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

History of the Medical Management of Chemical CasualtiesEXHIBIT 3-3EXCERPT FROM “TAKE ME BACK TODEAR OLD BLIGHTY!”—A POPULARBRITISH WARTIME SONGTake me back to dear old Blighty!Put me on the train for London town!Take me over there,Drop me ANYWHERE,Liverpool, Leeds, or Birmingham, well, I don’t care!I should love to see my best girl,Cuddling up again we soon should be,WHOA!!!Tiddley iddley ighty,Hurry me home to Blighty,Blighty is the place for me!Reproduced from: Mills AJ, Godfrey F, Scott B. Take Me Back ToDear Old Blighty. London, England: Chappell Music; 1916.for example. They had about twenty fatalities out ofthe first 1,000 cases, chiefly from bronchial troubles.Fortunately vision does not appear to be often lost. 14American Expeditionary Forces Medical OrganizationFaced with the need to respond rapidly to thechemical battlefield, the AEF based its medical supportorganization on the British system. On June 13, 1917,while the general staff in the United States struggledto organize, staff, and equip an army, General JohnJ Pershing, commander of the AEF, and his personnelarrived and settled in Paris, followed by the firstAmerican troops several weeks later. General OrderNo. 8, published on July 5, 1917, established the organizationof the AEF general headquarters, includingthe “chief of the gas service.” 22 The medical divisionoriginated in July 1917 when the Bureau of Minesestablished a laboratory for the study of toxic gases atYale in New Haven, Connecticut, at the urging of DrYandell Henderson, an expert on oxygen rescue equipment.The laboratory was staffed by several scientistsfrom around the country. 23On July 24, 1917, the chief of staff ordered the MedicalDepartment to provide nine officers as instructorsfor a gas defense school to be organized at the infantryschool of musketry at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. As a result,Fig. 3-9. This photograph is frequently held to show theinhumanity of chemical warfare; however, very few mustardcasualties developed permanent eye injuries, let aloneblindness.Reproduced with permission from: Marshall SLA. AmericanHeritage History of World War I. New York: NY: Simon andSchuster; 1964: 167.the Medical Department was tasked with conductingdefensive gas training, placing MOs without gaswarfare experience in charge of training other MOs forduty as instructors (Table 3-3). 24On August 17, 1917, General Pershing sent a cableto Washington requesting the organization of a gasservice and the authority to appoint Lieutenant ColonelAmos A Fries of the Corps of Engineers as its chief(Figure 3-10). On August 22 Fries began building anorganization based on specialized British and Frenchunits. Additionally, staff officers gave Fries a draft ofa proposed General Order No. 31, which establishedTABLE 3-3MAJOR DEFENSIVE CAMPAIGNS OF THEAMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES, 1918DatesMarch 21–April 6April 9–April 27May 27–June 5June 9–June 13July 15–July 18CampaignSomme DefensiveLys DefensiveAisne Defensive (Chatieau-Thierry,Belleau Wood, Vaux)Montdidier-Noyon DefensiveChampagne-Marne Defensive (SecondBattle of Marne)89