Tear Shell: “One form of gas shell is called the ‘tear shell’ because on explosion it gives off an irritating gas that causes temporary blindness.
The British have just now devised a means of filtering this gas just as the chlorine gases and ‘tear gases’ are neutralized in the box-respirator and P-H helmet, so that they are no longer greatly to be feared.” Removal of the mask, however, means death. On explosion, it expands to a damp gas containing arsenic, invisible, odorless, and subtle, which penetrates the filters of the gas masks, causing great irritation of the nasal passages. It is chemically diphenulchlorarsine, and shells containing it are mixed with other shells in a bombardment. Sneeze Gas: “To force the removal of the protecting gas masks, the Germans have used what the soldiers call ‘Sneeze Gas,’ because its action is to cause violent desire to sneeze. A man may be lifted high in the air off a hard dirt road by the concussion of a shell.” If a man is very near a large shell, he will not only be knocked to the ground, but literally crushed to pulp by the same tremendous force that shatters buildings to kindling wood in the path of a cyclone. The effect is a nerve shock something seems to break in the brain, in the words of the ‘men who have come back,’ and they suffer a loss of self-control. Thus dud-shells (i.e., those that do not explode at all) will nevertheless cause concussion. A small shell falling close to a man will have a similar effect, even if it does not explode. Should it, however, burst too near you, you don’t see the cloudy effects.”Ĭoncussion: “The passage of big shells displaces air so suddenly that a man within range will be knocked to the ground by the rush of air. As explained in a passage from A History of the World War, here's how the gas masks worked: The perfected gas masks used by both sides contained a chamber filled with a specially prepared. Coal Box: “A Hun high explosive shell similar to the ‘Jack Johnson’ which on bursting makes a terrific noise and eliminates a heavy black cloud of gas.
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