them were improved, and new types of chemical weapons appeared. Tests of combat gases were carried out regularly, special shelters were built for the population, soldiers and civilians were trained to use personal protective equipment.

In 1925, another convention was adopted (the Geneva Pact) prohibiting the use of chemical weapons, but this in no way stopped the generals: they had no doubt that the next big war would be a chemical one, and were intensively preparing for it. In the mid-thirties, German chemists developed nerve gases, the effects of which are the most lethal.

Despite their lethality and significant psychological effect, today we can confidently say that chemical weapons are a passed stage for humanity. And the point here is not in the conventions prohibiting the poisoning of one’s own kind, or even in public opinion (although it also played a significant role).

The military has practically abandoned toxic substances, because chemical weapons have more disadvantages than advantages. Let's look at the main ones:

  • Strong dependence on weather conditions. At first, poisonous gases were released from cylinders downwind in the direction of the enemy. However, the wind is changeable, so during the First World War there were frequent cases of defeat of own troops. The use of artillery ammunition as a delivery method solves this problem only partially. Rain and simply high air humidity dissolve and decompose many toxic substances, and air updrafts carry them high into the sky. For example, the British lit numerous fires in front of their defense line so that the hot air would carry enemy gas upward.
  • Unsafe storage. Conventional ammunition without a fuse detonates extremely rarely, which cannot be said about shells or containers with explosive agents. They can cause massive casualties, even from deep behind the lines in a warehouse. In addition, the cost of their storage and disposal is extremely high.
  • Protection. The most important reason for abandoning chemical weapons. The first gas masks and bandages were not very effective, but soon they provided quite effective protection against chemical agents. In response, chemists came up with blister gases, after which a special chemical protection suit was invented. Armored vehicles now have reliable protection against any weapon of mass destruction, including chemical weapons. In short, the use of chemical warfare agents against a modern army is not very effective. That is why in the last fifty years, explosive agents have been used more often against civilians or partisan detachments. In this case, the results of its use were truly terrifying.
  • Inefficiency. Despite the horror that gases caused soldiers during the Great War, analysis of casualties showed that conventional artillery fire was more effective than firing chemical weapons ammunition. A projectile filled with gas was less powerful, and therefore did a worse job of destroying enemy engineering structures and barriers. The surviving fighters quite successfully used them in defense.

Today, the greatest danger is that chemical weapons could end up in the hands of terrorists and be used against civilians. The toll in this case can be horrific. A chemical warfare agent is relatively easy to produce (unlike a nuclear agent), and it is cheap. Therefore, threats from terrorist groups regarding possible gas attacks should be taken very carefully.

The biggest disadvantage of chemical weapons is their unpredictability: where the wind will blow, whether the air humidity will change, in which direction the poison will flow along with the groundwater. In whose DNA the mutagen from the combat gas will be embedded, and whose child will be born crippled. And these are not theoretical questions at all. American soldiers crippled after using their own Agent Orange gas in Vietnam are clear evidence of the unpredictability of chemical weapons.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them

Poison gas was first used by German troops in 1915 on the Western Front. It was later used in Abyssinia, China, Yemen, and also in Iraq. Hitler himself was a victim of a gas attack during the First World War.

Silent, invisible and in most cases deadly: poison gas is a terrible weapon - not only in a physical sense, as chemical warfare agents can kill huge numbers of soldiers and civilians, but perhaps even more so in a psychological sense, as fear facing the terrible threat contained in the inhaled air inevitably causes panic.

Since 1915, when poison gas was first used in modern warfare, it has been used to kill people in dozens of armed conflicts. However, precisely in the bloodiest war of the 20th century, in the struggle of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition against the Third Reich in Europe, both sides did not use these weapons of mass destruction. But, nevertheless, in those years it was used, and occurred, in particular, during the Sino-Japanese War, which began already in 1937.

Poisonous substances have been used as weapons since ancient times - for example, warriors in ancient times rubbed arrowheads with irritating substances. However, the systematic study of chemical elements began only before the First World War. By this time, police in some European countries were already using tear gas to disperse unwanted crowds. Therefore, there was only a small step left to take before using deadly poisonous gas.


1915 - first use

The first confirmed large-scale use of chemical warfare gas occurred on the Western Front in Flanders. Prior to this, attempts had been made several times - generally unsuccessful - to push enemy soldiers out of the trenches with the help of various chemicals and thus complete the conquest of Flanders. On the eastern front, German gunners also used shells containing toxic chemicals - without much consequence.

Against the backdrop of these “unsatisfactory” results, the chemist Fritz Haber, who later received the Nobel Prize, proposed spraying chlorine gas in the presence of a suitable wind. More than 160 tons of this chemical by-product were used on April 22, 1915 in the Ypres area. The gas was released from approximately 6 thousand cylinders, and as a result, a poisonous cloud six kilometers long and one kilometer wide covered enemy positions.

There is no exact data on the number of victims of this attack, but they were very significant. In any case, on the “Day of Ypres” the German army managed to break through the fortifications of the French and Canadian units to a greater depth.

The Entente countries actively protested against the use of poison gas. The German side responded to this by stating that the use of chemical munitions is not prohibited by the Hague Convention on the Conduct of Land War. Formally, this was correct, but the use of chlorine gas was contrary to the spirit of the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907.

The death toll was almost 50%

In the following weeks, poisonous gas was used several more times in an arc in the Ypres area. Moreover, on May 5, 1915, at Hill 60, 90 of the 320 soldiers there were killed in the British trenches. Another 207 people were taken to hospitals, but for 58 of them no help was needed. The death rate from the use of poisonous gases against unprotected soldiers was then approximately 50%.

The Germans' use of poisonous chemicals broke the taboo, and after that other participants in the war also began to use poisonous gases. The British first used chlorine gas in September 1915, while the French used phosgene. Another spiral of the arms race began: more and more new chemical warfare agents were developed, and our own soldiers received more and more advanced gas masks. In total, during the First World War, 18 different potentially lethal toxic substances and another 27 chemical compounds with “irritant” effects were used.

According to existing estimates, between 1914 and 1918, about 20 million gas shells were used, in addition, more than 10 thousand tons of chemical warfare agents were released from special containers. According to calculations by the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, 91 thousand people died as a result of the use of chemical warfare agents, and 1.2 million were injured of varying degrees of severity.

Hitler's personal experience

Adolf Hitler was also among the victims. On October 14, 1918, during a French mustard gas attack, he temporarily lost his sight. In the book “My Struggle” (Mein Kampf), where Hitler sets out the foundations of his worldview, he describes this situation as follows: “Around midnight, some of the comrades were out of action, some of them forever. In the morning, I also began to feel severe pain, increasing every minute. At about seven o'clock, stumbling and falling, I somehow made my way to the point. My eyes were burning with pain.” After a few hours, “my eyes turned into burning coals. Then I stopped seeing."

And after the First World War, the accumulated, but no longer needed in Europe, shells with poisonous gases were used. For example, Winston Churchill advocated their use against “savage” rebels in the colonies, but he made a reservation and added that it was not necessary to use lethal substances. In Iraq, the Royal Air Force also used chemical bombs.

Spain, which remained neutral during the First World War, used poison gas during the Rif War against the Berber tribes in its North African possessions. The Italian dictator Mussolini used these types of weapons in the Libyan and Abyssinian wars, and they were often used against civilians. Western public opinion reacted to this with indignation, but as a result it was possible to agree only on taking symbolic retaliatory actions.

An unequivocal ban

In 1925, the Geneva Protocol prohibited the use of chemical and biological weapons in warfare, as well as their use against civilians. Nevertheless, almost all states of the world continued to prepare for future wars using chemical weapons.

After 1918, the largest use of chemical warfare agents occurred in 1937 during Japan's war of conquest against China. They were used in several thousand individual incidents and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians, but precise data from those theaters of operations is not available. Japan did not ratify the Geneva Protocol and was not formally bound by its provisions, but even at that time the use of chemical weapons was considered a war crime.

Thanks also to Hitler’s personal experience, the threshold for using toxic chemicals during World War II was very high. However, this does not mean that both sides were not preparing for a possible gas war - in case the opposite side started it.

The Wehrmacht had several laboratories for the study of chemical warfare agents, and one of them was located in the Spandau Citadel, located in the western part of Berlin. Among other things, highly toxic poisonous gases sarin and soman were produced there in small quantities. And at the factories of I.G. Farben, several tons of the nerve gas tabun were even produced using phosphorus. However, it was not applied.

  1. I'll start the topic.

    Livens Projector

    (Great Britain)

    Livens Projector - Livens' gas launcher. Developed by military engineer Captain William H. Livens in early 1917. First used on April 4, 1917 during the attack on Arras. To work with the new weapons, “Special Companies” No. 186, 187, 188, 189 were created. Intercepted German reports reported that the density of poisonous gases was similar to a cloud released from gas cylinders. The emergence of a new gas delivery system came as a surprise to the Germans. Soon, German engineers developed an analogue of the Livens Projector.

    The Livens Projector was more efficient than earlier methods of delivering gases. When the gas cloud reached enemy positions, its concentration decreased.

    The Livens Projector consisted of a steel pipe with a diameter of 8 inches (20.3 cm). Wall thickness 1.25 inches (3.17 cm). Available in two sizes: 2 feet 9 inches (89 cm) and 4 feet (122 cm). The pipes were buried in the ground at an angle of 45 degrees for stability. The projectile was fired according to an electrical signal.

    The shells contained 30-40 pounds (13-18 kg) of toxic substances. Firing range 1200 - 1900 meters depending on the length of the barrel.

    During the war, the British Army fired approximately 300 gas salvos using the Livens Projector. The largest use occurred on March 31, 1918 near Lens. Then 3728 Livens Projector participated.

    The German analogue had a diameter of 18 cm. The projectile contained 10-15 liters of toxic substances. It was first used in December 1917.

    In August 1918, German engineers presented a mortar with a diameter of 16 cm and a firing range of 3500 meters. The shell contained 13 kg. toxic substances (usually phosgene) and 2.5 kg. pumice.

