The masks contained protective materials such as soda lime and charcoal that neutralised or absorbed the lethal gases. So, you might ask, why did the Germans introduce a non-lethal chemical warfare agent in 1917 when lethal chemicals had already proved so fatally effective? The answer lies in the fairly sophisticated nature of the gas masks that the Allies had developed. At the end of the year, the Germans began to use phosgene, another toxic gas, in further cloud gas operations against the Allies. In the very first gas attack of the war, on 22 April 1915, the Germans killed some 5,000 Allied troops in a battle near Ypres in Belgium by firing clouds of chlorine at them. Armies on both sides of the conflict had already employed a range of highly toxic gases.
They were not lethal, however, at the concentrations encountered on the battlefield in world war I.īy the time of their introduction in September 1917, chemical warfare had been raging for two and a half years. They also have an impact on the nervous system, produce giddiness and impairing the ability to walk. Also known as respiratory irritants, these were designed to attack the nasal passages of enemy troops and induce sneezing, vomiting and headaches. ‘Clark’ is an acronym for the German name Chlor-Arsen-Kampfstoff, which means ‘chlorine, arsenic, warfare agent.’ĭiphenylchlorarsine was a type of chemical warfare agent known as a sternutator. They used it again on the Western Front in their Spring Offensive in 1918 against the Allies. The Germans began firing artillery shells filled with the compound against the Russians on the Eastern Front in September 1917.
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