A Strange and Formidable Weapon
British Responses to World War I Poison Gas
Publication Year: 2008
Published by: University of Nebraska Press
Download PDF (57.1 KB)
List of Illustrations
Download PDF (57.9 KB)
Download PDF (86.0 KB)
Download PDF (480.7 KB)
On May 24,1915--Whit Monday and a month after the first gas attack of World War I--Sgt. Elmer Wilgrid Cotton of the Fifth Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, woke up when a gas alarm sounded. He described the scene in vivid terms: I got out of my dugout very quickly...
1. The Political Challenge: Descent to Atrocities?
Download PDF (348.5 KB)
Britain had long viewed herself as enlightened, ethical, and law-abiding in her actions abroad and at home. In the nineteenth century alone, the British abolished slavery, instituted reform legislation without revolution, and enjoyed Queen Victoria's reputation for rectitude. They had reason to be proud...
2. The Army's Experience: New Weapons, New Soldiers
Download PDF (492.2 KB)
The politicians were not the only ones surprised by the events of World War I. The conflict shocked the military long before gas appeared. The drawn-out war filled with novel weapons, enormous casualties, and global combatants did not match the popular vision of a war in which offensive spirit and Úlan...
3. The Scientific Divide: Chemists versus Physicians
Download PDF (367.7 KB)
Two other groups that became inured to many of the horrors of gas warfare were research chemists and army clinical physicians; they provided scientific expertise necessary to wage World War I, but their experiences with the weapon and its effects allowed them to see its dangers without becoming...
4. Whose Business Is It?: Dilemmas in the Gas Industry
Download PDF (347.3 KB)
On the home front, British chemical industrialists immersed themselves in the gas war by manufacturing toxins and respirators developed by scientists. Intimately involved in the specialized work, businessmen in this field, like the research chemists and physicians, developed a respect for the dangers of gas...
5. Gas as a Symbol: Visual Images of Chemical Weapons in the Popular Press
Download PDF (1.2 MB)
From the beginning of the chemical war in 1915, gas invaded Britain's home front. By word and image it appeared in the press, frequently bombarding the public with reminders of its existence and forcing the general population to confront the threats and implications of the new weapon...
6. The Reestablishment of the Gas Taboo and the Public Debate: Will Gas Destroy the World?
Download PDF (514.9 KB)
The chief of the Imperial General Staff, Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, although frustrated that Britain's chemical warfare service was deteriorating because of lack of funding and support after World War I, indicated to the government that he understood some of its reluctance. He wrote to the cabinet...
Download PDF (157.1 KB)
Chemical weapons have posed a menace to soldiers and civilians since their inception. The popular dislike of gas in Britain and other countries, which had subsided occasionally during World War I, grew during the interwar period and led to attempts to eradicate the danger from chemical weapons...
Download PDF (47.3 KB)
Download PDF (695.6 KB)
Download PDF (219.1 KB)
Download PDF (263.8 KB)
Page Count: 400
Illustrations: 18 photographs
Publication Year: 2008
Series Title: Studies in War, Society, and the Militar