The Great WarPoison Gas.

“The chemists' war“Modern Warfare and the

development of new Technology

1.Chlorine Gas2.Mustard Gas

• Chemical formula• Cl2 + H2O HCl + HClO

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/gas-as-a-weapon-during-the-great-war/12739.html

Chlorine Gas

• Cloud attacks were made by burying gas-filled cylinder tanks just beyond the parapet of the attacker's trenches and then opening valves on the tanks when the wind was right.

Ypres

• By 22 April 1915, the German Army had 168 tons of chlorine deployed in 5,730 cylinders, north of Ypres.

• At 17:00, in a slight easterly breeze, the gas was released, forming a grey-green cloud that drifted across positions held by French Colonial troops from Martinique who broke ranks, abandoning their trenches and creating an 8,000-yard (7 km) gap in the Allied line.

How it was used

• Gas was invented (and very successfully used) as a terror weapon meant to instil confusion and panic among the enemy prior to an offensive

• It was used as a psychological weapon1.What do you think that means? What is

a psychological weapon?

Protection from Gas• Allied troops were supplied with masks of

cotton pads that had been soaked in urine. • It was found that the ammonia in the pad

neutralized the chlorine. • Other soldiers preferred to use handkerchiefs,

a sock, a flannel body-belt, dampened with a solution of bicarbonate of soda, and tied across the mouth and nose

• Soldiers found it difficult to fight like this and attempts were made to develop a better means of protecting men against gas attacks by July 1915.

British soldiers in 1917

German soldier 1917

A Vickers machine gun and gas masks used in 1916

1918, Blinded by tear gas.

• Discuss….1.Why would the weather play a big part in

the use of gas on the western front?

What difficulties

do the soldiers

face when attacking through

gas?

• 1,1-thiobis(2-chloroethane),

• Cl-CH2-CH2-S-CH2-CH2-Cl

Mustard Gas

Mustard Gas

• Mustard Gas (Yperite) was first used by the German Army in September 1917.

• It was one of the most lethal of all the poisonous chemicals used during the war. It was almost odourless and took twelve hours to take effect.

• Yperite was so powerful that only small amounts had to be added to high explosive shells to be effective.

• Once in the soil, mustard gas remained active for several weeks.

The Effects• The skin of victims blistered• Eyes become very sore and they begin

to vomit. • Causes internal/ external bleeding

attacking the bronchial tubes, stripping off the mucous membrane.

• This was extremely painful and most soldiers had to be strapped to their beds.

• It usually took a person four or five weeks to die of mustard gas poisoning

Development in Gas technology• The Livens Projector was a simple mortar-like weapon

-it threw large drums filled with flammable or toxic chemicals and burst open when landed.

• It became the standard means of delivering gas attacks.• They weren’t as reliant on the weather• Tested in secret on 25th July 1916 at Ovillers-la-Boisselle

and at Thiepval in September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme.

• Successfully used at Messines Ridge in June 1917 when modified to fire canisters of poison gas rather than oil.

In your own words – summarise the improvements in “Gas Technology”

Livens Projector

Estimated gas casualties

Country Non-Fatal Deaths TotalBritish Empire inc Australia 180,597 8,109 188,706

France 182,000 8,000 190,000United States 71,345 1,462 72,807Italy 55,373 4,627 60,000Russia 419,340 56,000 475,340Germany 191,000 9,000 200,000Austria-Hungary 97,000 3,000 100,000Others 9,000 1,000 10.000Total 1,205,655 91,198 1,296,853

What country suffered the most from gas attacks? Include non-fatal (casualties) and deaths in your answer!