instructions for gas alert and action during a gas attack small box respirators

8/8/2019 Instructions for Gas Alert and Action During a Gas Attack Small Box Respirators

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FIFTH ARMY.77*

Instructions for

• •A S A L E R T and

A C T I O N D U R I N G A G A S

A T T A C K

TOGETHER WITH

Instructions for Carrying

Small Box Respirators

a n d Tube Helmets.

6th Field Survey Co., H.E. M6



FfthArmy No, SG 34i;0/n9,

T h e following instructions li'bgardingthe action tobe taken in theevent of"Gas Alert" or"Enemy Gas Attack"are issued as abasis ofCorps orDivisional Orders, and will be strictlyadhered to:—

Section 1 . — " G a s Alert.> W/V£? . t NdgAof

" G A S A L E E T " will beortlei-ed when tbewind isinatiangeroiistjuarter.,no matter whafi

the strength of thewind.

T h e order "G A S A L B E T " will besent out

toallunitsby corjisor,itauthorityhas beenso

delegated, bydivisional headquarters, bit

brigadeheadquarters orbattalion eonimandcrs

willorder " G A S AJJERT" when necessity from

the wind observationsofcompany gas N . C . O ' s ,

forwarded bycompany commanders. Such

actionwill be reported immediately tothenext

higher formation.

" G A S AliEET" will notbe taken off without

the authority of the divisionalcommander.

When " G A S A L E R T " isordered, tbe follow

ing ari'angenientswill be cai'ried out.

a—General.

(i.) Al•small Bos Respirators and P H .

helmets will becarefully inspected, and inspectionswillbe carried out daily.

(ii.) Company and Batdery Gas N . C . O ' s will

report to Company andBattery HeadQuarters

at once.

(

ins

(iii.) Company and Battery Gas N . C . O ' s will

spect daily allanti-gasapparatus—Strombos



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horns, flapper fans, vacuum bulbs and gas(jest

ing tubes, iinlstores offuel forclearing dugouts. They will seethat gas-proof dug-outs are

kept ingood order andtheblanket curtains

sprayed.

(iv.) Gas Alert notices should be placed at

the entrance toeach main communication

trench andatsuitable points intheDivisional

Area; -

(v.) Mediciil Ofticers will he responsiblethat

a proper proportion of theammonia caxisules

issuedtothem arewith stretcherbearersinthe

front lineinreadiness for their immediate use

after agas attack.

(vi.) Precautions should be taken toprotectunboxed ammunition from thecorrosive action

of gas.

b—"Within oiiemile of the front line.

(i.) The small Box Respirator will be worn in

the " A L E R T " position onthechest with flap

unbuttoned, but protecting therespirator from

the wet.

(a) TJie small Box Respirator will bewornin

the " A F J J Q R T " position outside all clothing.

(b) Nothing will be carried slung across the

body insuch away astointerfere with the

adjustment of thebox resiDirator.

(ii.) The P H helmet will be carried slung in

such amanner that it isimmediately available

for useifrequired.

(iii.) Where forany reason aman isnot in

possession of asmall Box Respirator, he will

wear hisP H helmet pinned tothe shirt in the" A L E R T " position.



3 •

(iv.) The chinstrap of thesteelhelmet will

on uo account heworn under the chintoimpede

the adjustment oi' themask.

(v.) Detached partiesofmenwill strictly

observe thesenrecaufcions.

c—Withintoiamiles of the front line

{i.e., Ecmt nnd Tinrthof thnUna S A T L L Y A U -

—IM.EGIJIL AUTIIUILLE 0YT.rjL3JlJ.lS—

•rOHTEBEQ).

(i.) A sentry willbe postedat each Strombos

hornor similar alarm andinsf:ructef]in itsuse.

(ii.) Asentry will be postedatevery tunnel

dug-out 01" other dug-out holdingmore thanten

men.

(iii.) Asentry,will beposted toeach group

of two or threesmall dug-outs.

(iv.) A sentry will beposted oneach head

quarters,signal office andindependent bodyof

men.

