dispersed them too widely. Then, towards the end of 1914, Haber was also
‘given a share in the work’
39
—some say he ‘volunteered’—and asked to
improve the effectiveness of the irritants, but not to allow them to persist to
the extent that they slow down the subsequent advance of German troops.
Haber also had to address the delivery systems
40 which depended upon very
scarce steel shells, but experiments in Haber’s Institute had hardly begun
when they were brought to a tragic end in December 1914 when one of the
chemists suffered from a sudden detonation when mixing chemicals.
39 The
explosion occurred as a few drops of dichloromethane was added to cacodyl
chloride, C 2 H 6 AsCl,
41 which possibly contained nitrogen chloride as impurity. The cacodyl chloride was sent to the Institute from an industrial quarter
and although the purpose of these experiments was to provide an irritant, the
fact that a substance may also have a toxic effect did not seem to exclude
consideration of its use.
The chemist involved was the distinguished Otto Sakur, the very same who
had worked at Ramsay’s laboratory during Robert’s time there. (Chap. 1).
Sakur was horribly mutilated by the explosion, and had Haber not been called
out of the room just moments before, he too might have been involved. But
he rushed back into the laboratory and collapsed in shock.
42 Shortly afterwards Clara Haber came running in and, with a mother’s instinct to calm a
fallen child, opened Sakur’s collar so that he may breathe more easily. Sakur
however died soon afterwards. At the funeral Haber was inconsolable and
seen to be weeping openly, and for the first time Dr. Clara Haber glimpsed
the full nature of the work being conducted at her husband’s Institute. By all
accounts she was appalled (Plate 13.3).
13.6.2 The First Chlorine Gas Attack
Despite the termination of research at Haber’s institute, the lack of steel for
shells and the problem of dispersion, the German military refused to reject gas
warfare as a means of bringing about a quick victory, and additional mechanisms were sought to attain sufficiently high concentrations of gas over a
wide front. At the time, Germany had copious amounts of chlorine formed as
a by-product from the dye industry and the suggestion was made to utilise
this irritant (asphixiant) in a mass discharge from cylinders. We do not know
whether Haber suggested the use of chlorine but he certainly wholeheartedly
supported its adoption. Accordingly, he was put in charge of the ‘gas troops’
and the preparations but he soon ran into difficulties with the Generals.
Prevailing winds were westerly and therefore in the Allies favour, many
258
D. Sheppard
‘given a share in the work’
39
—some say he ‘volunteered’—and asked to
improve the effectiveness of the irritants, but not to allow them to persist to
the extent that they slow down the subsequent advance of German troops.
Haber also had to address the delivery systems
40 which depended upon very
scarce steel shells, but experiments in Haber’s Institute had hardly begun
when they were brought to a tragic end in December 1914 when one of the
chemists suffered from a sudden detonation when mixing chemicals.
39 The
explosion occurred as a few drops of dichloromethane was added to cacodyl
chloride, C 2 H 6 AsCl,
41 which possibly contained nitrogen chloride as impurity. The cacodyl chloride was sent to the Institute from an industrial quarter
and although the purpose of these experiments was to provide an irritant, the
fact that a substance may also have a toxic effect did not seem to exclude
consideration of its use.
The chemist involved was the distinguished Otto Sakur, the very same who
had worked at Ramsay’s laboratory during Robert’s time there. (Chap. 1).
Sakur was horribly mutilated by the explosion, and had Haber not been called
out of the room just moments before, he too might have been involved. But
he rushed back into the laboratory and collapsed in shock.
42 Shortly afterwards Clara Haber came running in and, with a mother’s instinct to calm a
fallen child, opened Sakur’s collar so that he may breathe more easily. Sakur
however died soon afterwards. At the funeral Haber was inconsolable and
seen to be weeping openly, and for the first time Dr. Clara Haber glimpsed
the full nature of the work being conducted at her husband’s Institute. By all
accounts she was appalled (Plate 13.3).
13.6.2 The First Chlorine Gas Attack
Despite the termination of research at Haber’s institute, the lack of steel for
shells and the problem of dispersion, the German military refused to reject gas
warfare as a means of bringing about a quick victory, and additional mechanisms were sought to attain sufficiently high concentrations of gas over a
wide front. At the time, Germany had copious amounts of chlorine formed as
a by-product from the dye industry and the suggestion was made to utilise
this irritant (asphixiant) in a mass discharge from cylinders. We do not know
whether Haber suggested the use of chlorine but he certainly wholeheartedly
supported its adoption. Accordingly, he was put in charge of the ‘gas troops’
and the preparations but he soon ran into difficulties with the Generals.
Prevailing winds were westerly and therefore in the Allies favour, many
258
D. Sheppard