Recently I bought the book The First World War As I Saw It by Percy Leland Kingsley which is as the title suggests, his memoir of time spent in the CEF from 1914 to armistice in 1918. Percy was a westerner from Saskatchewan. He joined the 5th Battalion in 1914 and was with the 1st contingent when it sailed for England, the first CEF group to land there in order to support Britain. Percy fought in all the major battles, Ypres, Somme, Vimy, Passchendaele and the memoir is full of personal accounts of what he experienced, it is a treasure trove of valuable insights and information. I highly recommend it. Later in his military career probably in late 1917 early 1918 Kingsley was transferred to the 1st Div. CEF Gas School. He started as Cpl but soon became Company Sgt Major (CSM) of the school. On pages 61 - 63 of his book CSM Kingsley provides some unique and excellent information on "Poison Gases Used In First World War" I have read many WW1 survival accounts but this is the first I have found to contain such detailed information on Gas from one who was actually there.
I am going to paraphrase Percy's words through much of this in order to cut down on "words" I will post an accurate footnote at the bottom of this post in order to give credit to the original source. I hope that this will prevent me from having to retract this posting due to publishing rules. Here we go:
"After the first Gas attack at 2nd Ypres....the women of Britain made hundreds of thousands of nose and mouth covering material that the troops could breathe through held in place by elastic bands."
"Soon the bag type Gas mask known as the PH helmet, so named as it was dipped in a solution of Phenol and Hexamine and saturated with Glycerin to protect drying out. A mouthpiece to breathe through and shatter proof eye pieces with a tube of anti dim paste to prevent fogging up in cold weather were used."
"Finally, the British came out with the Box Respirator, a metal canister filled with dry chemicals attached to a corrugated tube of rubber leading to a face piece," "It was the most effective gas protection in the entire war - much superior to the German gas mask. The Face piece was in sizes of one to six for various face types."
Poison Gases Used in WW1:
CHLORINE:" Used in Cloud Gas Attacks. Greenish yellow in colour, has a boiling point of 30C and may be used effectively in cold weather. Effects...to destroy lung and throat tissues. Its smell resembles Chloride of lime. High corrosive effect on metals. Four to five times heavier than air. Cloud attacks replaced by Gas Shell attacks after early 1917." Not dependent upon weather conditions before an attack and with shells you could place the gas wherever you wanted regardless of weather.
PHOSGENE: "Frequently used in cloud attacks. Colourless in liquid form but vaporizes into yellow-white cloud. About 3 times heavier than air. Boiling point 8C. Smells like musty hay. Can only be used in warm weather. May be used in winter with mixture of 70% Chlorine and 30% Phosgene. Reverse percentages in warm weather. Has a delayed action but very deadly. Phosgene mixed with chlorine in shells used by Germans marked with green cross."
DICHLORETHYL SULPHIDE: "Mustard gas - Dangerous and poisonous. Strong effect on eyes, throat and lung tissues. Blistering effect on skin. It is Straw coloured which vapourizes into White cloud. German shells marked with a yellow cross."
CHLOROPICRIN: "A colourless liquid which effects heart and lungs but no corrosive effect on metals. Used in shells and very poisonous with a lachmatory effect. Smells like burnt sugar. Shells marked with BLUE CROSS on sides and one on base. New type of shell came out in July 1917 marked with shell painted blue or grey with yellow head and yellow cross on sides or base."
TEAR GAS: "used in shells...many types with various markings. Rarely used except in warm weather...effects eyes and nose and usually used with high explosive shells. Smells like pineapple."
SULPHURATE DIOXIDE: "Was not used on Western Front, but was used against the Russians."
PRUSSIC ACID - HYDROCYANIC ACID: ""most deadly of all gases.....used by the Canadians on the Germans at Vimy Ridge. However, conditions must be favourable as this gas is lighter than air. At Vimy the German howitzers were located at bottom or back slope of ridge with valley to rear, by dropping shells in valley the east wind wafted gas up the slope and one breathe was sufficient as it paralyses respiration, causing instant death. Commonly known as nerve gas."
PROJECTOR GAS ATTACKS: "May be sent over in Trench Mortars or in drums by aid of electricity.....connected to batteries of about 25. Effective range up to 1400 yards. Can be detected by flash or flame running along the firing trench. Gas shells....most dangerous form of attack as various types of gases can be used mixed with high explosive shells and troops can be gassed before they realize it. Gas when used at night when it is cool, the smell is not noticeable but when the sun comes up, every shell hole is a generator of gas. This happened to our battalion near Lens."
