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

Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfaredirector in France. Church had assisted in the initialplanning for the Gas Service, and as medical directorhe devoted most of his time to organizational matters.The increase in gas casualties, however, resulted ina personnel change in the position, with LieutenantColonel Harry L Gilchrist replacing Church (Figure3-11). Gilchrist prepared for his new assignment byattending the British gas school in Rouen, France. 23,27Fig. 3-10. Lieutenant Colonel Amos A Fries, shown here as amajor general, was instrumental in organizing the chemicalwarfare service as it evolved in France.Photograph: Courtesy of Chemical and Biological DefenseCommand Historical Research and Response Team, AberdeenProving Ground, Md.a gas service responsible for both offensive and defensiveoperations, including gas personnel, gas warfaretraining, and gas warfare logistics in the AEF. 25On August 31 the surgeon general created a gasdefense service composed of three sections: field supply,overseas repair, and training. He placed a MedicalCorps officer in command and filled the staff withmembers of the Medical Department’s Sanitary Corps(the equivalent of today’s Medical Service Corps). Theofficers had no chemical warfare doctrine to guidethem; only two existing War Department publicationscould be of use: Notes on Gas as a Weapon in ModernWar and Memorandum on Gas Poisoning in Warfare withNotes on its Pathology and Treatment, both provided bythe Army War College. These documents appeared tohave borrowed extensively from French and Britishgas warfare doctrine. 26The US Army’s CWS was established on May 11,1918, with Major General William L Sibert as the firstchief. The CWS’s overseas division was known as theGas Service, and Major JR Church was its first medicalFig. 3-11. Lieutenant Colonel Harry L Gilchrist (1870–1943),shown here as a major general in the Chemical Corps, wasa preeminent figure in the history of the US Army’s medicalmanagement of chemical casualties. As a Medical Corps officer,he was the second medical director of the Gas Service(overseas component) of the American Expeditionary Forces(AEF) in France in 1917–1918. He was responsible for theevolution of chemical casualty care within the AEF in Europe.Later, at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland, he taught MedicalCorps officers a course in the medical management of chemicalcasualties. Eventually, he transferred to the ChemicalCorps, serving as its chief from 1929 to 1934.Photograph: Courtesy of Chemical and Biological DefenseCommand Historical Research and Response Team, AberdeenProving Ground, Md.90