  2. Haber and Einstein, Berlin, 1914

    Fritz Haber

    (Germany)

    Fritz Haber (German Fritz haber, December 9, 1868, Breslau - January 29, 1934, Basel) - chemist, Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry (1918).

    By the beginning of the war, Haber was in charge (from 1911) of a laboratory at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry in Berlin. Haber's work was financed by the Prussian nationalist Karl Duisberg, who was also the head of the chemical concern Interessen Germinschaft (IG Cartel). Haber had virtually unlimited funding and technical support. After the war began, he began developing chemical weapons. Duisberg was formally against the use of chemical weapons, and at the beginning of the war he met with the German High Command. Duisbaer also began to independently investigate the potential use of chemical weapons. Haber agreed with Duisberg's point of view.

    In the fall of 1914, the Wilhelm Institute began developing poison gases for military use. Haber and his laboratory began developing chemical weapons, and by January 1915, Haber's laboratory had a chemical agent that could be presented to High Command. Haber was also developing a protective mask with a filter.

    Haber chose chlorine, which had been produced in large quantities in Germany before the war. In 1914, Germany produced 40 tons of chlorine daily. Haber proposed storing and transporting chlorine in liquid form, under pressure, in steel cylinders. The cylinders had to be delivered to the fighting positions, and if there was a favorable wind, the chlorine was released towards the enemy positions.

    The German command was in a hurry to use new weapons on the western front, but the generals had difficulty imagining the possible consequences. Duisberg and Haber were well aware of the effect the new weapon would have, and Haber decided to be present at the first use of chlorine. The site of the first attack was the town of Langemarck near Ypres. At 6 km. The site housed French reservists from Algeria and the Canadian division. The date of the attack was April 22, 1915.

    160 tons of liquid chlorine in 6,000 cylinders were secretly placed along the German lines. A yellow-green cloud covered the French positions. Gas masks did not yet exist. The gas penetrated into all the cracks of the shelters. Those who tried to escape were accelerated by the effects of the chlorine, and died faster. The attack killed 5,000 people. Another 15,000 people were poisoned. The Germans, wearing gas masks, occupied the French positions, advancing 800 yards.

    A few days before the first gas attack, a German soldier with a gas mask was captured. He spoke about the impending attack, and about the gas cylinders. His testimony was confirmed by aerial reconnaissance. But the report on the impending attack was lost in the bureaucratic structures of the Allied command. Later, French and British generals denied the existence of this report.

    It became clear to the German command and Haber that the Allies would soon also develop and begin to use chemical weapons.

    Nikolai Dmitrievich Zelinsky was born on January 25 (February 6), 1861 in Tiraspol, Kherson province.

    In 1884 he graduated from Novorossiysk University in Odessa. In 1889 he defended his master's thesis, and in 1891 his doctoral dissertation. 1893-1953 professor at Moscow University. In 1911 he left the university together with a group of scientists in protest against the policy of the Tsarist Minister of Public Education L. A. Kasso. From 1911 to 1917 he worked as director of the Central Laboratory of the Ministry of Finance and head of the department at the Polytechnic Institute of St. Petersburg.

    Died on July 31, 1953. Buried at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. The Institute of Organic Chemistry in Moscow is named after Zelinsky.

    Developed by Professor Zelinsky Nikolai Dmitrievich.

    Before this, inventors of protective equipment offered masks that protected only from one type of toxic substance. For example, the mask against chlorine of the British doctor Cluny MacPherson (Cluny MacPherson 1879-1966). Zelinsky created a universal absorber from charcoal. Zelinsky developed a method for activating coal - increasing its ability to absorb various substances on its surface. Activated carbon was obtained from birch wood.

    Simultaneously with Zelinsky’s gas mask, a prototype of the head of the sanitary and evacuation unit of the Russian army, Prince A.P., was tested. Oldenburgsky. The gas mask of the Prince of Oldenburg contained an absorbent made of non-activated carbon with soda lime. When breathing, the absorbent turned to stone. The device failed even after several training sessions.

    Zelinsky completed work on the absorber in June 1915. In the summer of 1915, Zelinsky tested the absorber on himself. Two gases, chlorine and phosgene, were introduced into one of the isolated rooms of the central laboratory of the Ministry of Finance in Petrograd. Zelinsky, wrapping about 50 grams of activated birch charcoal crushed into small pieces in a handkerchief, pressing the handkerchief tightly to his mouth and nose and closing his eyes, was able to stay in this poisoned atmosphere, inhaling and exhaling through the handkerchief, for several minutes.

    In November 1915, engineer E. Kummant developed a rubber helmet with goggles, which made it possible to protect the respiratory system and most of the head.

    On February 3, 1916, at the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief near Mogilev, on the personal order of Emperor Nicholas II, demonstration tests were carried out on all available samples of anti-chemical protection, both Russian and foreign. For this purpose, a special laboratory car was attached to the royal train. Zelinsky-Kummant's gas mask was tested by Zelinsky's laboratory assistant, Sergei Stepanovich Stepanov. S.S. Stepanov was able to stay in a closed carriage filled with chlorine and phosgene for more than an hour. Nicholas II ordered that S.S. Stepanov be awarded the St. George Cross for his courage.

    The gas mask entered service with the Russian army in February 1916. The Zelinsky-Kummant gas mask was also used by the Entente countries. In 1916-1917 Russia produced more than 11 million units. Zelinsky-Kummant gas masks.

    The gas mask had some drawbacks. For example, before use it had to be purged of coal dust. A box of coal attached to the mask limited head movement. But Zelinsky's activated carbon absorber has become the most popular in the world.

    Last edited by moderator: March 21, 2014

  3. (Great Britain)

    Hypo Helmet entered service in 1915. The Hypo Helmet was a simple flannel bag with a single mica window. The bag was impregnated with an absorber. The Hypo Helmet provided good protection against chlorine, but did not have an exhalation valve, making it difficult to breathe in.

    *********************************************************

    (Great Britain)

    P helmet, PH helmet and PHG helmet are early masks designed to protect against chlorine, phosgene and tear gases.

    P Helmet (also known as Tube Helmet) entered service in July 1915 to replace the Hypo Helmet. The Hypo Helmet was a simple flannel bag with a single mica window. The bag was impregnated with an absorber. The Hypo Helmet provided good protection against chlorine, but did not have an exhalation valve, making it difficult to breathe in.

    P Helmet had round glasses made of mica, and also introduced an exhalation valve. Inside the mask, a short tube from the breathing valve was inserted into the mouth. P Helmet consisted of two layers of flannel - one layer was impregnated with absorbent, the other was not impregnated. The fabric was impregnated with phenol and glycerin. Phenol with glycerin protected against chlorine and phosgene, but not against tear gases.

    About 9 million copies were produced.

    PH Helmet (Phenate Hexamine) entered service in October 1915. The fabric was impregnated with hexamethylenetetramine, which improved protection against phosgene. Protection against hydrocyanic acid has also appeared. About 14 million copies were produced. The PH Helmet remained in service until the end of the war.

    The PHG Helmet entered service in January 1916. It differed from the PH Helmet in its rubber front part. There is protection against tear gases. In 1916 -1917 About 1.5 million copies were produced.

    In February 1916, fabric masks were replaced by the Small Box Respirator.

    In the photo - PH Helmet.

    ************************************************

    Small Box Respirator

    (Great Britain)

    Small Box Respirator type 1. Adopted by the British Army in 1916.

    The Small Box Respirator replaced the simplest P Helmet masks that had been in use since 1915. The metal box contained activated carbon with layers of alkaline permanganate. The box was connected to the mask with a rubber hose. The hose was connected to a metal tube in the mask. The other end of the metal tube was inserted into the mouth. Inhalation and exhalation was done only through the mouth - through a tube. The nose was pinched inside the mask. The breathing valve was located at the bottom of the metal tube (visible in the photograph).

    Small Box Respirator of the first type was also produced in the USA. The US Army used gas masks copied from the Small Box Respirator for several years.

    **************************************************

    Small Box Respirator

    (Great Britain)

    Small Box Respirator type 2. Adopted by the British Army in 1917.

    An improved version of Type 1. The metal box contained activated carbon with layers of alkali permanganate. The box was connected to the mask with a rubber hose. The hose was connected to a metal tube in the mask. The other end of the metal tube was inserted into the mouth. Inhalation and exhalation was done only through the mouth - through a tube. The nose was pinched inside the mask.

    Unlike type 1, a metal loop appeared on the breathing valve (at the bottom of the tube) (visible in the photo). Its purpose is to protect the breathing valve from damage. There are also additional attachments for the mask to the belts. There are no other differences from type 1.

    The mask was made of rubberized fabric.

    The Small Box Respirator was replaced in the 1920s by the Mk III gas mask.

    The photo shows an Australian chaplain.

  4. (France)

    The first French mask, Tampon T, began to be developed at the end of 1914. Intended for protection against phosgene. Like all the first masks, it consisted of several layers of fabric soaked in chemicals.

    A total of 8 million copies of Tampon T were produced. It was produced in Tampon T and Tampon TN variants. Usually used with glasses, as in the photo. Kept in a cloth bag.

    In April 1916, it began to be replaced by M2.

    ********************************************************

    (France)

    M2 (2nd model) - French gas mask. Entered service in April 1916 to replace Tampon T and Tampon TN.

    M2 consisted of several layers of fabric impregnated with chemicals. M2 was placed in a semicircular bag or tin box.

    The M2 was used by the US Army.

    In 1917, the French Army began replacing the M2 with the A.R.S. (Appareil Respiratoire Special). Over two years, 6 million M2 units were produced. A.R.S. became widespread only in May 1918.

    **********************************************************

    Gummischutzmaske

    (Germany)

    Gummischutzmaske (rubber mask) - the first German mask. Entered service at the end of 1915. It consisted of a rubberized mask made of cotton fabric and a round filter. The mask did not have an exhalation valve. To prevent the glasses from fogging up, the mask had a special fabric pocket into which one could insert a finger and wipe the glasses from inside the mask. The mask was held on the head with fabric straps. Celluloid glasses.

    The filter was filled with granulated charcoal impregnated with reagents. It was assumed that the filter would be replaceable - for different gases. The mask was stored in a round metal box.

