BATTLE OF THE CYLINDERS

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 145085, 9 September 1916, Page 6

BATTLE OF THE CYLINDERS

DOSING THE HUN WITH GAS. THRILLING STORY OF A BRITISH GAS Ai TACK. Now that tho British official commuiuquo oas several times uiauo open auti uuußUuinoa uicnuuu ol tno . worn -gas," mtuwtu so stnciiy, taboo in. toe report* irom tno trout, pernap* some aoocnption may bo permiueu ol tuc wont or our own special corps or gasmen wnoso DUfcincss It m xo tlootur iue geuttc mm wim jus own meaiemo, urucs **uasman" m an oxenange. jjenuKl our tine's tuc suu' lias set in a Dja;*c oi giory at me. eau 01' a perfect summer s ua.v *v gurnce aver mv parapet snows me green ana scarlet oi me j/oppu-a '“->o -uaas mum" already muging into mo grey mists oi twiu«i auO yams away, uko a Drown farm snauaw amongst me greys, muigs me rusty uiaoea \v»ic or tnc enemy, ana juac oiaoaa h waite, ennuiy upmraw jixiuivs i.is irout ime treacn. me gasiuea start) across me suemt shadow a at taut- waue uae, iiuii tor a. moment mey uiiatv ut mo cuony, gargling euugn ot tae men wjio uie ay g«s. *o UQt pleasant tu cUc oy gits, THE Cl LINDERS UNSEALED. •'connect up I" mo order comes umvu woueu tu\.n<uiier. aau lac gasmen ua-‘ ijioaiau- v 0 -t ouv mo uuui rows oi iicrttiy-pia-'* -xujucags oi waiea eaen meftLCii L RnniiCiilij Auliuiy Uuut Hie pullti jut ami uisciuse a cacity ut waieo jeaus oi a low Ol iiua cylinders. mey ,m; Nuuk iu pies j>pma*i-y uug by iiic gasmen auu ». ca ‘ tu prova,T meat irom mo ,*u«iu.a chick or paxicKUo oy awag u or neiiu,,,iCuiiJo u»i.jc>. LitvD lyimaer wejgas iiuoui 4.00 ii)., and eoatuuia buiueicai eump»e-v'ea gas, U it euuiel oc used l< > i’I** 1 **- ““ tuc tUI “- |May out ut action. v*i tup oi iac cylinders lies a tangle ol aoxiuic eoiiaecuag pipes, uuoo ima tour way joints, ami scrcwju3. aiuv upon incse. iiiin spanner ana ray, ino gasmen start wuiK. ajic cyaniu* cowis ate umikdpi, revealing vaivc and miULMi oiiliOt, aim oeiore joag me mass ot piping is suaigaieaeu oiu ana puinea ue.ttiy m poaiuail to tno OacK u tuc parupei. me cylinders am ah foaiiectcu up in sene*, ana naming remains out io throw tno jets over me top oi tno parapet ana open tno valves in order to release me deadly Uuues.

nut souicuimg is required to carry Uie gas over to uic bcrnmu lines—a lavounng breeze—aurl never did tailor sean tins sKy more intently tiiim the gasmen waun tneir little, inconspicuous wind gauges, fixed to tne edge ot the trench. l.licy must have the wind ot a certain (lireetion. and they prefer it of a certain strength.

When not widening the wind, the gasmen arc watching their pipes; repeatedly feeling and testing every inch of Inltc and joint; for none know better than they the danger of leakage and of the escape of gas into their own trenches. Presently an officer passes down the line, casting rapid though, keen glances as he goes at cadi set of cylinders and iheir connecting pipes. And in every bay ho pauses and whispers two words to tlm corporal in charge: “Eleven o’clock.”

f ENEMY ILLUMINATIONS. Three-quarters of an hour still to go. Night has now completely fallen, and it is very quiet in tho ■ trenches.' The bombardment, for the time being, has died away, and the foeman, for his part, seems disinclined to disturb the peace. An occasional rifle .shot ,: the fitful splutter of a distant maehine-gun, are all that break the silence. Tim Germans, however, are on the alert. Every lew minutes one of their star shells soars aloft, and with its strange while glare chases the darkness from “No Jinn’s Land" between the. opposing lines. Slowly the minutes creep by, and slowly 'hut .surely the breeze loses strength. The gasmen shake their heads. Three nights already have, they waited in .vain for this wind which will not blow when it is wanted.

At 10.50 the gasmen don-T-heir special respirators, which, in the dim light, give, the wearers a strange, utmost inhuman appearance. Masked and goggled, with weird, trunk-like pieces of lio.se running from the mouthpiece to the of air-purifying chemicals strapped to their chests, they look like some, of the unearthly beings who people the. hooks of .Mr. H. 0. Wells. Ten-fifty-live. A last and most careful examination is made of the pipes ami connections. Spanners ami keys arc hud ready to hand, and the men stand straining their eyes at the wind gauges. Tenditty-niue. Not u breath disturbs the still air. The feeble breeze has died completely. Hurriedly, the. order runs down the line: ‘‘Cancel, and stand by,” Behind their masks the gasmen grunt disgustedly.

