The skin of victims of mustard gas blistered, their eyes became very sore and they began to vomit. Once in the soil, mustard gas remained active for several days, weeks, or even months, depending on the weather conditions. Delivered in artillery shells, mustard gas was heavier than air, and it settled to the ground as an oily liquid resembling sherry.
Mustard gas is not a particularly effective killing agent (though in high enough doses it is fatal) but can be used to harass and disable the enemy and pollute the battlefield. It was known to the British as HS (Hun Stuff), while the French called it Yperite (named after Ypres). The Germans marked their shells yellow for mustard gas and green for chlorine and phosgene hence they called the new gas Yellow Cross. It was a vesicant that was introduced by Germany in July 1917 prior to the Third Battle of Ypres. The most widely reported and, perhaps, the most effective gas of the First World War was mustard gas. The use of poison gas performed by all major belligerents throughout World War I constituted war crimes as its use violated the 1899 Hague Declaration Concerning Asphyxiating Gases and the 1907 Hague Convention on Land Warfare, which prohibited the use of "poison or poisoned weapons" in warfare. The widespread use of these agents of chemical warfare, and wartime advances in the composition of high explosives, gave rise to an occasionally expressed view of World War I as "the chemist's war" and also the era where "weapons of mass destruction" were created. In the later stages of the war, as the use of gas increased, its overall effectiveness diminished. Gas was unlike most other weapons of the period because it was possible to develop effective countermeasures, such as gas masks. The killing capacity of gas was limited, with only about 90 thousand fatalities from a total of some 1.2 million casualties caused by gas attacks. This chemical warfare was a major component of the first global war and first total war of the 20th century. The types of weapons employed ranged from disabling chemicals, such as tear gas, to lethal agents like phosgene, chlorine, and mustard gas.
They were primarily used to demoralize, injure, and kill entrenched defenders, against whom the indiscriminate and generally very slow-moving or static nature of gas clouds would be most effective. Carry canister is sold separately.Īlthough the use of toxic chemicals as weapons dates back thousands of years, the first large scale use of chemical weapons was during World War I. NEW 2017 LARGER SIZE PRODUCTION RUN- sizing is one size fits most, we tested in on a person with a 7 1/2 head and it fit perfectly. Correct suede leather construction with elastic web straps, steel eyecups, clear (plastic) lenses and an imitation steel filter shell (no actual filter, so this will not provide any type of protection from gas or fumes). The mount for the gas mask was graciously prepared by the conservator at The Rooms Provincial Museum.New Made Item: Copied directly from an original in the IMA collection this is a stunning reproduction of the standard First World War German Gas Mask.
#German gas mask archive
The display was created and installed by Melissa Glover, Archival Assistant at the Faculty of Medicine Founders’ Archive in the Health Sciences Library. The display is located on the second floor of the Medical Education Centre, Faculty of Medicine, at Memorial University. Macpherson as well as a biographical sketch, excerpts from his notebooks, and photographs of Dr. This display pictured above features an exact replica of the gas mask created by Dr. He was demobilized on 9 September 1919 at the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was appointed a member of the first War Office Committee on poisonous gases, and also director of medical services for Newfoundland during World War I. Macpherson returned to Newfoundland in October 1916, after being injured in Egypt. While in Gallipoli, he designed the first gas mask, which he fashioned out of a German helmet.ĭr. He became an advisor on poisonous gas, which the Allies feared Germany might be ready to use. He served in France, Belgium, Egypt, Salonica, and was eventually transferred to Gallipoli. Macpherson first enlisted on 21 September 1914 at the rank of Captain. Cluny Macpherson, Principal Medical Officer, 1 st Newfoundland Regiment, invented the gas mask during World War I (1914-1918).ĭr.
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