    German gas mask, 1917

  5. A new means of chemical attack - gas launchers - appeared on the fields of the Great War in 1917. The primacy in their development and application belongs to the British. The first gas launcher was designed by Captain William Howard Livens of the Corps of Royal Engineers. While serving in the Special Chemical Company, Livens, working on a flamethrower, created a simple and reliable propellant in 1916, which was designed to fire ammunition filled with oil. For the first time, such flamethrowers were used in large quantities on July 1, 1916 at the Battle of the Somme (one of the places of use was Ovillers-la-Boisselle). The fire range was initially no more than 180 meters, but later it was increased to 1200 meters. In 1916, the oil in the shells was replaced with chemical agents and gas launchers - this is how the new weapon was now called; it was tested in September of the same year during the battle on the river. Somme in the area of ​​Thiepval and Hamel and in November near Beaumont-Hamel. According to the German side, the first gas launcher attack was carried out later - on April 4, 1917 near Arras.

    General structure and diagram of the Livens Gazomet

    The Livens Projector consisted of a steel pipe (barrel), tightly closed at the breech, and a steel plate (pan) used as a base. The gas launcher was almost completely buried in the ground at an angle of 45 degrees to the horizontal. The gas launchers were charged with ordinary gas cylinders that had a small explosive charge and a head fuse. The weight of the cylinder was about 60 kg. The cylinder contained from 9 to 28 kg of toxic substances, mainly asphyxiating - phosgene, liquid diphosgene and chloropicrin. When the explosive charge, which passed through the middle of the entire cylinder, exploded, the chemical agent was sprayed out. The use of gas cylinders as ammunition was due to the fact that as gas cylinder attacks were abandoned, a large number of cylinders that became unnecessary, but still usable, accumulated. Subsequently, specially designed ammunition replaced the cylinders.
    The shot was fired using an electric fuse, which ignited the propellant charge. Gas launchers were connected by electric wires into batteries of 100 pieces, and the entire battery was fired simultaneously. The fire range of the gas launcher was 2500 meters. The duration of the salvo was 25 seconds. Usually one salvo was fired per day, since the gas launcher positions became easy targets for the enemy. Unmasking factors were large flashes at gas-throwing positions and the specific noise of flying mines, reminiscent of rustling. The most effective was considered to be the use of 1,000 to 2,000 gas-throwing cannons, due to which, in a short time, a high concentration of chemical warfare agents was created in the area where the enemy was located, due to which most filtering gas masks became useless During the war, 140,000 Livens gas launchers and 400,000 bombs for them were manufactured. On January 14, 1916, William Howard Leavens was awarded the Military Cross.
    Livens gas launchers in position

    The use of gas launchers by the British forced other participants in the war to quickly adopt this new method of chemical attack. By the end of 1917, the armies of the Entente (with the exception of Russia, which found itself on the threshold of the Civil War) and the Triple Alliance were armed with gas launchers

    The German army received 180-mm smooth-walled and 160-mm rifled gas launchers with a firing range of up to 1.6 and 3 km, respectively. The Germans carried out their first gas launcher attacks in the Western theater of operations in December 1917 at Remicourt, Cambrai and Givenchy.

    German gas launchers caused the “Miracle at Caporetto” during the 12th battle on the river. Isonzo October 24-27, 1917 on the Italian Front. The massive use of gas launchers by the Kraus group advancing in the Isonzo River valley led to a rapid breakthrough of the Italian front. This is how the Soviet military historian Alexander Nikolaevich De-Lazari describes this operation.

    Loading Livens gas launchers by English soldiers

    “The battle began with the offensive of the Austro-German armies, in which the main blow was delivered by the right flank with a force of 12 divisions (the Austrian Kraus group - three Austrian and one German infantry divisions and the 14th German army of General Belov - eight German infantry divisions on the Flitch - Tolmino front ( about 30 km) with the task of reaching the Gemona - Cividale front.

    In this direction, the defensive line was occupied by units of the 2nd Italian Army, on the left flank of which an Italian infantry division was located in the Flitsch area. It blocked the exit from the gorge to the river valley. The isonzo itself Flitch was occupied by a battalion of infantry defending three lines of positions crossing the valley. This battalion, making extensive use of so-called “cave” batteries and firing points for the purpose of defense and flanking approaches, i.e., located in caves cut into steep rocks, turned out to be inaccessible to the artillery fire of the advancing Austro-German troops and successfully delayed their advance. A salvo of 894 chemical mines was fired, followed by 2 salvos of 269 high explosive mines. The entire Italian battalion of 600 people with horses and dogs was found dead as the Germans advanced (some of the people were wearing gas masks). Kraus's group then took all three rows of Italian positions in a sweeping manner and reached the mountain valleys of Bergon by evening. To the south, the attacking units met more stubborn Italian resistance. It was broken the next day - October 25, which was facilitated by the successful advance of the Austro-Germans at Flitch. On October 27, the front was shaken all the way to the Adriatic Sea, and on that day the advanced German units occupied Cividale. The Italians, gripped by panic, retreated everywhere. Almost all the enemy artillery and a mass of prisoners fell into the hands of the Austro-Germans. The operation was a brilliant success. This is how the famous “Miracle at Caporetto”, known in military literature, took place, in which the initial episode - the successful use of gas launchers - received operational significance).

    Livens gas launchers: A – a battery of buried Livens gas launchers with a projectile and propellant charge lying on the ground near the battery; B – longitudinal section of a Livens gas launcher projectile. Its central part contains a small explosive charge, which disperses the chemical agent by detonating

    German shell for an 18 cm smooth-walled gas launcher

    Kraus's group consisted of selected Austro-Hungarian divisions trained for war in the mountains. Since they had to operate in high mountainous terrain, the command allocated relatively less artillery to support the divisions than other groups. But they had 1,000 gas launchers, which the Italians were not familiar with. The effect of surprise was greatly aggravated by the use of toxic substances, which until then had been very rarely used on the Austrian front. To be fair, it should be noted that the cause of the “Miracle at Caporetto” was not only gas launchers. The 2nd Italian Army under the command of General Luigi Capello, which was stationed in the Caporetto area, was not distinguished by its high combat capability. As a result of a miscalculation by the army command, Capello ignored the warning of the Chief of the General Staff about a possible German attack; in the direction of the enemy’s main attack, the Italians had fewer forces and remained unprepared for the attack. In addition to the gas launchers, what was unexpected was the German offensive tactics, based on the penetration of small groups of soldiers deep into the defense, which caused panic among the Italian troops. Between December 1917 and May 1918, German troops launched 16 attacks on the British using gas cannons. However, their result, due to the development of chemical protection means, was no longer so significant. The combination of the action of gas launchers with artillery fire increased the effectiveness of the use of BOV and made it possible to almost completely abandon gas-balloon attacks by the end of 1917. The dependence of the latter on weather conditions and the lack of tactical flexibility and controllability led to the fact that a gas attack as a means of combat never left the tactical field and did not become a factor in an operational breakthrough. Although there was such a possibility, caused by surprise and the lack of protective equipment, at first. “The massive use, based on theoretical and practical experiments, gave a new type of chemical warfare - shooting with chemical projectiles and gas throwing - operational significance" (A.N. De-Lazari) . However, it should be noted that gas throwing (i.e. firing from gas launchers) was also not destined to become a factor of operational significance comparable to artillery

  6. Thanks Eugen)))
    By the way, Hitler, being a corporal in the First World War in 1918, was gassed near La Montaigne as a result of the explosion of a chemical shell near him. The result is eye damage and temporary loss of vision. Well, that's by the way
  7. Quote (Werner Holt @ January 16, 2013, 20:06)
    Thanks Eugen)))
    By the way, Hitler, being a corporal in the First World War in 1918, was gassed near La Montaigne as a result of the explosion of a chemical shell near him. The result is eye damage and temporary loss of vision. Well, that's by the way

    Please! By the way, in my battlefields in WWII, chemical weapons were also actively used: both poisonous gases and chemical weapons. ammunition.
    RIA hit the Germans with phosgene shells, and they, in turn, responded in kind...but let’s continue the topic!

    The First World War revealed to the world many new means of destruction: aviation was widely used for the first time, the first steel monsters - tanks - appeared on the fronts of the Great War, but poisonous gases became the most terrible weapon. The horror of a gas attack hovered over the battlefields torn apart by shells. Nowhere and never, neither before nor after, have chemical weapons been used so massively. What was it like?

    Types of chemical agents used during the First World War. (brief information)

    Chlorine as a poisonous gas.
    Scheele, who received chlorine, noted a very unpleasant strong odor, difficulty breathing and coughing. As we later found out, a person smells chlorine even if one liter of air contains only 0.005 mg of this gas, and at the same time it already has an irritating effect on the respiratory tract, destroying the cells of the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract and lungs. A concentration of 0.012 mg/l is difficult to tolerate; if the concentration of chlorine exceeds 0.1 mg/l, it becomes life-threatening: breathing quickens, becomes convulsive, and then becomes increasingly rare, and after 5–25 minutes breathing stops. The maximum permissible concentration in the air of industrial enterprises is 0.001 mg/l, and in the air of residential areas - 0.00003 mg/l.

    St. Petersburg academician Toviy Egorovich Lovitz, repeating Scheele's experiment in 1790, accidentally released a significant amount of chlorine into the air. After inhaling it, he lost consciousness and fell, then suffered excruciating chest pain for eight days. Fortunately, he recovered. The famous English chemist Davy almost died from chlorine poisoning. Experiments with even small amounts of chlorine are dangerous, as they can cause severe lung damage. They say that the German chemist Egon Wiberg began one of his lectures on chlorine with the words: “Chlorine is a poisonous gas. If I get poisoned during the next demonstration, please take me out into the fresh air. But, unfortunately, the lecture will have to be interrupted.” If you release a lot of chlorine into the air, it becomes a real disaster. This was experienced by the Anglo-French troops during the First World War. On the morning of April 22, 1915, the German command decided to carry out the first gas attack in the history of wars: when the wind blew towards the enemy, on a small six-kilometer section of the front near the Belgian town of Ypres, the valves of 5,730 cylinders were simultaneously opened, each containing 30 kg of liquid chlorine. Within 5 minutes, a huge yellow-green cloud formed, which slowly moved away from the German trenches towards the Allies. The English and French soldiers were completely defenseless. The gas penetrated through the cracks into all the shelters; there was no escape from it: after all, the gas mask had not yet been invented. As a result, 15 thousand people were poisoned, 5 thousand of them to death. A month later, on May 31, the Germans repeated the gas attack on the eastern front - against Russian troops. This happened in Poland near the city of Bolimova. At the 12 km front, 264 tons of a mixture of chlorine and much more toxic phosgene (carbonic acid chloride COCl2) were released from 12 thousand cylinders. The tsarist command knew about what happened at Ypres, and yet the Russian soldiers had no means of defense! As a result of the gas attack, the losses amounted to 9,146 people, of which only 108 were as a result of rifle and artillery shelling, the rest were poisoned. At the same time, 1,183 people died almost immediately.

