Poison Gas

THE GREAT WAR

Total Cost of the War:
$3,363,322,147,850
8,556,315 Soldiers Dead
91,198 Dead From Gas
Dead from gas attack….
What were the Poison Gas Stats?

• Total tons used:

129,000.
• Non-fatal
casualties:
1,205,655.
• Reported Fatal
Cases: 91,198.
How did it all start?
• First use was at
Battle of Ypres on
April 22, 1915.
• Germans released a
5 mile wide cloud of
chlorine gas
• Within months all
nations using gas as
a weapon
• Hitler was once
exposed to gas and it
terrified him so much
he would not use it in
WWII.
What was Chlorine Gas?
• Enters lungs or eyes
and mixes with
moisture to create
hydrochloric acid.
• Inhalation destroys
lungs within
seconds.
• Slow death by
suffocating.
• If not killed, lung and
eye damage
expected.
 What was the protection against
chlorine?
• give soldiers cotton gauze and instruct them
to urinate on it
• Ammonia neutralized the chlorine.
• Difficult to fight while holding gauze over face,
so IN 1915 the first gas masks were given to
troops
 What was Phosgene Gas?
• first used in 1916.
• Killed in the same way as Chlorine
• But less coughing.
• More efficient - delayed effect that would kill
men 48 hours later.
• Twice as toxic as Chlorine
 What was Mustard Gas?
• used by Germans in 1917.
• Took average of twelve hours to take
effect.
• Remained potent in ground for weeks
posing a danger to all troops.
• Burned different parts of the skin &
body