Ypres, Belgium

The modem history of the military use of toxic chemical agents (1,3—5) dates from the first full-scale (chlorine) gas attack on April 22, 1915, near Ypres, Belgium in World War I. There were a few reports of the limited use of toxic chemicals since that time. The Italians employed mustard, a bUster agent, during the Ethiopian war in 1935 and 1936 the Japanese used toxic chemicals in a number of small-scale engagements in the early years of their war with China and Iraq purportedly employed both mustard and nerve gases in the 1980s. 

The first large-scale use of chemical agents came in World War I on 22 April 1915, when the Germans released chlorine gas against the Allied positions at Ypres, Belgium. The gas was very effective, killing 5,000 and scaring 10,000,... 

FIGURE 2.2. Australian infantry in trench with gas masks donned, Ypres, Belgium, September 1917. Photo by Captain Frank Hurley (http //en.wikipedia.0rg/wiki/Image Australian infantry ... 

The first toxic chemical attacks of World War I employed gas cylinders. In March 1915, the Germans emplaced 1600 large and 4130 small cylinders of chlorine gas opposite Allied troops defending Ypres, Belgium. This attack illustrated the benefits and weakness of using cylinders although the attack covered a much larger area than could be... 

Fig. 3 -3. This photograph is reputed to show the historical German chlorine gas cloud attack at Ypres, Belgium, on 22 April 1915. Although there is little evidence to support this claim, the photograph does show a visible cloud, probably created by a cylinder attack. Photograph Courtesy of Chemical and Biological Defense Command Historical Research and Response Team, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

Mustard has been contained in the arsenals of various countries since it was first used on July 12, 1917, when the Germans fired shells containing mustard at British troops entrenched near Ypres, Belgium.1,2 Soon both sides were using mustard. 

After false starts by others, the Germans finally employed chlorine successfully at Ypres, Belgium, in 1915. Other WWI use included phosgene and chloropicrin in 1916 by the British, and mustard in 1917 by Germany. Lewisite was developed in 1918, too late to be used in WWI. 

The first use of CW agents in modem times occurred during World War I when German forces used chlorine gas at Ypres, Belgium on 22 April 1915. At least 40 different compounds were weaponized for use on the battlefield [3], An estimated... 

Szollosi-Janze 1998, p. 318 Piet Chielens from the Flanders Fields Museum, Ypres, Belgium, has recently suggested that the number of casualties of the German gas attack near the Belgian town of Ypres in April 1915 was significantly lower than previously assumed Chielens 2014 ako Corrigan 2003, pp. 164-5. 

FIGURE 2.2 Australian infantry in trench with gas masks donned, Ypres, Belgium, September 1917. 

FIGURE 11.1 The birth of CWAs in WWI. The photograph depicts the initial chlorine gas attack by Germany at Ypres, Belgium, on April 22, 1915. The German Army released chlorine gas from cylinders to form a poisonous cloud (indicated by black and white arrows) directed toward the French lines by the prevailing winds. 

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