    Soon, chemists showed how to escape from chlorine: you need to breathe through a gauze bandage soaked in a solution of sodium thiosulfate (this substance is used in photography, it is often called hyposulfite).

    ************************************

    Under normal conditions, phosgene is a colorless gas, 3.5 times heavier than air, with a characteristic odor of rotten hay or rotten fruit. It dissolves poorly in water and is easily decomposed by it. Combat state - steam. Resistance on the ground is 30-50 minutes, stagnation of vapors in trenches and ravines is possible from 2 to 3 hours. The depth of distribution of contaminated air is from 2 to 3 km. First aid. Put a gas mask on the affected person, remove him from the contaminated atmosphere, provide complete rest, make breathing easier (remove the waist belt, unfasten the buttons), cover him from the cold, give him a hot drink and deliver him to a medical center as quickly as possible. Protection against phosgene - a gas mask, a shelter equipped with filter and ventilation units.

    Under normal conditions, phosgene is a colorless gas, 3.5 times heavier than air, with a characteristic odor of rotten hay or rotten fruit. It dissolves poorly in water and is easily decomposed by it. Combat state - steam. Durability on the ground is 30-50 minutes, stagnation of vapors in trenches and ravines is possible from 2 to 3 hours. The depth of distribution of contaminated air is from 2 to 3 km. Phosgene affects the body only when its vapor is inhaled, and mild irritation of the mucous membrane of the eyes, lacrimation, an unpleasant sweetish taste in the mouth, slight dizziness, general weakness, cough, tightness in the chest, nausea (vomiting) are felt. After leaving the contaminated atmosphere, these phenomena disappear, and within 4-5 hours the affected person is in a stage of imaginary well-being. Then, as a result of pulmonary edema, a sharp deterioration in the condition occurs: breathing becomes more frequent, a severe cough with copious production of foamy sputum, headache, shortness of breath, blue lips, eyelids, nose, increased heart rate, pain in the heart, weakness and suffocation appear. Body temperature rises to 38-39°C. Pulmonary edema lasts several days and is usually fatal. The lethal concentration of phosgene in the air is 0.1 - 0.3 mg/l. with exposure 15 min. Phosgene is prepared by the following reaction:

    СO + Cl2 = (140С,С) => COCl2

    *****************

    Diphosgene

    Colorless liquid. Boiling point 128°C. Unlike phosgene, it also has an irritating effect, but is otherwise similar to it. This BHTV is characterized by a latent period of 6-8 hours and a cumulative effect. Affects the body through the respiratory system. Signs of damage are a sweetish, unpleasant taste in the mouth, cough, dizziness, and general weakness. Lethal concentration in the air is 0.5 - 0.7 mg/l. with exposure 15 min.

    *****************

    It has a multilateral damaging effect. In the droplet-liquid and vapor state it affects the skin and eyes, when inhaling vapors it affects the respiratory tract and lungs, and when it comes into contact with food and water, it affects the digestive organs. A characteristic feature of mustard gas is the presence of a period of latent action (the lesion is not detected immediately, but after some time - 4 hours or more). Signs of damage are redness of the skin, the formation of small blisters, which then merge into large ones and after two to three days burst, turning into difficult-to-heal ulcers. With any local damage, it causes general poisoning of the body, which manifests itself in fever, malaise, and complete loss of capacity.

    Mustard gas is a slightly yellowish (distilled) or dark brown liquid with the odor of garlic or mustard, highly soluble in organic solvents and poorly soluble in water. Mustard gas is heavier than water, freezes at a temperature of about 14°C, and is easily absorbed into various paints, rubber and porous materials, which leads to deep contamination. In air, mustard gas evaporates slowly. The main combat state of mustard gas is droplet-liquid or aerosol. However, mustard gas is capable of creating dangerous concentrations of its vapors due to natural evaporation from the contaminated area. In combat conditions, mustard gas could be used by artillery (gas launchers). The defeat of personnel is achieved by contaminating the ground layer of air with vapors and aerosols of mustard gas, contaminating open areas of skin, uniforms, equipment, weapons and military equipment and terrain with aerosols and drops of mustard gas. The depth of distribution of mustard gas vapor ranges from 1 to 20 km for open areas. Mustard gas can infect an area for up to 2 days in summer, and up to 2-3 weeks in winter. Equipment contaminated with mustard gas poses a danger to personnel unprotected by protective equipment and must be decontaminated. Mustard gas infects stagnant bodies of water for 2-3 months.

    Mustard gas has a damaging effect through any route of entry into the body. Damage to the mucous membranes of the eyes, nasopharynx and upper respiratory tract occurs even at low concentrations of mustard gas. At higher concentrations, along with local lesions, general poisoning of the body occurs. Mustard gas has a latent period of action (2-8 hours) and is cumulative. At the time of contact with mustard gas, there is no skin irritation or pain effects. Areas affected by mustard gas are prone to infection. Skin damage begins with redness, which appears 2-6 hours after exposure to mustard gas. After a day, small blisters filled with a yellow transparent liquid form at the site of redness. Subsequently, the bubbles merge. After 2-3 days, the blisters burst and a non-healing lesion forms for 20-30 days. ulcer. If the ulcer gets infected, healing occurs in 2-3 months. When inhaling mustard gas vapors or aerosols, the first signs of damage appear after a few hours in the form of dryness and burning in the nasopharynx, then severe swelling of the nasopharyngeal mucosa occurs, accompanied by purulent discharge. In severe cases, pneumonia develops, death occurs on the 3-4th day from suffocation. The eyes are especially sensitive to mustard vapors. When exposed to mustard gas vapors on the eyes, a feeling of sand appears in the eyes, lacrimation, photophobia, then redness and swelling of the mucous membrane of the eyes and eyelids occurs, accompanied by copious discharge of pus. Contact with droplets of mustard gas in the eyes can lead to blindness. When mustard gas enters the gastrointestinal tract, within 30-60 minutes sharp pain in the stomach, drooling, nausea, vomiting appears, and diarrhea (sometimes with blood) subsequently develops. The minimum dose that causes the formation of abscesses on the skin is 0.1 mg/cm2. Mild eye damage occurs at a concentration of 0.001 mg/l and exposure for 30 minutes. The lethal dose when exposed through the skin is 70 mg/kg (latent period of action up to 12 hours or more). The lethal concentration when exposed through the respiratory system for 1.5 hours is about 0.015 mg/l (latent period 4 - 24 hours). I. was first used by Germany as a chemical agent in 1917 near the Belgian city of Ypres (hence the name). Protection against mustard gas - gas mask and skin protection.

    *********************

    First received in 1904. Even before the end of World War II, it was withdrawn from service with the US Army due to insufficiently high combat effectiveness compared to mustard gas. However, it is often used as an additive to mustard gas to lower the latter's freezing point.

    Physicochemical characteristics:

    A colorless oily liquid with a peculiar odor reminiscent of geranium leaves. The technical product is a dark brown liquid. Density = 1.88 g/cm3 (20°C). Air vapor density = 7.2. It is highly soluble in organic solvents, solubility in water is only 0.05% (at 20°C). Melting point = -15°C, boiling point = about 190°C (dec.). Vapor pressure at 20°C 0.39 mm. rt. Art.

    Toxicological properties:
    Lewisite, unlike mustard gas, has almost no period of latent action: signs of damage to it appear within 2-5 minutes after entering the body. the severity of the damage depends on the dose and time spent in an atmosphere contaminated with mustard gas. When inhaling lewisite vapor or aerosol, the upper respiratory tract is primarily affected, which manifests itself after a short period of latent action in the form of coughing, sneezing, and nasal discharge. In case of mild poisoning, these phenomena disappear within a few hours, in case of severe poisoning, they continue for several days. severe poisoning is accompanied by nausea, headaches, loss of voice, vomiting, and general malaise. Subsequently, bronchopneumonia develops. Shortness of breath and chest cramps are signs of very severe poisoning, which can be fatal. Signs of approaching death are convulsions and paralysis. LCt50 = 1.3 mg min/l.

    **************************

    Hydrocyanic acid (cyanchloride)

    Hydrocyanic acid (HCN) is a colorless liquid with the smell of bitter almonds, boiling point + 25.7. C, freezing temperature -13.4. C, vapor density in air 0.947. Easily penetrates into porous building materials, wood products, and is adsorbed by many food products. Transported and stored in liquid state. A mixture of hydrocyanic acid vapor and air (6:400) may explode. The force of the explosion exceeds TNT.

    In industry, hydrocyanic acid is used for the production of organic glass, rubbers, fibers, orlan and nitron, pesticides.

    Hydrocyanic acid enters the human body through the respiratory system, with water, food and through the skin.

    The mechanism of action of hydrocyanic acid on the human body is the disruption of intracellular and tissue respiration due to suppression of the activity of iron-containing tissue enzymes.

    Molecular oxygen from the lungs to the tissues is supplied by blood hemoglobin in the form of a complex compound with the iron ion Hb (Fe2+) O2. In tissues, oxygen is hydrogenated into a group (OH), and then interacts with the enzyme citrochrome oxidase, which is a complex protein with the iron ion Fe2+ The Fe2+ ion gives oxygen an electron, autoxidizes into the Fe3+ ion and binds to the group (OH)

    This is how oxygen is transferred from the blood to the tissues. Subsequently, oxygen participates in the oxidative processes of the tissue, and the Fe3+ ion, having accepted an electron from other cytochromes, is reduced into the Fe2+ ion, which is again ready to interact with blood hemoglobin.

