Mustard Gas
(Yperite) - was first used by the German Army in September 1917. The most
lethal of all the poisonous chemicals used during the war, it was almost
odourless and took twelve hours to take effect. Yperite was so powerful that
only small amounts had to be added to high explosive shells to be effective.
Once in the soil, mustard gas remained active for several weeks. The skin of
victims of mustard gas blistered, the eyes became very sore and they began to
vomit. Mustard gas caused internal and external bleeding and attacked the
bronchial tubes, stripping off the mucous membrane. This was extremely painful
and most soldiers had to be strapped to their beds. It usually took a person
four or five weeks to die of mustard gas poisoning. One nurse, Vera Brittain,
wrote: "I wish those people who talk about going on with this war whatever
it costs could see the soldiers suffering from mustard gas poisoning. Great
mustard-coloured blisters, blind eyes, all sticky and stuck together, always
fighting for breath, with voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats are
closing and they know they will choke."
This description is
very like the author wrote
World War I training camps- In the training camp they heard that
they were to e retrained as infantrymen. At Winston Churchill’s command
they were, hardly prepared and badly equipped, put to defend the fortified city
of