What is Poison Gas?• Poison gas was one of the most

devastating weapons in World War 1. Poison Gas was used to kill soldiers instantly in big areas, while machine guns could only shoot in one spot. Plus the machine gun only has so much ammo before they had to reload, and risk getting wounded. To block off a Poison Gas attack you would have had to wear a gas mask which didn’t always work. If it didn’t work the victim could be in pain for weeks.

Who used it?• Well the French developed the poison

gas, but the Germans were the first soldiers to use it. It was used in the first month of World War 1, August 1914. The first time the poison gas was actually used was on the 22nd of April in 1915. It was used at the Battle of Ypres. This is when the famed Ypres Salient, held by the British, Canadians and French, ran for some 10 miles and bulged into German occupied territory for five miles. A combination of French territorial's and Algerian troops held the line to the left, with the British and Canadians tending the centre and line to their right.

What types of Poison Gas are there?

• Well there are blister gases, choking gases, nerve gases, psychochemical gases, vomiting gases, and last but not least tear gases. To use these gases they had to release it and the wind would carry it over to the enemy’s. Or they could have delivered it in artillery shells. Or it could have even been sprayed from a low flying aircraft. But most likely they would have used it by enclosing it in artillery shells, then throwing it at the enemy lines.

Blister Gas• This gas was first used by the

Germans in World War 1. It was not a very strong scented gas, it was almost odorless. Which made it harder for the victim to sense. One of the disadvantages of this gas though is that it takes 12 hours to take effect. From that info you can probably tell that it wasn’t a gas that they used during battle. The mustard gas has an effect on your eyes that makes them red, and it also makes your skin and mucous membranes red. Plus it gives you blisters. This gas is mostly used to incapacitate soldiers.

Choking Gas

• Choking gas attacks the respiratory tract like chlorine, phosgene, and diphosgene. This gas was first used in World War 1. And as you can probably assume the chlorine attacks the respiratory system of its victims. It makes you choke and it causes irritation to the lungs. This causes the person to die slowly by asphyxiation.

Nerve Gas• This gas is odorless, tasteless, and

colorless. Some of these gases are tabun, sarin, and soman. This gas’s job is to destroy the functioning of the human nerves and muscles. It can be either be accepted into the body by inhaling it or by ingestion. This causes the victim to die in as fast as minutes after the poison enters the bloodstream. Some of the symptoms of it are runny nose, bronchial secretions, tightness in the chest, blurring of vision, pin-point pupils, drooling, excessive perspiration, nausea, vomiting, involuntary defecation, urination, muscle tremors, convulsions, coma, and death .

Psychochemical Gas

• This type of gas incapacitates the human brain. This causes in most cases hallucinations, delirium, and short term memory loss! It takes effect after 30 min of presence in the bloodstream, and it lingers in the body for many days after the exposure.

Vomiting Gas

• This gas has various colors from yellow to green. This type of gas does not kill people, but it is still beneficial to soldiers though. It causes severe sneezing, coughing, headache, nausea, and of course vomiting. This gas was also used to promote removal of personal protective gear during chemical warfare.

Tear Gas

• Tear gases such as Cn and Cs have low concentrations; therefore, resulting in severe eye irritation, irritation in the nose, mouth, throat and sometimes also in the skin, precisely the warm parts. This gas was used and is still used by mostly police troops, for controlling mobs.

Why do you need to have good weather conditions for poison gas?• Well obviously if you are the

one that is releasing the gas you want to make sure that the wind isn’t blowing towards you, or else like the British Army, it will blow right back in your face. When the British Army launched a gas attack on the 25th of September in 1915, the wind blew it back into the faces of the advancing troops.

Is there a way that they used poison gas without worrying about

weather conditions?• In 1916 shells were produced

to increase the army's range of attack and helped to protect their own troops when weather conditions were not completely ideal. These shells were used with heavy artillery. By the end of the war, one in four of the artillery shells fired on the Western Front contained gas.

Which army was the first to actually use the poison gas?

• The French army was the first army to actually use fired tear-gas at the Germans. This took place during the first month of World War 1. But the Germans were the ones who actually spent time studying the chemical development of the gas. Technically the Germans were the first ones to use it on a large scale in October 1914.

Which army was the first to use mustard gas?

• This gas was first used by the Germans in September 1917. This was the most devastating poison gas of them all. It was odorless and it took 12 hours to take effect. Only small amounts had to be added to highly explosive shells to be effective. Mustard Gas is effective for many weeks after implanted in soil.

How much poison gas was used by Germans, French, and British?

• The Germans used 68,000 tons of poison gas in World War1against the allied soldiers. That number just shows you how effective poison gas is and was. The French used 36,000 tons and the British used 25,000 tons. An estimated 91,198 soldiers died as a result of poison gas attacks and another 1.2 million were hospitalized. The Russian Army, with 56,000 deaths, suffered more than any other armed force.

Poison Gas Deaths: 1914-1918Country Non-Fatal Deaths Total

British Empire 180,597 8,109 188,706

France 182,000 8,000 190,000

United States 71,345 1,462 72,807

Italy 55,373 4,627 60,000

Russia 419,340 56,000 475,340

Germany 191,000 9,000 200,000

Austria-Hungary 97,000 3,000 100,000

Others 9,000 1,000 10.000

Total 1,205,655 91,198 1,296,853

British Gas Casualties: 1914-18 Deaths Non-Fatal

Chlorine 1,976 164,457

Mustard Gas 4,086 16,526

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