the ‘Auer’ produced the filter inserts, and Bayer the gas-absorbing substances.
As the war progressed and different gas agents were encountered, it was
possible to develop new filter inserts for the cartridge so that the basic respirator remained almost unchanged throughout the war. But by the spring of
1916 when the Germans had come to regard the gas weapon as of relatively
little value, they were forced into a re-appraisal when the French introduced a
new gas shell containing ‘phosgene’ (carbonyl dichloride, COCl 2 ) which, by
inducing suffocation when inspired, marked a turning point in chemical
warfare. The deployment of ‘phosgene’ by the French meant that the purpose
of gas had changed, no longer was it an ‘irritant’, it was now meant to kill. As
a result, Haber was put in charge of the development of new gas projectiles
and through a separate ‘Chemical Warfare Service’ he became chief advisor to
the German army on both offensive and defensive gas warfare. Haber’s
Institute was regenerated and re-organised on military lines, and the whole of
chemical warfare research was conducted there under his direction until the
end of the war.
From 1916 onwards, Haber’s gas warfare research was concerned with
substances that could be used in projectiles and simultaneously counter the
growing efficiency of respirators. He introduced the concept of
‘Bunteschiessen’
58 or ‘variegated shelling’ which firstly deployed irritant
organic arsenic compounds (the ‘maskenbrecher’ or ‘mask breakers’) that
penetrated respirator filters and forced men to remove their masks, followed
by shelling with poison agents such as ‘phosgene’. Of the hundreds of substances the KWI Institute examined under Haber’s tutelage, the following
were prominent
59
; ‘phosgene’, trichloromethyl chloroformate (‘diphosgene’),
chloropicrin, dichlorodimethyl ether, phenyl carbylaminedichloride, ethyldichloroarsine, diphenylchloroarsine, dipenylcyanoarsine, and dichlorodiethyl sulphide or ‘mustard gas’. The latter substance—discovered in 1886 by Victor
Meyer—was the most effective chemical agent of the war affecting both the
skin and the eyes. When introduced by Germany in 1917 it incapacitated
large numbers of Allied troops but caused few fatalities and Haber advised the
German High Command at the time, that unless they could guarantee that
the war would be won within a year, it would be best not deployed, for the
Allies would respond in kind and that would bring about Germany’s certain
defeat.
59 The Allies indeed used ‘mustard gas’ themselves in 1918 and
Germany collapsed soon after, but for both military and economic reasons.
60
264
D. Sheppard
As the war progressed and different gas agents were encountered, it was
possible to develop new filter inserts for the cartridge so that the basic respirator remained almost unchanged throughout the war. But by the spring of
1916 when the Germans had come to regard the gas weapon as of relatively
little value, they were forced into a re-appraisal when the French introduced a
new gas shell containing ‘phosgene’ (carbonyl dichloride, COCl 2 ) which, by
inducing suffocation when inspired, marked a turning point in chemical
warfare. The deployment of ‘phosgene’ by the French meant that the purpose
of gas had changed, no longer was it an ‘irritant’, it was now meant to kill. As
a result, Haber was put in charge of the development of new gas projectiles
and through a separate ‘Chemical Warfare Service’ he became chief advisor to
the German army on both offensive and defensive gas warfare. Haber’s
Institute was regenerated and re-organised on military lines, and the whole of
chemical warfare research was conducted there under his direction until the
end of the war.
From 1916 onwards, Haber’s gas warfare research was concerned with
substances that could be used in projectiles and simultaneously counter the
growing efficiency of respirators. He introduced the concept of
‘Bunteschiessen’
58 or ‘variegated shelling’ which firstly deployed irritant
organic arsenic compounds (the ‘maskenbrecher’ or ‘mask breakers’) that
penetrated respirator filters and forced men to remove their masks, followed
by shelling with poison agents such as ‘phosgene’. Of the hundreds of substances the KWI Institute examined under Haber’s tutelage, the following
were prominent
59
; ‘phosgene’, trichloromethyl chloroformate (‘diphosgene’),
chloropicrin, dichlorodimethyl ether, phenyl carbylaminedichloride, ethyldichloroarsine, diphenylchloroarsine, dipenylcyanoarsine, and dichlorodiethyl sulphide or ‘mustard gas’. The latter substance—discovered in 1886 by Victor
Meyer—was the most effective chemical agent of the war affecting both the
skin and the eyes. When introduced by Germany in 1917 it incapacitated
large numbers of Allied troops but caused few fatalities and Haber advised the
German High Command at the time, that unless they could guarantee that
the war would be won within a year, it would be best not deployed, for the
Allies would respond in kind and that would bring about Germany’s certain
defeat.
59 The Allies indeed used ‘mustard gas’ themselves in 1918 and
Germany collapsed soon after, but for both military and economic reasons.
60
264
D. Sheppard