    If hydrocyanic acid enters the tissue, it immediately interacts with the iron-containing enzyme group of cytochrome oxidase and at the moment the Fe3+ ion is formed, a cyanide group (CN) is added to it instead of a hydroxyl group (OH). Subsequently, the iron-containing group of the enzyme does not participate in the selection of oxygen from the blood. This is how cellular respiration is disrupted when hydrocyanic acid enters the human body. In this case, neither the flow of oxygen into the blood nor its transfer by hemoglobin to the tissues is impaired.

    Arterial blood is saturated with oxygen and passes into the veins, which is expressed in the bright pink color of the skin when affected by hydrocyanic acid.

    The greatest danger to the body is inhalation of hydrocyanic acid vapors, as they are carried by the blood throughout the body, causing suppression of oxidative reactions in all tissues. In this case, blood hemoglobin is not affected, since the Fe2+ ion of blood hemoglobin does not interact with the cyanide group.

    Mild poisoning is possible at a concentration of 0.04-0.05 mg/l and an action time of more than 1 hour. Signs of poisoning: smell of bitter almonds, metallic taste in the mouth, scratching in the throat.

    Moderate poisoning occurs at a concentration of 0.12 - 0.15 mg/l and an exposure of 30 - 60 minutes. To the above-mentioned symptoms are added a bright pink coloring of the mucous membranes and skin of the face, nausea, vomiting, general weakness increases, dizziness appears, coordination of movements is impaired, a slowdown in the heartbeat, and dilation of the pupils of the eyes are observed.

    Severe poisoning occurs at a concentration of 0.25 - 0.4 mg/l and an exposure of 5 - 10 minutes. They are accompanied by convulsions with complete loss of consciousness and cardiac arrhythmia. Then paralysis develops and breathing stops completely.

    The lethal concentration of hydrocyanic acid is considered to be 1.5 - 2 mg/l with an exposure of 1 minute or 70 mg per person when ingested with water or food.

    ******************

    Chloropicrin

    Chloropicrin is a colorless, mobile liquid with a pungent odor. Boiling point - 112°C; density d20=1.6539. Poorly soluble in water (0.18% - 20C). Turns yellow in the light. It practically does not hydrolyze, decomposing only when heated in alcoholic solutions of silica. When heated to 400 - 500 C, it decomposes with the release of phosgene. A concentration of 0.01 mg/l causes irritation of the mucous membranes of the eyes and upper respiratory tract, which manifests itself in the form of pain in the eyes, lacrimation and painful cough. A concentration of 0.05 mg/l is intolerable and also causes nausea and vomiting. Subsequently, pulmonary edema and hemorrhages in the internal organs develop. Lethal concentration 20 mg/l with exposure 1 min. Nowadays, it is used in many countries to check the serviceability of gas masks and as a training agent. Protection against chloropicrin - gas mask. Chloropicrin can be produced as follows: Picric acid and water are added to lime. This whole mass is heated to 70-75° C. (steam). Cools to 25° C. Instead of lime, you can use sodium hydroxide. This is how we got a solution of calcium (or sodium) picrate. Then we get a solution of bleach. To do this, bleach and water are mixed. Then gradually add calcium picrate (or sodium) solution to the bleach solution. At the same time, the temperature rises, by heating we bring the temperature to 85 ° C, “holding” the temperature until the yellow color of the solution disappears (undecomposed picrate). The resulting chloropicrin is distilled with water vapor. Yield 75% of theoretical. Chloropicrin can also be prepared by the action of chlorine gas on a solution of sodium picrate:

    C6H2OH(NO2)3 +11Cl2+5H2O => 3CCl3NO2 +13HCl+3CO2

    Chloropicrin precipitates at the bottom. You can also obtain chloropicrin by the action of aqua regia on acetone.

    ******************

    Bromoacetone

    It was used in the First World War as part of "Be" gases and martonites. Currently not used as a poisonous substance.

    Physicochemical characteristics:

    Colorless liquid, practically insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol and acetone. T.pl. = -54°C, bp. = 136°C with decomposition. Chemically low-resistant: prone to polymerization with the elimination of hydrogen bromide (stabilizer - magnesium oxide), unstable to detonation. Easily degassed with alcohol solutions of sodium sulfide. Chemically quite active: as a ketone it gives oximes, cyanohydrins; how halogen ketone reacts with alcohol alkalis to give oxyacetone, and with iodides it gives the highly tear-producing iodoacetone.

    Toxicological properties:

    Lachrymator. Minimum effective concentration = 0.001 mg/l. Intolerable concentration = 0.010 mg/l. At an air concentration of 0.56 mg/l, it can cause severe damage to the respiratory system.

  8. 1915 campaign - the beginning of the massive use of chemical weapons

    In January the Germans completed development of a new chemical projectile known as "T", a 15 cm artillery grenade with a high blasting effect and an irritating chemical (xylyl bromide), subsequently replaced by bromoacetone and bromoethyl ketone. At the end of January, the Germans used it at the front in left-bank Poland in the Bolimov region, but chemically unsuccessful, due to the low temperature and insufficient mass shooting.

    In January, the French sent their chemical 26-mm rifle grenades to the front, but left them unused for now, since the troops had not yet been trained and there were no means of defense yet.

    In February 1915, the Germans carried out a successful flamethrower attack near Verdun.

    In March, the French first used chemical 26mm rifle grenades (ethyl bromoacetone) and similar chemical hand grenades, both without any noticeable results, which was quite natural to begin with.

    On March 2, in the Dardanelles operation, the British fleet successfully used a smoke screen, under the protection of which the British minesweepers escaped from the fire of Turkish coastal artillery, which began to shoot them while working to catch mines in the strait itself.

    In April, at Nieuport in Flanders, the Germans first tested the effect of their “T” grenades, which contained a mixture of benzyl bromide and xylyl, as well as brominated ketones.

    April and May were marked by the first cases of the massive use of chemical weapons in the form of gas balloon attacks, which were already very noticeable for opponents: in the Western European theater, on April 22, near Ypres and in the Eastern European theater, on May 31, at Volya Shydlovskaya, in the Bolimov area.

    Both of these attacks, for the first time in a world war, showed with complete conviction to all participants in this war: 1) what real power the new weapon - chemical - possesses; 2) what broad capabilities (tactical and operational) are included in it; 3) what an extremely important importance for the success of its use is the careful special preparation and training of troops and the observance of special chemical discipline; 4) what is the importance of chemical and chemical means. It was after these attacks that the command of both warring sides began to practically resolve the issue of the combat use of chemical weapons on an appropriate scale and began organizing a chemical service in the army.

    Only after these attacks did both warring countries face the issue of gas masks in all its severity and breadth, which was complicated by the lack of experience in this area and the variety of chemical weapons that both sides began to use throughout the war.

    Article from the website "Chemical Troops"

    ********************************

    The first information about the impending gas attack came to the British army thanks to the testimony of a German deserter, who claimed that the German command intended to poison its enemy with a cloud of gas and that gas cylinders were already installed in the trenches. Nobody paid attention to his story because this whole operation seemed completely impossible.

    This story appeared in the intelligence report of the main headquarters and, as Auld says, was considered untrustworthy information. But the deserter’s testimony turned out to be truthful, and on the morning of April 22, under ideal conditions, the “gas method of war” was used for the first time. Details of the first gas attack are almost absent for the simple reason that the people who could tell about it lie all in the fields of Flanders, where poppies now bloom.

    The point chosen for the attack was in the north-eastern part of the Ypres Salient, at the point where the French and English fronts converged, heading south, and from where the trenches departed from the canal near Besinge.

    The right flank of the French was a regiment of Turkos, and the Canadians were on the left flank of the British. Auld describes the attack in the following words:

    “Try to imagine the sensations and position of the colored troops when they saw that a huge cloud of greenish-yellow gas was rising from the ground and slowly moving with the wind towards them, that the gas was spreading along the ground, filling every hole, every depression and flooding trenches and craters. First surprise, then horror and finally panic gripped the troops when the first clouds of smoke enveloped the entire area and left the people gasping in agony. Those who could move fled, trying, mostly in vain, to outrun the cloud chlorine, which inexorably pursued them."

    Naturally, the first feeling that the gas method of warfare inspired was horror. We find a stunning description of the impression of a gas attack in an article by O. S. Watkins (London).

    “After the bombing of the city of Ypres, which lasted from April 20 to 22,” writes Watkins, “poisonous gas suddenly appeared amid this chaos.

    "When we went out into the fresh air to rest a few minutes from the stuffy atmosphere of the trenches, our attention was attracted by very heavy firing in the north, where the French were occupying the front. Apparently a hot battle was going on, and we energetically began to explore the area with our field glasses, hoping to catch something new in the course of the battle.Then we saw a sight that made our hearts stop - the figures of people running in confusion through the fields.

    “The French have been broken through,” we cried. We couldn’t believe our eyes... We couldn’t believe what we heard from the fugitives: we attributed their words to a frustrated imagination: a greenish-gray cloud, descending on them, became yellow as it spread and scorched everything in its path. touched, causing the plants to die. Not even the most courageous man could resist such a danger.

    “French soldiers staggered among us, blinded, coughing, breathing heavily, with faces dark purple, silent from suffering, and behind them in the gas-poisoned trenches remained, as we learned, hundreds of their dying comrades. The impossible turned out to be just. .

    "This is the most evil, most criminal act I have ever seen."

    *****************************

    The first gas attack on the Eastern European theater in the Bolimov area near Wola Szydłowska.

