THE YPRES TIMES
7
From 9 a.m. of the morning that the announcement appeared in the English
newspapers (28th April), the Chief Ordnance Officer at the Royal Army Clothing
Department, Pimlico, was besieged with requests for instructions. A long queue
of willing workersmany sitting on the stepsawaited this officer's appearance, and,
on receiving the specifications, rushed to the nearest stores to purchase the prescribed
material. One lady alone undertook to deliver 5,000 a day. With such alacrity
did the public respond that deliveries of the finished article commenced within five
hours of receipt of instructions. Some of the stores, including Messrs. Harrods, Ltd.,
displayed made-up samples in their windows.
Number' 1 specification called for bleached cotton gauze and Number 2 specifica
tion, stockinette.
Most of the respirators made from No. 1 specification had cheese-cloth (muslin)
instead of cotton gauze, this, not being required for surgical purposes, was easier to
procure. Many of the stockinette type were made from body-beltsthus serving a
more useful purpose.
The size advised was 9in. by 4in., tapering at both ends. Between the folds of
the material a small piece of Lancashire-Welsh woollen flannel about 3in. long and
din. narrower than the respirator was to be tacked in. About 3in. from both ends
a pad of cotton wool was placed to take up as much moisture as possible but not
to cover the mouth. This pattern was adjusted by two bands of elastic and tape
about din. wide. It was suggested that the respirators be dyed with coffee or Madder
or Condy's Fluid.
Such an overwhelming response was made by the women of Britain that on
Thursday, 29th April, the War Office made the following announcement"Thanks
to the magnificent response already made to the appeal in the Press for respirators
for the troops, the War Office is in a position to announce that no further respirators
need be made." Indeed, a superabundance was received which permitted a goodly
supply being turned over to the Belgian Army.
The French official despatch of 24th April gives an admirable description of
the cloud effect of the gas "A dense yellow smoke, emanating from the German
trenches and blown by a steady wind, produced an effect of complete asphyxiation
upon our troops. The appearance and the effect produced are exactly those of
feeding a wood fire with sulphur, the yellow vapours of which mingled with the
white smoke giving the described appearance."
The effect from the enemy side is given by a German writer as follows "A
heavy yellowish-white, opaque cloud appeared like a wall along the German trenches,
on a front of six kilometres. The cloud, at first the height of a man, later increasing
in height, travelled with a wind of between two and three metres per second."
Seen laterally, or obliquely, as by most of the Canadians, the cloud appeared
unbroken; seen from in front it was in Blocks with clear intervals between. An
officer of the Canadian Mobile Laboratory reported that the gas cloud took about
half an hour to travel an approximate distance of 6,000 yards. And that the cloud
looked at least thirty or forty feet high. Another member of the division described
the gas as. "a sort of bluish-green mist" and that "it felt cold to breathe, and im
mediately one felt it in one's lungs and began to cough and gasp for breath."
The troops in the line had not the knowledge of their superiors and were caught
at a great disadvantage. The aroma of the gas was at first pleasant to the nostrils
many will recall that it was likened to scented violetsbut when the fumes reached
the lungs it proved a different story.
During the second discharge of gas on 24th April, the Canadians sought the
best means at their disposal for protection from the fumes. Handkerchiefs, towels
and cotton ammunition bandoliers were usedbeing wetted with water or any liquid
available, while several members of the 84th (British) Brigade obtained effective