WW2 Chemical Suit

Excellent photo, Chemical warfare isnt something we hear o\r read much about from WW2. Anybody anymore information about it ?

great find Matzos

Oo look a boil in the bag solider.

Some instances of use of Chemical Weapons:

* 429 B.C.- Spartans ignite pitch and sulphur to create toxic fumes in the Peloponnesian War.

* 424 B.C.- Toxic fumes used in siege of Delium during the Peloponnesian War.

* 1456- City of Belgrade defeats invading Turks by igniting rags dipped in poison to create a toxic cloud.

* April 24, 1863- The US War Department issues General Order 100, proclaiming "the use of poison in any manner, be it to poison wells, or foods, or arms, is wholly excluded from modern warfare".

* World War I - the use of chemical agents in WWI caused an estimated 1,300,000 casualties, including 90,000 deaths.

* 1914- French begin using tear gas in grenades and Germans retaliate with tear gas in artillery shells. This was the first significant use of chemical warfare in WWI.

* April 22, 1915- Germans attack the French with chlorine gas at Ypres, France. This was the first significant use of chemical warfare in WWI.

* September 25, 1915 - First British chemical weapons attack; chlorine gas is used against Germans at the Battle of Loos.

* February 26, 1918 - Germans launch the first projectile attack against US troops with phosgene and chloropicrin shells. The first major use of gas against American forces.

* June 1918 - Fist US use of gas in warfare.

* June 28, 1918 - The US begins its formal chemical weapons program with the establishment of the Chemical Warfare Service.

* 1919 - British use Adamsite against the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War.

* 1922-1927 - The Spanish use chemical weapons against the Rif rebels in Spanish Morocco.

* 1936 - Italy uses mustard gas against Ethiopians during its invasion of Abyssinia.

* 1942 - Nazis begin using Zyklon B (hydrocyanic acid) in gas chambers for the mass murder of concentration camp prisoners.

* Dec 1943 - A US ship loaded with mustard bombs s attacked by Germans in the port of Bari, Italy; 83 US troops die in poisoned waters.

* April 1945 - Germans manufacture and stockpile large amounts of tabun and sarin nerve gases but do not use them.

* 1962-1970 - US uses treat gas and four types of defoliant, including Agent Orange, in Vietnam.

* 1963-1967 - Egypt uses chemical weapons (phosgene, mustard) against Yemen.

* 1975-1983 - Alleged use of Yellow Rain (trichothecene mycotoxins) by Soviet-backed forces in Laos and Kampuchea. There is evidence to suggest use of T-2 toxin, but an alternative hypothesis suggests that the yellow spots labelled Yellow Rain were caused by swarms of defecating bees.

* 1979 - The US government alleges Soviets use of chemical weapons in Afghanistan, including Yellow Rain.

* August, 1983 - Iraq begins using chemical weapons (mustard gas), Iran-Iraq War.

* 1984 - First ever use of nerve agent tabun on the battlefield, by Iraq during Iran-Iraq War.

* 1987-1988 - Iraq uses chemical weapons (hydrogen cyanide, mustard gas) in its Anfal Campaign against the Kurds, most notably in the Halabja Massacre of 1988.

* March 20, 1995 - The Tokyo Subway sarin gas attack killed nearly a dozen people and incapacitating or injuring approximately 5,000 others. Thousands did not die from the Tokyo attack due to impure of the agent. A tiny drop of sarin, which was originally developed in Germany in the 1930s, can kill within minutes after skin contact or inhalation of its vapour. Like all other nerve agents, sarin blocks the action of acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme necessary for the transmission of nerve impulses.

Chemical warfare Wikipedia

Interestingly enough, CW use during WWII didn't occur because neither side had any idea what the other side was capable of in retaileration. Fear Factor played well in this case. I suspect the fact many people were effected or saw the effects during WWI played a large role in this too. IIRC Hitler was gassed as well. I've read accounts of the these attacks and I can't think of a more grusome form of warfare. (It's all bad but this is mindbending.)

Aiming From A Chemical-Proof Cover
From inside a portable protective cover (to prevent contact with certain chemical weapons), an American solider (curiously wearing a denim jacket and matching cap) aims his gun during a battlefield training, early 1940s.
https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detai...over-an-american-solider-news-photo/103354175