    The target for the first gas attack in the Eastern European theater were units of the 2nd Russian Army, which, with its stubborn defense, blocked the path to Warsaw in December 1914 of the persistently advancing 9th Army of General. Mackensen. Tactically, the so-called Bolimovsky sector, in which the attack was carried out, provided benefits for the attackers, leading to the shortest highway routes to Warsaw and not requiring crossing the river. Ravka, since the Germans strengthened their positions on its eastern bank back in January 1915. The technical benefit was the almost complete absence of forests in the location of Russian troops, which made it possible to make the gas quite long-range. However, assessing the indicated advantages of the Germans, the Russians had a fairly dense defense here, as can be seen from the following grouping:

    14 Sib. page division, subordinate directly to Army Commander 2. defended the area from the mouth of the river. Nits to the target: high. 45.7, f. Constantius, having 55 Sib in the right combat sector. regiment (4 battalions, 7 artillery machine guns, 39 command personnel. 3730 bayonets and 129 unarmed) and on the left 53 Sib. regiment (4 battalions, 6 machine guns, 35 command personnel, 3,250 bayonets and 193 unarmed). 56 Sib. The regiment formed a divisional reserve in Chervona Niva, and the 54th was in the army reserve (Guzov). The division included 36 76-mm cannons, 10 122-l howitzers (L(, 8 piston guns, 8 152-l howitzers

  9. Asphyxiating and poisonous gases! (Memo to a soldier)

    Instructions for gas control and information about gas masks and other means and measures against asphyxiating and poisonous gases. Moscow 1917

    1. The Germans and their allies during this world war refused to comply with any established rules of warfare:

    Without declaring war and without any reason for it, they attacked Belgium and Luxembourg, that is, neutral states and occupied their lands; they shoot prisoners, finish off the wounded, shoot at orderlies, parliamentarians, dressing stations and hospitals, plunder on the seas, disguise soldiers for the purposes of reconnaissance and espionage, commit all kinds of atrocities in the form of terror, i.e., to instill terror in the inhabitants of the enemy, and resort to all means and measures to carry out their combat missions, although these means and measures of struggle would be prohibited by the rules of war and inhumane in reality; At the same time, they do not pay any attention to the blatant protests of all states, even non-belligerent ones. And from January 1915 they began to suffocate our soldiers with suffocating and poisonous gases.

    2. Therefore, willy-nilly, we have to act on the enemy with the same means of struggle and, on the other hand, counter these phenomena with meaning, without unnecessary fuss.

    3. Asphyxiating and poisonous gases can be very useful when smoking the enemy out of his trenches, dugouts and fortifications, since they are heavier than air and penetrate there even through small holes and cracks. Gases now make up the weapons of our troops, like a rifle, a machine gun, cartridges, hand bombs and grenades, bomb throwers, mortars and artillery.

    4. You must learn to reliably and quickly put on your existing mask with goggles and deftly release gases at the enemy with calculation, if you are instructed to do so. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the direction and strength of the wind and the relative location of local objects from each other, so that the gases would certainly be carried by it, the wind, to the enemy or to the desired desired location of his positions.

    5. As a result of what has been said, you must carefully study the rules for releasing gases from vessels and develop the skill of quickly choosing a convenient position in relation to the enemy for this purpose.

    6. The enemy can be attacked with gases using artillery, bomb throwers, mortars, airplanes and hand bombs and grenades; then, if you act manually, that is, release gases from the vessels, you need to coordinate with them, as you were taught, in order to inflict the greatest possible defeat on the enemy.

    7. If you are sent on patrol to the dressing room, to protect the flanks or for some other purpose, then take care of the vessels with gases and hand grenades with gas filling given to you along with cartridges, and when the right moment comes, then use up and use their effect properly, at the same time we must keep in mind so as not to harm the action of our troops by poisoning the space from our position to the enemy, especially if we ourselves have to attack him or go on the attack.

    8. If a vessel with gases accidentally bursts or is damaged, then do not get lost, immediately put on your mask and warn neighbors who may be in danger with your voice, signals and conventional signs about the disaster that has occurred.

    9. You will find yourself on the front line of the position, in the trenches, and you will be the commander of a known sector, do not forget to study the terrain in front, on the sides and in the rear and outline, if necessary, and prepare a position for launching a gas attack on the enemy with the release of gases in significant quantities on that case, if weather conditions and wind direction allow it, and your superiors will order you to take part in a gas attack on the enemy.

    10. Conditions that are more favorable for the release of gases are the following: 1) A smooth, weak wind blowing towards the enemy at a speed of 1-4 meters per second; a) dry weather with a temperature not lower than 5-10° and not too high, depending on the composition of the gases being circulated; H) a relatively elevated location with a convenient open slope towards the enemy’s side for launching a gas attack on him; 4) mild weather in winter, and moderate weather in spring, summer and autumn, and 5) during the day, the most favorable moments can be considered night time and morning at dawn, due to the fact that then most often there is a smooth, gentle wind, a more constant direction, and the influence of changing the outline of the surface of the earth surrounding your site and also the influence of the relative location of local objects on the direction of the wind, somehow; forests, buildings, houses, rivers, lakes and others must be studied immediately at the position. In winter the wind is generally stronger, in summer it is weaker; during the day it is also stronger than at night; in mountainous areas, in the summer, the wind blows into the mountains during the day, and from the mountains at night; Near lakes and the sea during the day, water flows from them to land, and at night, on the contrary, and in general other well-known certain phenomena are observed. You need to firmly remember and study everything mentioned here before launching a gas attack on the enemy.

    11. If the indicated favorable conditions for a one-time attack more or less present themselves to the enemy, then our troops must increase the vigilance of observation on the front lines and prepare to meet the enemy’s gas attack and immediately notify military units about the appearance of gases. Therefore, if then you are on patrol, secret, flank guard, reconnaissance, or a sentry in a trench, then immediately when gas appears, report this to your superiors and, if possible, simultaneously report to the observation post from the special team of chemists and its chief, if there are any in the part.

    12. The enemy uses gases released from vessels in the form of a continuous cloud spreading along the ground or in projectiles thrown by guns, bombers and mortars, or thrown from aircraft, or by throwing hand bombs and grenades with gas filling.

    13. Suffocating and poisonous gases released during a gas attack advance towards the trenches in the form of a cloud or fog of different colors (yellowish-green, bluish-gray, gray, etc.) or colorless, transparent; a cloud or fog (colored gases) moves in the direction and speed of the morning, in a layer up to several fathoms thick (7-8 fathoms), therefore it even covers tall trees and roofs of houses, which is why these local objects cannot save from the effects of gases. Therefore, do not waste your time climbing a tree or onto the roof of a house; if you can, take other measures against gases, which are indicated below. If there is a high hill nearby, occupy it with the permission of your superiors.

    14. Since the cloud rushes quite quickly, it is difficult to escape from it. Therefore, during an enemy gas attack, do not run away from him to your rear, it, the cloud, catches up with you, moreover, you remain in them longer and on the 6th stage you will inhale more gas into yourself due to increased breathing; and if you go forward, to attack, you will get out of the gas sooner.

    15. Suffocating and poisonous gases are heavier than air, stay closest to the ground and accumulate and linger in forests, hollows, ditches, pits, trenches, dugouts, communication passages, etc. Therefore, you cannot stay there unless absolutely necessary, and then only with the adoption of peace against gases

    16. These gases, touching a person, corrode the eyes, cause coughing and, getting into the throat in large quantities, choke him - which is why they are called suffocating gases or “Cain smoke”.

    17. They destroy animals, trees and grass just like humans. All metal objects and parts of weapons deteriorate from them and become covered with rust. Water in wells, streams and lakes where gas has passed through becomes unsafe for drinking for some time.

    18. Suffocating and poisonous gases are afraid of rain, snow, water, large forests and swamps, since they, capturing the gases, prevent their spread. Low temperature - cold also causes gases to spread, turning some of them into a liquid state and causing them to fall in the form of small droplets of mist.

    19. The enemy releases gases mainly at night and before dawn and for the most part in successive waves, with breaks between them of about half an hour to an hour; Moreover, in dry weather and with a weak wind blowing in our direction. Therefore, then be prepared to meet such gas waves and check your mask to ensure that it is in good working order and other materials and means to meet a gas attack. Inspect the mask daily and, if necessary, repair it immediately or report for replacement with a new one.

    20. You will teach how to correctly and quickly put on the mask and glasses that you have, carefully arrange them and store them carefully; and practice putting on masks quickly using training masks, or homemade ones, if possible (wet masks).

    21. Fit the mask well to your face. If you have a wet mask, then in the cold hide the mask and bottles with a supply of solution so that they do not suffer from the cold, for which you put the bottles in your pocket or put a mouse with a mask and a rubber wrapper that prevents drying out and bottles of solution under your overcoat. Protect the mask and compress from drying out by carefully and tightly covering them with a rubber wrap or placing them in a rubber bag, if available.

    22. The first signs of the presence of gases and poisoning are: tickling in the nose, a sweet taste in the mouth, the smell of chlorine, dizziness, vomiting, plugging of the throat, cough, sometimes stained with blood and with severe pain in the chest, etc. If you notice anything like this in yourself, immediately put on a mask.

    23. The poisoned (comrade) must be placed in the fresh air and given milk to drink, and the paramedic will give the necessary means to maintain the activity of the heart; he should not be allowed to walk or move unnecessarily and generally require complete calm from him.

    24. When gases are released by the enemy and they are approaching you, then quickly, without fuss, put on a wet mask with goggles, or a dry Kummant-Zelinsky mask, a foreign one, or some other approved model, according to the orders and commands of the superior. If gases penetrate through the mask, press the mask tightly to your face, and wet the wet mask with a solution, water (urine) or other anti-gas liquid.

    25. If wetting and adjusting do not help, then cover the mask with a wet towel, scarf or rag, wet hay, fresh damp grass, moss. and so on, without removing the mask.

    26. Make yourself a training mask and adapt it so that, if necessary, it could replace the real one; You should also always have a needle, thread, and a supply of rags or gauze with you to repair the mask, if necessary.

    27. The Kummant-Zelinsky mask consists of a tin box with a dry gas mask inside and a rubber mask with goggles; the latter is placed above the top lid of the box and closed with a cap. Before putting this one on. masks, do not forget to open the bottom cover (old Moscow model) or the plug in it (Petrograd model and new Moscow model), blow the dust out of it and wipe the glasses for the eyes; and when putting on a cap, adjust the mask and glasses more comfortably so as not to spoil them. This mask covers the entire face and even the ears.