(v.) Allworking parties will haA-e asenti-y

posted togiveinstant warningof agas attack.

(vi.) The duties of sentriesarc :—

(a) T o give warning of jiGas attack.

(b) T o adjust theblanket curtains of gas

proof dug-outs immediately after giving the

jblarm.

(vii.) Men sleepinginrearward linesor in

works or inrestblletswhere they arcallowed

totiiJteofftheirequipment,willsleepwith their

small BoxBespirators round, theirnecks,and

must know exactly where theirPH Helmet is to

be found.

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d—Withinsixmilesofthe frontline

(i.c^Eiu(j u£ lliuliiiu-mUJSU—iJT. L.ljlGliiK—

(i.) Cormnanders of units inbillets will

orgiiuiseasystem ofgiving thealarm and ofrousing the m e n in cellarsor houses.

Section 2.—Action During E nemy G as

Attack.

In theevent of anenemy gas attack, tlie

followingactionwill be taken :—

(i.) The alarm will atonce begiven by allmeans available;by telephone, gongs, Strombos

horns, and, if necessary, byorderly, and in

accordance with paras, (vii.)and (viii.).(ii.) There should be aslittlemove-

m ent and talking aspossible. Alranks

willatonce adjust their small Box Respirators.

M e n in dug-outs will do so before leaving dug

outs. In front linos, and wherever the tactical

situationdemands, they will stand to arms.

In roar lines there isno objection, providedthat the tactical situation allows it, tonjen,

witli the exception of sentries and oflicers and

N . C . O ' s onduty, remaining indug-outs. In

any case, small Box Respiratorswillbe adjusted

immediately the alarm isgiven and willbew'orn

in dug-outs whether the latter are gas-proofor

not.

(iii.) O n the alarm being given, allbodies of

troopsor transport on the move will halt, and

all working parties cease work until the gas

cloud has xmssed.

(iv.) If arelief isgoing on, units should

stand steady as far asxiossible until thegas

cloud has x>assed.



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(v.) Supports, and parties bringing up

ainiiuiiitioniinclgi'enades, will only be movedup if thetacticalsitnatiou demands.

(vi.) ThebUmkelj doorwaysofprotecteddug

outsandcellarswill bepi-operly adjusted.

{vii.} Should thegascloud beunacconipaDied

by an infantry attacU, noS.O.S. signal will be

sent,but thelettersG . A . S . will be telephonedor telegraphed followed by the name of the

trench opposite towhich gasisbeingliberated :

e.g.,G . A . S . M U C K TJiENCH.

The above message will only be sent in the

caseof agasattack fromcylinders.

The messagewillbe passedfromfront to,rear

in thesame way as the S.O.S. signal ; it will

not bedistributed laterally.

(viii.) Should aninfantry attackdevelop,the

normal procedureof S.O.S. will be carried out.

(ix.) Occasional short bursts shouldbe fired

trom Lewisand machine guns tcj prevent the

accUiluilationof fouling.

(x.) Troo].)s in the front linenot affected by

gas must bewarned to boprepared to bringa

crossfireto bear on the enemy attempting to

advance against agassedportionof the trench.

(xi.) Menin charge of fuel andfans will

prepaie to usethem as soon as the gascloud

has passed, so as to admit of respirators being

removed.

(xii.) E-eapiratorsorhelmetswill not be re

moved afteragas attack unilpermission has

beengiven by the Company Cpramandei-, who

will ascertain from officers and N.C.O's trained



6

:ilitheDivisional GiisSchool (jliiLt il; issafeto

d o so. Trenches will befaDnecl clear of gas

with fans EITKI sanciliags.

(xiii.) Inorder toguard against tliedanger

of asubseqiionligas cloud, allranks, assoon as

the gasisclear, andpermission hasbeen

received toremove their masks, will replace

them inthe"ALlilRT "position.

A ftHARP L O O K - O O T WILL BEM A I N TAINED ASL O N G A S TVm W I N D C O N TINUES INAD A N G E R O U S Q U A R T E R ,A N D M E N WILL SLEEP O N T H E FIRESTRP, WITHIN R E A C H OFAS E N T R Y .A S U B S E Q U E N T G A S C L O U D IS A L W A Y SLIKELY.

