THE YPRES TIMES
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No. 3 was a great improvement if treated with respect, but should one become
too familiar and start breathing out of turn the result was somewhat embarrasing.
Gas bag No. 3 still took the form of a flannel bag, but the eye-pieces were much superior
and then there was the valve. This was a tin tube some six inches long, two inches
of which was inside the bag and a rubber mouth piece, the remaining three or four
inches protruded outside and its end was adorned by a rubber valve which must
be described in detail. This valve was composed of two triangular pieces of rubber
stuck together around the edges, the apex of the triangle being left open, so that the
tin tube could be inserted and firmly fastened with cement. Then the two corners
at the base of our triangle were cut off leaving two slits. It will now be seen that the
tube could be blown through from the inner end, but to inhale was impossible, the
two slits closing immediately one tried to do so. Having donned the gas bag, the pro
cedure was to inhale through the nose and then blow through the tube which was
kept tightly clenched in the teeth. This kept the eye-pieces from becoming misted
to a certain extent except when one perspired, which was almost inevitable. The whole
thing seemed very simple but it was amazing how easy it was to getout of step.'
We were on one of those alleged rests when gas bag No 3 was used, and of course
in the interests of military discipline, gas mask drill by numbers was the order of the
day. Our Sergeant, whom we will call Rawlings, was one of those gentlemen with
a very red face, a large moustache, a pronounced chest hung rather low and always
seemed rather short of breath, but Sergeant Rawlings liked things done right, and
having been initiated into the mysteries of the new gas drill, he was determined that
we should go through the movement with a click, in fact several clicks, and having
delivered himself of a lengthy harangue, proceeded to give us a demonstration going
through the motions in excellent style, unfortunately, however, he managed to end
up with the wretched thing on backwards. A humorous retort from the irrepress
ible Johnnie produced an immediate epidemic of mirth. The Sergeant snatched off
his mask, roared silence and growled something about insubordination and Cheshire
cats, but as the Company C.O. was approaching the scene of operations, the Sergeant
commenced again. This time he got it right and breathed as he had carefully in
structed us. His first inhalation produced a deep growl ur-r-rgh to be followed as he
exhaled through the tube by an extremely high and wavering peep finally termin
ating into a barrage of urghs and peeps The Officer looked startled, and beat a
hasty retreat in direction of the Mess. Sergeant Rawlings, seeing that his demonstra
tion was not being taken in quite the right spirit, got out of tune and lost his grip on
the mouth-piece, the whole bag then began to inflate and deflate violently. The de
moralization of the troops was now complete, and the Sergeant- unmarked hurriedly
the following ten minutes or so was taken up with profuse and rather impolite verbiage.
Order being restored, the whole company donned their masks and the resulting musical
effect was beyond description, each valve seemed to have some peculiar character
istic. Some made a deep gurgle others a shrill scream, a number waggled and a few
curled up as though in disdain. The parade was doomed to failure, as far as Sergeant
Rawlings was concerned, his sense of humour being considerably below par.
A few days later we went back into the line without a further exhibition of the
musical qualities of gas mask No 3. The rumours that filtered through concerning
the gas attack at Ypres were anything but encouraging and the decision of the wind
was noted twenty times a day by everyone from the cook to the Colonel. Nothing
transpired until we had been in the line for a few days, then one morning just before
dawn, an overstrained sentry gazed horror-stricken over the parapet at a slowly ap
proaching mass of vapour. For a moment or two he watched the swirling eddying
menace, then grabbing an entrenching tool handle, he lustily pounded the shell-case
hung on the side of the trench. In a few seconds, gas gongs were going all along the
line and within a couple of minutes everyone was standing to The gas cloud was