    28. If it happens that you do not have a mask or it has become unusable, immediately report this to your senior manager, team or boss and immediately ask for a new one.

    28. In battle, do not disdain the enemy’s mask, get them for yourself in the form of spare ones, and if necessary, use them for yourself, especially since the enemy releases gases in successive waves.

    29. The German dry mask consists of a rubberized or rubber mask with a metal bottom and a screwed hole in the middle of the latter, into which a small conical tin box is screwed in with its screwed neck; and inside the box a dry gas mask is placed, moreover, the bottom cover (of the new model) can be opened to replace the last one, the gas mask, with a new one. For each mask there are 2-3 numbers of such boxes with different gas masks, against one or another corresponding type of gas, and at the same time they also serve as spare ones as needed. These masks do not cover the ears like our masks. The entire mask with a gas mask is enclosed in a special metal box in the form of a cooking pot and as if it serves a dual purpose.

    30. If you don’t have a mask or your mask is faulty and you notice a cloud of gases coming towards you, then quickly calculate the direction and speed of the gases moving with the wind and try to adapt to the terrain. If the situation and circumstances allow, with the permission of your superiors, you can move slightly to the right, left, forward or backward to occupy a more elevated area or a convenient object in order to evade to the side or escape from the sphere of the advancing gas wave, and after the danger has passed, immediately take your previous place.

    32. Before the movement of gases, light a fire and put on it everything that can give a lot of smoke, such as damp straw, pine, spruce branches, juniper, shavings doused in kerosene, etc., since gases are afraid of smoke and heat and turn to the side away from the fire and go up, to the rear, through it or partly are absorbed by it. If you or several people are separated, then surround yourself with fires on all sides.

    If it is possible and there is enough combustible material, then lay out first a dry, hot fire in the direction of the movement of gases, and then a wet, smoky or cold fire, and between them it is advisable to place a barrier in the form of a dense fence, tents or wall. In the same way, on the other side of the wall there is a cold fire and immediately, not far behind it, on this side a hot fire. Then the gases are partially absorbed by the cold fire, hitting the ground, rise upward and the hot fire further contributes to raising them to a height and, as a result, the remaining gases, together with the upper jets, are carried to the rear in the morning. You can first place a hot fire, and then a cold one, then the gases are neutralized in the reverse order, according to the indicated properties of the same fire. It is also necessary to make such fires during a gas attack and in front of the trenches.

    33. Surrounding you: behind the fires you can spray the air with water or a special solution and thereby destroy any gas particles that accidentally get there. To do this, use buckets with a broom, watering cans or special, special sprayers and pumps of various types.

    34. Moisten the towel, handkerchief, rags, headband yourself and tie it tightly around your face. Wrap your head well in an overcoat, shirt or tent flap, having previously moistened them with water or gas mask liquid and wait until the gases pass, while trying to breathe as smoothly as possible and remain as completely calm as possible.

    35. You can also bury yourself in a pile of hay and wet straw, stick your head into a large bag filled with fresh wet grass, charcoal, wet sawdust, etc. It is not forbidden to go into a strong, well-built dugout and close the doors and windows, if possible , anti-gas materials, wait until the gases are driven away by the wind.

    36. Don’t run, don’t scream, and generally be calm, because excitement and fussiness make you breathe harder and more often, and gases can get into your throat and lungs easier and in larger quantities, i.e., they begin to choke you.

    37. Gases stay in the trenches for a long time, which is why you can’t immediately take off your masks and stay in them after the main masses of gases have left, until the trenches and dugouts or other premises are ventilated, refreshed and disinfected by spraying or other means.

    38. Do not drink water from wells, streams and lakes in areas where gases have passed through, without the permission of your superiors, since it may still be poisoned by these gases.

    39. If the enemy advances during a gas attack, immediately open fire on him by order or independently, depending on the situation, and immediately let the artillery and surroundings know about this, so that they can support the attacked area in time. Do the same when you notice that the enemy is starting to release gas.

    40. During a gas attack on your neighbors, assist them in any way you can; if you are the commander, then order your people to take an advantageous flank position in case the enemy goes on the attack on neighboring areas, hitting him in the flank and from the rear, and also be ready to rush at him with bayonets.
    41. Remember that the Tsar and the Motherland do not need your death in vain, and if you had to sacrifice yourself on the altar of the Fatherland, then such a sacrifice should be completely meaningful and reasonable; therefore, take care of your life and health from the treacherous “Cain’s smoke”, the common enemy of humanity in all your understanding, and know that they are dear to the Motherland of Mother Russia for the benefit of serving the Tsar-Father and for the joy and consolation of our future generations.
    Article and photo from the website "Chemical Troops"

  10. The first gas attack by Russian troops in the Smorgon region on September 5-6, 1916

    Scheme. Gas attack of the Germans near Smorgon in 1916 on August 24 by Russian troops

    For a gas attack from the front of the 2nd Infantry Division, a section of the enemy position from the river was chosen. Viliya near the village of Perevozy to the village of Borovaya Mill, a length of 2 km. The enemy trenches in this area look like an outgoing almost right angle with the apex at a height of 72.9. The gas was released over a distance of 1100 m in such a way that the center of the gas wave fell against the 72.9 mark and flooded the most protruding part of the German trenches. Smoke screens were placed on the sides of the gas wave up to the boundaries of the intended area. The amount of gas is calculated for 40 minutes. launch, for which 1,700 small cylinders and 500 large, or 2,025 pounds of liquefied gas were brought in, which gives about 60 pounds of gas per kilometer per minute. Meteorological reconnaissance in the selected area began on August 5.

    At the beginning of August, training of variable personnel and preparation of trenches began. In the first line of trenches, 129 niches were built to accommodate cylinders; for ease of control of gas release, the front was divided into four uniform sections; Behind the second line of the prepared area, four dugouts (warehouses) are equipped for storing cylinders, and from each of them a wide communication path is laid out to the first line. Upon completion of preparations, on the nights of September 3-4 and 4-5, cylinders and all special equipment necessary for releasing gases were transported to storage dugouts.

    At 12 noon on September 5, at the first sign of a favorable wind, the head of the 5th chemical team asked permission to carry out an attack the following night. From 16:00 on September 5, meteorological observations confirmed the hope that conditions would be favorable for gas release at night, as a steady south-east wind blew. At 16:45 permission was received from army headquarters to release the gas, and the chemical team began preparatory work on equipping the cylinders. Since that time, meteorological observations have become more frequent: up to 2 o'clock they were made every hour, from 22 o'clock - every half hour, from 2 o'clock 30 minutes. September 6 - every 15 minutes, and from 3 hours 15 minutes. and during the entire release of gas, the control station conducted observations continuously.

    The observation results were as follows: by 0 h 40 min. On September 6, the wind began to subside at 2:20 a.m. - intensified and reached 1 m, at 2 hours 45 minutes. - up to 1.06 m, at 3 o’clock the wind increased to 1.8 m, by 3 o’clock 30 min. The wind force reached 2 m per second.

    The wind direction was invariably from the southeast, and it was even. Cloudiness was assessed as 2 points, clouds were highly stratified, pressure was 752 mm, temperature was 12 PS, humidity was 10 mm per 1 m3.

    At 22:00, the transfer of cylinders from warehouses to the front lines began with the help of the 3rd battalion of the 5th Kaluga Infantry Regiment. At 2:20 a.m. transfer completed. Around the same time, final permission was received from the division chief to release gas.

    At 2:50 On September 6, the secrets were removed, and the communication passages to their places were blocked with previously prepared bags of earth. At 3:20 a.m. all the people wore masks. At 3:30 a.m. Gas was released simultaneously along the entire front of the selected area, and smoke screen bombs were lit on the flanks of the latter. The gas, escaping from the cylinders, first rose high and, gradually settling, crawled into the enemy trenches in a solid wall 2 to 3 m high. During the entire preparatory work, the enemy did not show any signs of himself, and before the start of the gas attack, not a single shot was fired from his side.

    At 3 hours 33 minutes, i.e. after 3 minutes. After the start of the Russian attack, three red rockets were launched in the rear of the attacked enemy, illuminating a cloud of gas that was already approaching the enemy’s forward trenches. At the same time, fires were lit on the right and left of the attacked area and rare rifle and machine-gun fire was opened, which soon, however, stopped. 7-8 minutes after the start of gas release, the enemy opened heavy bombing, mortar and artillery fire on the Russian forward lines. The Russian artillery immediately opened energetic fire on the enemy batteries, and between 3 hours and 35 minutes. and 4 hours 15 minutes. all eight enemy batteries were silenced. Some batteries fell silent after 10-12 minutes, but the longest period of time to achieve silence was 25 minutes. The fire was carried out mainly with chemical shells, and during this time the Russian batteries fired from 20 to 93 chemical shells each [The fight against the German mortars and bombs began only after the release of the gas; by 4:30 their fire was suppressed.].

    At 3:42 a.m. An unexpected gust of eastern wind caused a gas wave that reached the left flank of the river. Oksny shifted to the left, and, having crossed Oksna, it flooded the enemy’s trenches north-west of the Borovaya Mill. The enemy immediately raised a strong alarm there, the sounds of horns and drums were heard, and a small number of fires were lit. With the same gust of wind, the wave moved along the Russian trenches, capturing part of the trenches themselves in the third section, which is why the release of gas here was immediately stopped. They immediately began to neutralize the gas that had entered their trenches; in other areas the release continued, as the wind quickly corrected itself and again took a south-easterly direction.

    In the minutes that followed, two enemy mines and fragments of a close-exploding shell hit the trenches of the same 3rd section, which destroyed two dugouts and one niche with cylinders - 3 cylinders were completely broken, and 3 were badly damaged. The gas escaping from the cylinders, without having time to spray, burned people who were near the gas battery. The gas concentration in the trench was very high; the gauze masks completely dried out, and the rubber in the Zelinsky-Kummant respirators burst. The need to take emergency measures to clear the trenches of the 3rd section forced at 3 hours 46 minutes. stop releasing gas along the entire front, despite continued favorable meteorological conditions. Thus, the entire attack lasted only 15 minutes.

