Show Us S army Is on alert r for chemical warfare many developments in gas warfare date from world war 1 I america thought to have greatest potential gas offensive by news analyst and commentator service union trust building washington D C some days ago the british short wave radio beamed on germany was telling the german people who dared to listen to the forbidden words that if their armies used gas against the russians the british would retaliate and paralyze the german cities with gas bombs from the air just about that same hour I 1 was entering the army and navy club in washington with a short vigorous bright eyed general whose mental agility makes up for his lack of length it was no coincidence I 1 was there to learn karn something more about chemical warfare and I 1 knew 0 no better way than to pump brig gen alden H waitt of the chemical warfare service and whose book gas warfare has sold out twice in washington book stores there was however a coincidence connected with that visit for as we walked into the great crowded dm din 7 A 1 soldiers stationed at camp san luis obispo calif outfitted with new type training gas masks ing room of the club waitt paused to speak to a gray haired man m m in civilian clothes with a ribbon in his buttonhole I 1 recognized a once familiar figlie figuie amos fries first general of the chemical warfare ser service vica he of course is retired now I 1 recalled that shortly after the first world war the activities of general fries got under some peoples skins he was a hyper enthuse ast over his specialty and in the reaction against all things military which comes after a war t the he cynics used to joke about the stenographer w who ho transcribed her symbols so that a letter was sent addressed to the comical warfare service new neu emphasis but fries persisted and managed to preserve his unit in a tight little independent group instead of having its activities scattered all over the other services As far as the public goes very little attention has been paid to this arm of our military offense and defense it may however become very prominent before the war is over and some people say that day is imminent it if gas comes the united states will be prepared for it from an organization with 94 officers in the thirties the chemical warfare service has grown until its 0 officer meer personnel numbers many thousand 1 I cant reveal the figure and many of them are with combat troops today where they are responsible for the use of smoke screens and for incendiaries the fire bombs and the flame throwers th rowers I 1 have witnessed demonstrations at the edgewood arsenal near baltimore and although I 1 cannot report the details I 1 can say that some of the effects were remarkable you ought to see a steel tank or a concrete pillbox go up in flames when it is lighted by a flame thrower it is is unbelievable to watch there have been of course many developments in this little discussed weapon of warfare since gas was first used in world war I 1 by the germans and used so successfully and yet so stupidly the attack took the british and french colonial troops utterly by surprise and caused what amounted to a rout if the germans had had the sense to follow it up they could have broken through the lines and reached calais that was not the first use of gas gaa in warfare the first recorded use was some time earlier in fact just 2445 years earli earlier erat at the siege of Plat aea when the spartans spartano Spar tans burned wood saturated with pitch and sulphur under the walls it failed because a rain came up five years later a similar gas attack was a complete success at the siege of dellum delium where the fumes drove the defenders from the cites walls in a panic recent de developments the most recent developments in gas warfare has just been revealed the allies have known for some time that the germans had a new powerful gas which it is almost impossible to detect by smell it can now be stated that this gas is nitrogen nin mustard a relative of the deadly burning mustard gas of the last war but far more volatile and t that hat much more effective for it enters the lungs in greater quantities it can also now be stated that the americans are able to manufacture this gas rapidly and in quantity if necessary our experts are thoroughly familiar with its characteristics the other development which will greatly increase the effla efficiency lency of the use of gas if it is used today is the new method of spraying it from low flying planes this makes it possible to contaminate an area containing troops almost without warning however it is believed that the united states is not only prepared with the best protection but probably has the most effective pot potential nt al gas offensive weapons of any of the armies what are the arguments in favor of the use of this weapon which so tar far has not been used let me quote brigadier general waitt 1 every sensible man is agreed that war should be resorted to only when all peaceful methods have failed when in order to sustain its policies a nation has no other choice bojt to use force to gain its ends it should do this with as little loss as possible not only should there be little loss to the nation itself but unnecessary loss to its enemy should be avoided victory depends on the amount of loss the smaller the loss to both sides the greater the victory to the victor this may be strange doctrine but it is sound unusual outlook war waitt believes is not carried on to kill or destroy cle stroy but rather to enforce a policy and if possible the enforcement should be accomplished plis lied without loss of life or property we can work toward this end by the use of gas he points to these facts for his argument there were american casualties in the american ranks in the last war more than one fourth were caused by gas of the gas casualties only about 2 per cent died in other words the men wounded by gas had about 12 times the chance to live asthore as those wounded by other weapons to urge the use of gas sounds strange indeed I 1 recall how surprised I 1 was when a young chinese captain cab tain who had fought through most of the campaigns against japan said to me gas is a kindly weapon of course he had never met it himself but he had seen plenty of men blown apart by shrapnel and high explosive and he was very positive in his statement what about civilians if gas is used in the first place america of course is is in less danger than britain because of distance but not out of danger there has been much contradictory opinion expressed as to the possibility of gassing cities one view is that it would be utterly ineffective the other is that whole populations could be blotted out waitt says both extreme views are wrong arong that there is a middle ground that gas can be used against industrial and political centers of importance for its organizing disorganizing dis and demoralizing effect but that the chief targets will be strategic points such as railway stations power and light plants and the like gas will not wipe out populations he believes believe S it will not entirely supplant explosives but it will be an effective weapon the most important defense aside from material means of protection which waitt describes in detail is education and discipline |