U.S. Army Chemical Corps Historical Studies Gas Warfare in World War I: The 26th Division East of the Meuse, September 1918
Author | : Rexmond C. Cochrane |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 82 |
Release | : 1960 |
ISBN-10 | : OCLC:227974211 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 (11 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: No division in the AEF has so much sheer ill fortune as the 26th. Single-handedly, the 26th Division demonstrated almost every possible mistake that could be made in the use of gas. The French were generous and gave the division considerably gas ammunition, most of it odd lots of cyanic and lachrymatory shells that when fired served largely to provoke serious retalliation. In the one instance, for a raid on enemy trenches, when the division fired a sufficient quantity of phosgene to be effective, the gas swept down on the raiding troops and gassed every man. The 26th Division has the unhappy distinction of suffering the greatest number of gas casualties, most of them on quiet fronts, in the AEF. The present study spans the career of the 26th Division in France, concentrating on the gas episodes that did so much to nullify the original splendid promise of the division.