    Observations revealed that the entire area planned for the attack was affected by gases, in addition, the trenches north-west of the Borovaya Mill were affected by gases; in the valley northwest of mark 72.9, the remains of the gas cloud were visible until 6 o'clock. In total, gas was released from 977 small cylinders and from 65 large ones, or 13 tons of gas, which gives about 1 ton of gas per minute per 1 km.

    At 4:20 a.m. began cleaning the cylinders into warehouses, and by 9:50 a.m. all property had already been removed without any interference from the enemy. Due to the fact that there was still a lot of gas between the Russian and enemy trenches, only small parties were sent for reconnaissance, met with rare rifle fire from the front of the gas attack and heavy machine-gun fire from the flanks. Confusion was found in the enemy trenches, groans, screams and burning straw were heard.

    In general, the gas attack should be considered a success: it was unexpected for the enemy, since only after 3 minutes. The lighting of fires began, and then only against the smoke screen, and at the front of the attack they were lit even later. Screams and groans in the trenches, weak rifle fire from the front of the gas attack, increased work by the enemy to clear the trenches the next day, the silence of the batteries until the evening of September 7 - all this indicated that the attack caused the damage that could be expected from the quantity released gas This attack indicates the attention that must be given to the task of fighting the enemy's artillery, as well as his mortars and bombs. The fire of the latter can significantly hinder the success of a gas attack and cause poisoned losses among the attackers themselves. Experience shows that good shooting with chemical shells greatly facilitates this fight and leads to rapid success. In addition, the neutralization of gas in one's trenches (as a result of unfavorable accidents) must be carefully thought out and everything necessary for this must be prepared in advance.

    Subsequently, gas attacks in the Russian theater continued on both sides until the winter, and some of them are very indicative in terms of the influence that relief and meteorological conditions have on the combat use of BKV. So, on September 22, under the cover of thick morning fog, the Germans launched a gas attack on the front of the 2nd Siberian Rifle Division in the area south-west of Lake Naroch

  11. Yes, here you have production instructions:

    "You can produce chloropicrin as follows: Add picric acid and water to lime. This whole mass is heated to 70-75° C. (steam). Cooled to 25° C. Instead of lime, you can take sodium hydroxide. This is how we got a solution of calcium picrate (or sodium). Then a solution of bleach is obtained. To do this, bleach and water are mixed. Then a solution of calcium picrate (or sodium) is gradually added to the bleach solution. At the same time, the temperature rises, by heating we bring the temperature to 85 ° C, " We maintain the temperature until the yellow color of the solution disappears (undecomposed picrate). The resulting chloropicrin is distilled with water vapor. The yield is 75% of the theoretical. You can also obtain chloropicrin by the action of chlorine gas on a solution of sodium picrate:

The first known case of the use of chemical weapons was the Battle of Ypres on April 22, 1915, in which chlorine was used very effectively by German troops, but this battle was not the only one and far from the first.

Having switched to a positional war, during which, due to the large number of troops opposing each other on both sides, it was impossible to organize an effective breakthrough, the opponents began to look for other solutions to their current situation, one of them was the use of chemical weapons.

Chemical weapons were first used by the French; it was the French who used tear gas, the so-called ethyl bromoacenate, back in August 1914. This gas itself could not lead to death, but it caused enemy soldiers a strong burning sensation in the eyes and mucous membranes of the mouth and nose, due to which they lost orientation in space and did not provide effective resistance to the enemy. Before the attack, French soldiers threw grenades filled with this toxic substance at the enemy. The only drawback of the ethyl bromoacenate used was its limited amount, so it was soon replaced by chloroacetone.

Use of chlorine

Having analyzed the success of the French resulting from their use of chemical weapons, the German command already in October of the same year fired at the British positions at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, but missed the concentration of the gas and did not get the expected effect. There was too little gas, and it did not have the desired effect on the enemy soldiers. However, the experiment was repeated in January in the battle of Bolimov against the Russian army; the Germans were practically successful in this attack and therefore the use of toxic substances, despite the statement that Germany had violated international law received from Great Britain, was decided to continue.

Basically, the Germans used chlorine gas against enemy troops - a gas with an almost instantaneous lethal effect. The only disadvantage of using chlorine was its rich green color, because of which it was possible to carry out an unexpected attack only in the already mentioned Battle of Ypres, but later the Entente armies stocked up with a sufficient number of means of protection against the effects of chlorine and could no longer fear it. The production of chlorine was personally supervised by Fritz Haber, a man who later became well known in Germany as the father of chemical weapons.

Having used chlorine in the Battle of Ypres, the Germans did not stop there, but used it at least three more times, including against the Russian fortress of Osovets, where in May 1915 about 90 soldiers died instantly, and more than 40 died in hospital wards . But despite the terrifying effect that followed from the use of gas, the Germans failed to take the fortress. The gas practically destroyed all life in the area, plants and many animals died, most of the food supply was destroyed, the Russian soldiers received a terrifying form of injury, and those who were lucky enough to survive had to remain disabled for the rest of their lives.

Phosgene

Such large-scale actions led to the fact that the German army soon began to feel an acute shortage of chlorine, so it was replaced by phosgene, a gas without color and a strong odor. Due to the fact that phosgene emitted the smell of moldy hay, it was not at all easy to detect, since the symptoms of poisoning did not appear immediately, but only a day after use. The poisoned enemy soldiers successfully fought for some time, but without receiving timely treatment, due to basic ignorance of their condition, they died the next day in dozens and hundreds. Phosgene was a more toxic substance, so it was much more profitable to use than chlorine.

Mustard gas

In 1917, near the same town of Ypres, German soldiers used another toxic substance - mustard gas, also called mustard gas. In addition to chlorine, mustard gas contained substances that, when contacted with human skin, not only caused poisoning, but also caused the formation of numerous abscesses. Externally, mustard gas looked like an oily liquid with no color. The presence of mustard gas could be determined only by its characteristic smell of garlic or mustard, hence the name mustard gas. Contact of mustard gas in the eyes led to instant blindness, and the concentration of mustard gas in the stomach led to immediate nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. When the mucous membrane of the throat was damaged by mustard gas, the victims experienced immediate development of edema, which subsequently developed into a purulent formation. A strong concentration of mustard gas in the lungs led to the development of inflammation and death from suffocation on the 3rd day after poisoning.

The practice of using mustard gas showed that of all the chemicals used in the First World War, it was this liquid, synthesized by the French scientist Cesar Depres and the Englishman Frederick Guthrie in 1822 and 1860 independently of each other, that was the most dangerous, since there were no measures to combat poisoning she didn't exist. The only thing the doctor could do was to advise the patient to rinse the mucous membranes affected by the substance and wipe the areas of skin in contact with mustard gas with wipes generously soaked in water.

In the fight against mustard gas, which, when it comes into contact with the surface of skin or clothing, can be transformed into other equally dangerous substances, even a gas mask could not provide significant assistance; to remain in the mustard gas action zone, soldiers were recommended no more than 40 minutes, after which the poison began to penetrate through protective equipment.

Despite the obvious fact that the use of any of the toxic substances, be it the practically harmless ethyl bromoacenate, or such a dangerous substance as mustard gas, is a violation not only of the laws of war, but also of civil rights and freedoms, following the Germans, the British and French began to use chemical weapons and even Russians. Convinced of the high efficiency of mustard gas, the British and French quickly established its production, and soon it was several times larger in scale than the German one.

Russia first began producing and using chemical weapons before the planned Brusilov breakthrough in 1916. Ahead of the advancing Russian army, shells containing chloropicrin and vensinite were scattered, which had a suffocating and poisonous effect. The use of chemicals gave the Russian army a noticeable advantage; the enemy left the trenches en masse and became easy prey for artillery.

It is interesting that after the First World War, the use of any means of chemical influence on the human body was not only prohibited, but also charged with Germany as a major crime against human rights, despite the fact that almost all toxic elements entered mass production and were very effectively used by both warring parties.

Chemical weapons are one of the main ones in the First World War and in total about the 20th century. The lethal potential of the gas was limited - only 4% of deaths from the total number of victims. However, the proportion of non-fatal incidents was high, and gas remained one of the main dangers for soldiers. Because it became possible to develop effective countermeasures against gas attacks, unlike most other weapons of the period, its effectiveness began to decline in the later stages of the war and it almost fell out of use. But because poisonous substances were first used in World War I, it was also sometimes called the Chemical War.

History of poison gases

1914

In the early days of the use of chemicals as weapons, the drugs were tear irritants and not lethal. During World War I, the French pioneered the use of gas using 26 mm grenades filled with tear gas (ethyl bromoacetate) in August 1914. However, the Allies' supplies of bromoacetate quickly ran out, and the French administration replaced it with another agent, chloroacetone. In October 1914, German troops fired shells partially filled with a chemical irritant against British positions at Neuve Chapelle, even though the concentration achieved was so small that it was barely noticeable.

1915 Widespread use of deadly gases

On May 5, 90 people immediately died in the trenches; of the 207 who were taken to field hospitals, 46 died on the same day, and 12 after prolonged suffering.

On July 12, 1915, near the Belgian city of Ypres, Anglo-French troops were fired at by mines containing an oily liquid. This is how Germany used mustard gas for the first time.

Notes

Links

  • De-Lazari Alexander Nikolaevich. Chemical weapons on the fronts of the World War 1914-1918.
Special Topics Additional Information Participants of the First World War

Crimes against civilians:
Thalerhof
Armenian genocide
Assyrian genocide
Genocide of the Pontic Greeks

Simultaneous conflicts:
First Balkan War
Second Balkan War
Boer Rebellion
Mexican Revolution
Easter Rising
February Revolution
October Revolution
Russian Civil War
Foreign military intervention in Russia (1918-1919)
Civil War in Finland
Soviet-Polish War (1919-1921)
Irish War of Independence
Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)
Turkish War of Independence

Entente

France
British Empire
»
»
»
» India
»
» Newfoundland
»


USA

China
Japan



© 2023 netdenegnakino.ru - No for twos. Chemistry. Physics. Spelling. Geography