AIR RAIDS

Evening Star, Issue 23103, 1 November 1938, Page 1

AIR RAIDS

PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES DEVELOPMENT OF CHEMICAL WARFARE In an address to members of the Otago troop of the Legion of Frontiersmen, Corporal J. Laing recently dealt fully with the question of air raid precautions. He explained the development of chemical warfare and its application to aircraft', stressing the need for calmness on the part of the people in the of being subject to such a bombardment. The speaker first of all explained that when Britain entered the war she. had very few aeroplanes, most of which belonged to the Fleet Air Arm, and today these, would appear very .primitiveTheir principal use at that time vyas for scouting and observation, any aerial combats in the first months of the war being confined to the use. of revolver and service rifle.. Some bombing was carried out against military objectives, but as early as 1914 the Germans began bombing towns and strategic points far in rear of operations in the field. First Zeppelins were used, but as the war dragged on aircraft steadily improved, and London was repeatedly subjected to raids by the German Gotha bombers. In France the Allies eventually gained ascendancy in the air, and the fighting planes proved of incalculable value to the toiling troops in keeping the enemy machines away. In France, too, a totally new weapon was developed bv Germany in the form of chemical warfare, which was later to be adapted to aerial use. The Germans first used poison gas on April 22, 1915. Without any warning whatever, a cloud of greenish chlorine gas- released from the German trenches was swept by the wind into the trenches occupied by the Canadians and French. They were entirely unprepared for such an attack, and the succeeding week was one_ of sheer slaughter. But within that time a million respirators, . known as the Black Veil respirator, were supplied to the troops. Later came the hypo-hel-met, but the introduction of Phosgene tests showed that this type would be of little use, so further alterations were made to render it serviceable against this new gas. the results being known as the P. helmet. These were later superseded by the P.H. helmets. Tear gas was then used, and later tear and lung gas were used, requiring a further development to the helmet. First came the large box respirator, and later the small box respirator. _ This latter, with a number of modifications, was the modern gas maskReferrlng to chemical warfare as it affected the man in the street, the speaker said that there were two methods of attack from the air. Firstly by bombs which.(might contain hij'A-ts .-losive, a*small buTstiug charge, of' lYice'udiary bombs, and secondly by spray from aircraft. The latter was the least important as far as the citydweller was concerned. This form was employed by the Italians, in ■ Ethiopia, but only in open country. To be effective authorities said that the aircraft must fly at 300 ft or lower—an almost impossible undertaking in most cities, particularly if there was any form of anti-aircraft protection. Most of the sprav would fall on the roofs of the buildings, vaporise, and drift away, white a good deal would be carried off by the air currents, which were very strong over a city, particularly in warm weather. The effects would therefore be limited.

Bombs were an entirely different question. High explosive bombs with piercing nosecaps and delay action fuses were made up to 2,0001 b. One such bomb dropped on Shanghai penetrated a 4ih reinforced concrete roof and six floors, but fortunately failed to explode. High explosive and gas bombs could destroy and sprav the debris with liquid which would gradually vaporise and make the neighbourhood dangerous for days. Incendiary bombs caused fires, which were very difficult to extinguish since the bombs burned for about 10 minutes, but they would bo used with the incendiary type, as the latter caused currents of air which made the gas dissipate rapidly. The liquid blistering agents, ' mustard gas and Lewisite, were most likely to be used against cities, together with the nose-irritant gases, which were not lethal. In spite of all international agreements, gas was to-day an accepted form of warfare, and in any future war there could be little doubt that it would be employed on a far wider scale and in even more deadly forms than any that were known in the Great War. Moreover, its use was not likely to be restricted to the decimation of the troops, but would be extended to areas behind the actual battle area. Railway terminals and roads would be (trenched with it to make communication difficult, and attempts would be made to poison the water supplies of the civilian population in the cities. It would take 12ft of ferro-conerete or 50ft of earth to withstand the medium high explosive bomb, so that in the teeming population of a great city the total roll of the British forces during the World War might well be eclipsed within the first few days of the outbreak of a war in_the. near future.