PROTECTIVE MEASURES: "It may not be generally known but the British Respirator was the best of the Allies...far superior to the German which was not much protection against some gases used. Our system of Gas Alarms such as Strombos Horns, Claxton alarms etc. were very effective...the Canadian Corps was considered the best trained in gas warfare on the entire Western Front. Gas masks for horses were available, even carrier pigeon cages had a special gas proof bag."
Source: Kingsley, Percy L. The First War As I Saw It. Winnipeg, Art Bookbindery 2013. pgs 61-63
I am going to paraphrase Percy's words through much of this in order to cut down on "words" I will post an accurate footnote at the bottom of this post in order to give credit to the original source. I hope that this will prevent me from having to retract this posting due to publishing rules. Here we go:
"After the first Gas attack at 2nd Ypres....the women of Britain made hundreds of thousands of nose and mouth covering material that the troops could breathe through held in place by elastic bands."
"Soon the bag type Gas mask known as the PH helmet, so named as it was dipped in a solution of Phenol and Hexamine and saturated with Glycerin to protect drying out. A mouthpiece to breathe through and shatter proof eye pieces with a tube of anti dim paste to prevent fogging up in cold weather were used."
"Finally, the British came out with the Box Respirator, a metal canister filled with dry chemicals attached to a corrugated tube of rubber leading to a face piece," "It was the most effective gas protection in the entire war - much superior to the German gas mask. The Face piece was in sizes of one to six for various face types."
Poison Gases Used in WW1:
CHLORINE:" Used in Cloud Gas Attacks. Greenish yellow in colour, has a boiling point of 30C and may be used effectively in cold weather. Effects...to destroy lung and throat tissues. Its smell resembles Chloride of lime. High corrosive effect on metals. Four to five times heavier than air. Cloud attacks replaced by Gas Shell attacks after early 1917." Not dependent upon weather conditions before an attack and with shells you could place the gas wherever you wanted regardless of weather.
PHOSGENE: "Frequently used in cloud attacks. Colourless in liquid form but vaporizes into yellow-white cloud. About 3 times heavier than air. Boiling point 8C. Smells like musty hay. Can only be used in warm weather. May be used in winter with mixture of 70% Chlorine and 30% Phosgene. Reverse percentages in warm weather. Has a delayed action but very deadly. Phosgene mixed with chlorine in shells used by Germans marked with green cross."
DICHLORETHYL SULPHIDE: "Mustard gas - Dangerous and poisonous. Strong effect on eyes, throat and lung tissues. Blistering effect on skin. It is Straw coloured which vapourizes into White cloud. German shells marked with a yellow cross."
CHLOROPICRIN: "A colourless liquid which effects heart and lungs but no corrosive effect on metals. Used in shells and very poisonous with a lachmatory effect. Smells like burnt sugar. Shells marked with BLUE CROSS on sides and one on base. New type of shell came out in July 1917 marked with shell painted blue or grey with yellow head and yellow cross on sides or base."
TEAR GAS: "used in shells...many types with various markings. Rarely used except in warm weather...effects eyes and nose and usually used with high explosive shells. Smells like pineapple."
SULPHURATE DIOXIDE: "Was not used on Western Front, but was used against the Russians."
PRUSSIC ACID - HYDROCYANIC ACID: ""most deadly of all gases.....used by the Canadians on the Germans at Vimy Ridge. However, conditions must be favourable as this gas is lighter than air. At Vimy the German howitzers were located at bottom or back slope of ridge with valley to rear, by dropping shells in valley the east wind wafted gas up the slope and one breathe was sufficient as it paralyses respiration, causing instant death. Commonly known as nerve gas."
PROJECTOR GAS ATTACKS: "May be sent over in Trench Mortars or in drums by aid of electricity.....connected to batteries of about 25. Effective range up to 1400 yards. Can be detected by flash or flame running along the firing trench. Gas shells....most dangerous form of attack as various types of gases can be used mixed with high explosive shells and troops can be gassed before they realize it. Gas when used at night when it is cool, the smell is not noticeable but when the sun comes up, every shell hole is a generator of gas. This happened to our battalion near Lens."
PROTECTIVE MEASURES: "It may not be generally known but the British Respirator was the best of the Allies...far superior to the German which was not much protection against some gases used. Our system of Gas Alarms such as Strombos Horns, Claxton alarms etc. were very effective...the Canadian Corps was considered the best trained in gas warfare on the entire Western Front. Gas masks for horses were available, even carrier pigeon cages had a special gas proof bag."
Source: Kingsley, Percy L. The First War As I Saw It. Winnipeg, Art Bookbindery 2013. pgs 61-63