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