ANXIOUS Mp.MKNTS. . The gasmen move about uneasily. It is not for themselves they fear,'but for those pipes and cylinder heads lying hare and exposed to the hail of flying fragments. Well they know tho danger of bursts and of trendies filled with gas and no wind to 'move it. But they cannot “bag-up" without orders, and so they detail one of their number in eavli bay to watch the cylinders while the rest gather behind the traverse, ns being a slightly safer spot, and wish that their own side would ‘'shut up and let the Gormans go to sleep again.” Rut far in the roar, through the din of the lighter stull, some big gun roughs heavily, and overhead tlie shell “sh,shV J bv like an aerial express train. 1 he original infantry firo is developing into a regular bombardment, in which I'ritz is not content to take all and give nothing, and the gasmen grow profane. IJowovor; it is over an hour before the fire begins to slacken, and the order conics down lo disconnect and bag-up and close in on the section's dug-out just at tho back of the front line!

THE JUGHT WIND AT LAST. . day breaks a lair wind is blowing. but not quite in the desired direction. However, it'is gradually veering round, Thorn follows a further period oj weary waiting, and •then, at last, about eight o’clock in the morning, the men leave the dug-out and again take up their stations in the trench. Once more the cylinders arc mibagged and connected up, a now time is set, and respiraiors arc again donned. This time the wind leaves nothing to bo desired; a steady breeze is blowing straight towards the German trenches. But, ot course, it is now broad daylight, and the gas will bo visible as soon as it. leaves the pipes. The gasmen know what to They know that as soon as tho grccnish-grcy clouds arise outside their parapet there will be running messengers and hurried telephoning in the German hues. They know-that within a lew minutes the word will - have reached the German, big guns at tho back, and ilia-t every piece capable of

flattening out a parapet and . burying them, mangled and broken, among their own cylinders will bo concentrated upon the front-line trench in which they stand. Beneath’ their masks their faces mav he palo and 1 set, .but the hands which already grasp the valve-wheels do not tremble, and their eyes are fixed steadily on tho synchronised watches pinned to the parapet.

THE GAS RELEASED. Time! Over the top the jet-pipes arc flung, and then, simultaneously along almost two miles of trench, there arises a sibilant hiss, as of some monstrous-anti venomous snake suddenly aroused from slumber. Now the gasmen are working frantically with wheel and spanner and key, and the sibilant hiss increases m shrillness and volume- Outside the parapet. the green poison fog is already spreading like, a foul blanket over -‘No Man’s Land.” Carried ceaselessly forward by the breeze, its outer edge is rapidly aproaehing tho Gorman trenches into which it will presently sink, spreading agony and death among tlio.sc who cannot escape it. ’ No ride or machine-gun lire has been ordered this time, and from either line scarcolv a sound is heard except the deadly'hiss of the escaping fumes. The minutes pass in tense, ominous quiet. Nature herself seems to pause aghast to watch this latest devilry practised- by her children upon one another. Behind their masks the gasmen begin to breathe more freely, and then, suddenly. on the left, ‘‘crash!” And“crash 1” again, and yet again. This time on the right, somewhere'close at hand. The men crouch lower over their cylinders. The explosions now follow ono another almost too vapidly to count, and in any case their minds arc no longer fitted to count —or care. Only thc" valves - must he turned, and the pipes, must he watched, and the sudden ..purl of vapour which marks a leak must be cheeked by the application of a handful of mud, which the gas itself immediately freezes into an iron-hard and impenetrable mass.

'PATCHING THE BROKEN PIPE. in one of the bays, tiie parapet rooks suddenly and fidls forward, burying the men anti their cylinders. Almost immediately the. men scramble out of the debris again, miraculously unhurt; hut the pipes "a re broken and snapped, and gas Is tilling the trench. With spanner and mud the thing is stopped, new connections arc rigged _ up, and the .death vapour is again directed outside what is left of the trench. Cat one of the men liar, had the mouthpiece of his respirator broken, and already he is coughing and choking painfully. '‘l've got it!” ho gasps hoarsely, and goes behind the traverse to sack an ammonia ampule and the slowly.

ORDEAL OVER. Glpsing-up time.! Rapidly the valves are shut down, the jot pipes withdrawn and plugged and stacked away. Feverishly the men work at bagging’ up their cylinders again. They have finished now;, they have done, their bit, but death may still hnd them before they can got away. Imperturbably a sergeant stalks down the ruined 'and battered trench, shepherding lu's flock towards their dug-out. He is an oldtimer —a transfer from the infantry—and he scarcely quivers as a shell bursts behind a .traverse ho .has just left. Quietly lie directs' two of the men to. carry an' unconscious case to the nearest point of the' communication trench where stretcher-bearers, may be found, i

in the dug-out, with the shells stillI pounding overhead, roll jts called. Most of the men answer to | their names. Some are answered for - by comrades as wounded and' on their way-to the dressing station.- And'for others no one answers at all; But-over in the German trenches hundreds of men are choking and gasping in agony for an hour, before they can die. Erit/r has been made to quaft' his own medicine.