(xiv.) Special arrangements will bemade byCorps forwarning thecivil authorities, w h o o-re

responsible for theprotection andwarning of

all civilianswithin theCorps area.

Section 3.—Action Ater Enemy Gas

r- Attack.

(i.) After agas attack, troops inthe front

trenches will borelieved of allfatigue and

f- carryingwork for 24 hours, bysending u p work

ing parties from comiianies inrear. Horses

I should not beworked forasimilar period if it

ca n beavoided.

(ii.) N o m a n suffering from effects of gas

will bepermitted towalk to thedressing-

station.

(iii.) Gasm a y persist forseveral hours in

dug-outs a nd cellars, anduntil they have been

shown tobefree from gasthey will only be

entered bym e n wearing Box Respiratorsor

helmets.



-7 Sect. J . After sub-section (xiv) add : -

(xv) Ccrps v/illkeop ux to dat;In their Corps area, to v.'hom w«.

The A m y willv-arn all cone

areas, but within 40kilometre

a listof all units v/ith-Jrnlng will te sont.jrned whoare outsido Corps

1of the front line,



* Ventilation by means offiresand anti-gas

fans is-the only efficien method ofclearingdug-outs. Asupply offuel will bekept in

readiness forliliispurpose. The clearing of

dug-outsshouldnot be carried out by m e n w h o

have beenslightlyaffected by gas.

(iv.) Erilles, machine guns andamnuinition

should becleaned immediately after agas

attack ; oil cleaning will i:)revent corrosion fo-15! hours,bvit the first available opportunity

should be taken toclean allparts inboiling

water containingalittlesoda.

Section 4.—Action During Gas Shell

Bombardment.(i.) Small Box Respiratorswill be put on in

the shelledarea.

(ii.) T he gasalarm will not begiven, but

units will arrange towarn everyone inthe

vicinity immediately agasshell bombardment

begins.

(iii.) Dng-onts will bevisited, thegas-prool:

blanketsadjusted, and sleepingm e n aronserl.

Section5—DscpinewthRegard to

Carrying Smal Box Resprators

and Tube Helmets.

(i.) Alltroopswithin bw » miles of the front

linewill alwayscarry thesmall B o x Respirator,

whatever the direction of thewind.

^*fr(!r'<Tffii)"i!iii44tb»J4 Hiiii l^i Q i 1 a i ijl •' d D t r n - i T i ^ S e w y ' l ^ C e ) •

(ii.) Inthetrench system thesmall B o x

;Respirator willalwaysbe carried in the A L E R Tposition to protect itfrom water anddamage.



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T h e flapof the haversack willbe kept buttoned

except iluvingthe "GrAS A L E E T " period-

(iii.) TtmjTcrsonDel ofbatteries inpositionbehind the -SSS-milelimit will always have the

small B o x Respirator closeathand.

(iv.) OilioEcg andm e n ofbattalionsinreserve

outside the few© mile limit will keeii theBox

Respirator with theirequipment, so that it is

immediately available. / . .-a

(v.) All troops.'iTnjhjuaO.OOO jnidu uf tihu H u e

willat alltimes arrj' aP H helmet; »JOJ, Brut

^ uUu liliBm J i M D O n O N Tnil TIiDD —

jliJlQUD'TlJlO niiiiM'OIiTVlLhU W A R U g Y .

" G a s Alert" Period.

Orders astothe position inwhich the aboveare worn in the" G A S A L E R T " periodare

containedinSection1

3 >Working Partieswithin the -mile limit.

"When the wind issafe,workingpartiesduring

work, and at thediscretion of theOfficer in

eominand, maytake ofj:theirB o x Respirators,

provided the latter areplaced convenientlyat

hand foruseincaseof asudden gasshellattack

or change of the wind.

T he P H helmet willalways becarried.

(Signed) N . M A L C O L M ,

M.G.G.S.

3rd January, 1917.

instructions for gas alert and action during a gas attack small box respirators

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