Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Chemical weapons accounted for only 1 per cent of the , British troops killed in the First World War and yet caused disproportionate casualties estimated at , The considerable investment in the development of new toxins and methods of delivery was designed to maintain the elements of surprise and uncertainty as these accentuated their psychological effect.
Soldiers were continually challenged on the battlefield by combinations of different types of agent designed to undermine their confidence in respirators, disorientate them, and erode their morale. At first, army doctors practised defensive medicine, invaliding their patients for protracted periods to the UK or base hospitals. By , progressive study of the physical and psychological effects of different types of toxin allowed physicians to design new management strategies.
Borrowing ideas from shell shock, specialist units were set up closer to the front line and medical officers taught to identify crucial points in the course of illness to accelerate recovery times and forestall the accretion of psychosomatic symptoms.
Keywords: First World War, gas, chemical weapons, casualties, shell shock, treatment. At Langemarck, on 22 April , the release of tons of chlorine from 6, cylinders caused widespread panic. The chaotic retreat of two French divisions, 87th Territorial and 45th Algerian, opened a 4 mile gap in the front line. In September , when the British released chlorine in retaliation, 6 similar effects were observed of German troops at Loos:. A German officer in this sector remarked that as soon as the gas entered his trench, he lost all control of his men, a panic ensued and he was unable to keep them in the front line.
He said that, without the gas, we should have had no earthly chance of taking the trenches. While the initial psychological impact of gas was explicable in terms of surprise and lack of preparedness, its enduring effectiveness as a terror weapon requires explanation. Almost 60 per cent of deaths in the First World War were a result of artillery and trench mortars; 13 by comparison, gas killed few troops.
