Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfare (2008) - The Black Vault

History of the Medical Management of Chemical CasualtiesFig. 3-3. This photograph is reputed to show the German chlorine gas cloud attack at Ypres, Belgium, on April 22, 1915.Although there is little evidence to support this claim, the photograph does show a visible cloud, probably created by acylinder attack.Photograph: Courtesy of Chemical and Biological Defense Command Historical Research and Response Team, AberdeenProving Ground, Md.the French, everything was quiet. We all wonderedwhat was going to happen.As this great cloud of green gray gas was forming infront of us, we suddenly heard the French yelling. Inless than a minute, they started with the most rifleand machine gun fire that I had ever heard. Everyfield artillery gun, every machine gun, every rifle thatthe French had must have been firing. I had neverheard such a noise. The hail of bullets going overour heads was unbelievable, but it was not stoppingthe gas. The wind kept moving the gas towards theFrench lines. We heard the cows bawling, and thehorses screaming. The French kept on shooting. Theycouldn’t possibly have seen what they were shootingat. In about fifteen minutes, the gun fire startedto quit. After a half hour, only occasional shots [wereheard]. Then everything was quiet again.In a while it had cleared and we walked past the emptygas bottles [cylinders]. What we saw was total death.Nothing was alive. All of the animals had come out oftheir holes to die. Dead rabbits, moles, rats, and micewere everywhere. The smell of the gas was still in theair. It hung on the few bushes that were left. Whenwe got to the French lines, the trenches were empty.But in a half mile, the bodies of French soldiers wereeverywhere. It was unbelievable. Then we saw thatthere was some English. You could see where menhad clawed at their faces, and throats, trying to gettheir breath. Some had shot themselves. The horses,still in the stables, cows, chickens, everything, all81