Existing comment:
A Terrifying Weapon
A gas alarm, even at just the threat of a gas attack, could cause widespread panic among troops, devastating unit cohesion and resolve.
American forces took the field readily aware of the threat chemical weapons posed to soldiers in the trenches and to supply lines and medical personnel. Yet, one report concluded, "on the eve of American intervention, the Army acted as if it had barely heard of chemical warfare."
A majority of World War I "doughboys" found themselves in a chemical combat environment with minimal defensive gas training and with "no idea of what this training really meant."
After the war had ended, General John J. Pershing concluded, "Whether or not gas will be employed in future wars is a matter of conjecture, but the effect is so deadly to the unprepared that we can never afford to neglect the question." |