The U.S. 5th. Division and Gas Warfare, 1918.

Abstract

A brief account of the training of the U.S. 5th Division in gas warfare and its actual participation of Frapelle, at St. Mihel, and in the Meuse-Argonne, particularly in the attacks on the heights of Cunel and the assault crossing of the Meuse River. The author concludes that when the United States entered World War I, it found gas warfare part of the standard operating procedure of all the armies of the Western Front. Voluntary abnegation proved futile. On the battlefield, the need to maintain the morale of he assault infantry and the utility of gas in screening attacks, protecting flanks, and neutralizing enemy strong-points provided much more convincing rationales for the use of gas than any concept of deterrence. Keywords: Tear gas; Skank gas; Mustard gas; Lethality; Deterrence; Phosgene; Chemical munitions; Training; Gas masks; and Casualties.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 20, 1983
Accession Number
ADA168208

Entities

People

  • Edgar F. Raines Jr.

Organizations

  • United States Army Center of Military History

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artillery
  • Artillery Fire
  • Battlefields
  • Chemical Weapons
  • Explosives
  • Gas Masks
  • Guns
  • High Explosives
  • Machine Guns
  • Mustard Agents
  • Phosgene
  • Small Arms
  • Standards
  • Tear Gas
  • Training
  • United States
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Military Science
  • Strategic Security Studies