Sanitäter, Infanterieregiment Nr. 12

Source: Author's collection

     World War One remains the only conflict in which poison gas was utilized openly and on a significant scale. It was the French who first deployed chemical weapons, using tear gas filled 26mm grenades in August 1914. The Germans, in October 1914, would use an irritant gas against the British. It was the Germans, however, who were the first to use gas enmasse, launching some 18,000 tear gas filled artillery shells on Russian positions during the Battle of Bolimov in January 1915. The frigid temperatures actually caused the gas molecules to freeze but despite this failure, the usage of gas escalated from simply using irritants to incapacitate to poison gas designed to kill. The Germans were the first to use such gas, sending clouds of poisonous chlorine towards British positions on January 2, 1915 with both lethal and psychological effect. 

     By the close of the war, the French, British, Germans, and Austrians had used a host of chemical agents which fell into one of five categories: acute lung irritants, lachrymators (tear producers), paralysants, sternutators (sensory irritants), and vesicants (namely dichlorethyl sulphide a.k.a. mustard gas). Countermeasures to such weapons were swift. At first, they were simple gauze pads held to the mouth and nose. Often, they would be wetted down with water (effective against chlorine gas), a bicarbonate solution, or in some cases, even urine. These crude masks would give way to more effective masks using oiled leather, fabric, or rubberized material along with attached filters to purge the air of the chemical agent as well as protect the eyes from irritant agents.

     This photograph depicts a medic of the 12th. Infantry Regiment (as denoted by the "12" on his Pickelhaube helmet cover). He is wearing a mask made up of discarded cotton stuffed into gauze padding. Soldiers issued with this type of mask also were issued a bottle containing a solution made up of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in water to dampen the mask. This was done upon a chemical attack being detected so as to allow the longest effectiveness before the mask dried up. 

     Across his chest, the medic is carrying an oxygen resuscitator. These were utilized to treat soldiers who suffered only a mild chemical attack injury as it was believed that if uncontaminated air could be flushed into the victim's lungs, it would give them a better chance at a more successful recovery.