Gas reshaped battle: surprise, tech, and ethics forge a new, enduring discipline on the Western Front.
Phosgene, not mustard gas, caused more deaths in WWI despite being odorless and mistaken for smoke.
Germany pioneered gas defenses using peppery-scented mists to detect leaks before attacks, a primitive early-warning system.
The first recorded gas-related fatality occurred when a German shell sprayed chlorine into a French trench mixed with rainwater.
Gas ibuprofen? No—some troops wore regular scarves stuffed with urine-soaked rags to neutralize chlorine's effects.
Phosgene, not mustard gas, caused more deaths in WWI despite being odorless and mistaken for smoke.
Germany pioneered gas defenses using peppery-scented mists to detect leaks before attacks, a primitive early-warning system.
The first recorded gas-related fatality occurred when a German shell sprayed chlorine into a French trench mixed with rainwater.
Gas ibuprofen? No—some troops wore regular scarves stuffed with urine-soaked rags to neutralize chlorine's effects.
