Draft of an instructional sheet “Gas Defense in the Trenches” listing instructions to prepare for an attack including “The sentry must also look out for suspicious odors” and “protect the telephone device.”.Sabersky’s identity card for his instructor position.Stunned by their overwhelming outcome of the attack, the Germans tentatively advanced, losing an opportunity to exploit their success. There was no technology to protect the soldiers from this new weapon an operational gas mask was not available, so the Allied soldiers improvised with linen masks soaked in water and “respirators” made from lint and tape. This was the first effective use of poison gas on the Western Front and the debut of Germany’s newest weapon in its chemical arsenal, chlorine gas, which irritated the lung tissue causing a choking effect that could cause death.Ī British officer described the effect of the gas on the French colonial soldiers: “A panic-stricken rabble of Turcos and Zouaves with gray faces and protruding eyeballs, clutching their throats and choking as they ran, many of them dropping in their tracks and lying on the sodden earth with limbs convulsed and features distorted in death.” The attack forced two colonial French divisions north of Ypres from their positions, creating a 5-mile gap in the Allied line defending the city.

a wave of asphyxiating gas released from cylinders embedded in the ground by German specialist troops smothered the Allied line on the northern end of the Ypres salient, causing panic and a struggle to survive a new form of weapon.

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