l i i l y , 1910
T H E JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL A N I ) ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
621
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE. CHEMICAL WARFARE, SERVICE, U. S. A. THE FIRST GAS REGIMENT Ily Jnuiis C. WxtnSTER, 1st 1.t.. First Gas Xe~iirirnl
Location of "show". . . . . . . . Merviller, near Baccarat Company operating. . . . . . . . . , . , . . .C, rst Gas Regt. . . . , . . . . .Midnight, August 17, ,gin
Rceeived April 2 5 , 1'219
The First Qs Rrgiment, Chemical Warbare Serviw, wi(s organized s t Camp American University. Washiwton, I). C., loders, tools, e t c . . . . . . 4 tons in September 19x7 8s the 30th Engineers, Gas and Flame. under the coinrnand of Major (later Colonel) Earl J. Atkisson of the Corps of Engineers. Two companies were quickly recruited and trained, and sailed lor France on December 26. , 9 1 7 . A t this time little was known here of offensive gas warAmerican First Army, the Regiment fare on the western iront, and the technical training of the two to operate with independent French and American units. ceased companies had to bc deferred until they readied France. The It became a part of the First Army and the battalions (two enlisted personncl of these and succeeding companies was of companies each) were assigned to army corps and the companies very high caliber, and consisted of chemists, engineers, and to divisions holding the line. With this organization, the mechanics from all parts of the country. Regiment operated throughout the St. Mihiel and ArgonneWhile the first two com- Meuse drives and was on the line a t the time of the signing of panies were being trained with the armistice. the Special Brigade, Royal On the liquid or moving front the Stokes mortar was used Ihgineers (the British gas almost exclusively in connection with the advance of the introops) at Helfaut, France, fantry. The ammunition fired included smoke, for concealtwo more companies were be- ment and deception; gas, against machine guns and enemy ing organized at Fort Myer, strong points; and thermite, which was used for its demoralVa., and sailed on February izing effect. Occasionally projectors were installed and fired 27, 1918. This gave us four upon short notice again4 cnerny strong points, but where the companies, of 250 men each, front was changing rapidly the projectors could not be used. trained for offensive work a t The Regiment returiied to the United States under the comthe beginning of ~ u n e1g18. mand of Maj. J. B. Carluck, of San Francisco, and was demoA and B companies not only bilized a t Camp Kcndrick, N. J., in February 1919. Individual had seen service with the decorations awarded to members of the Regiment totaled 61, British, but had been working including I D. S. M., 15 D. S. C., and +jCroix de Guene. The on the American front a t this casualties suffered b y the Regiment were approximately 50 time, and, with the addition of per Cent. companies C and D, we had gas troops operating during P m I-I~LACLNC A BIPIBRY011 Pno- juneand ~~l~ in the~h&teteau. JZCTORS IN POSLll'm Thierry sector and on the Lorraine and Vosges fronts. The Past two companies, E and F, which were also organized a t Fort Myer, arrived in France in July. The plan of a Ixojectoi operation upon a stabilized front consisted, in brief, of B preliminary reconnaissance to determine the emplaecments, number of guns, camouflage, the type and approximate time 01 the work, and the carry. The target was furnished by intelligence. To the emplacement, which was selected as close as possible to the enemy's line, were later brought the neces ary guns, base plates, gas bombs, charge boxes, and tools for digging in. Twenty gutis constitute i i battery and the charges are fired simultaneously by means of an electric exploder. The gas bomb is projected into the enemy line a distance depending upon the weight of charge used, and Fzo. Z-PROIBCTOB~ Bewr DrSCIinliCBo explodes after reaching the ground. Ranges as high as I ~ W The following letter from Brig. Gen. Fries, Chief of the Chemmeters were possible with the 4 ft. Livens projector. Frequently ical Warfare Service, A. E. F., was published to the Regiment the 4 in. Stokes mortars were used in connection with the larger as General Order No. j : projector operations. Gas and thermite were fired from the A t this time, I desire pcrsorrally, aut1 011 behalf ol the Chemical irrurtar upon machitic gun ernpiiacements and concelltrdtions Wariarc Service as a whole, t o express to you and the oEcefs uf euerny troops. The following data m a y be of interest to and inen of the First Gas Regiment under you, OUT pride in h o w the amount of material which was transported for one of and profound admiration of the work you have done. To take LllC larger "shows." il new regiment and in a few short months teach i t an entirely Frequently. the bombs instcad of cuntahiing gas were filled new method of warlarc. known to few but the enemy, and so handle that work that the Chemical Warfare Service, as well with T. N . T. and their use produced a demoraliring rficct upon as thc Regiment, became favorably known throughout an army tlie enemy troops as each homh was equivalent in rxplosivr force of nearly z,ouo,ooo men, is an achievement of which any body of men may wrll be proud. to nn 8 i n shell.
TFIR .701URN.4L O F I N D U S T R I A L A N I ) R N G I N E R R I N G C I I E M I S T R Y
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No. 7
canister a t ','i and distancc f r o m t h e bottom, respectivcly. I n t h e following tahle of p r o t w t i o n against various gases "stmriard a r m v filling" shall refcr t o n i cu. in. of t h e Go t o 40 per cent mixture of charcoal a n d soda
linic. These tests were made by t h e methods descrilml i n a previous paper' on " M e t h o d s of Testing Gas Mxsks : ~ n d Absorbents."
1 % ~3-4 .
IN. Srcxss Monraw IN POSITION
Sot only i s the First Gas Regiment well known, but i t s work lias 1xxw so crcelltmt that demands for more gas troops were constantly inrrcasiog iu numbers and insistence. Everywhere
t i spoken of as that of brave and able men, who fc:red no enemy ami ilo hardships, and who stopped only wlicii complete exhaustion ovcipowcred them. Whclhcr thc Clicinical Warfare Scrvice will be continued in peace remains to bc seen. That your work will always be remenrbered mal tliat it will be tlic guiding star ior such work in any rLatilri.war, s i l o u ~ uniortLmeiy, ~~, vilr COUiltryc y ~ ra g ~ i r t liavc t o enter upan om., is absolutely certain. At the time of the signing of the armistice other CAT troops wcre liciiig organized in llic United Slatrs to siq)plemcnt. llie six cc,rnpanies in Fmnoc. C,,,
