The use of poison gas, the word being used in its broad sense, is now
general. It was first used by the Germans, but as in the case of flame
throwers, the Allies soon gained the ascendency.
[Illustration: Four photographs of tanks.]
TYPES OF LAND BATTLESHIPS DEVELOPED BY ALLIES AND GERMANS
British light tank, of 1918, with turret action and high speed
British Tank of earliest type, as used at Cambrai.
German land battleship in 1918 on the Western front
Improved French Tank first used in Champagne in 1916.
[Illustration: Painting]
CHARGING ON GERMAN TRENCHES IN GAS MASKS
Each British soldier carried two gas-proof helmets. At the first alarm
of gas the helmet was instantly adjusted, for to breathe even a whiff
of the yellow cloud meant death or serious injury. This picture shows
the earlier type before the respirator mask was devised to keep up
with Germany's development of gas warfare.
The first use of asphyxiating gas was by the Germans during the first
battle of Ypres. There the deadly compound was mixed in huge reservoirs
back of the German lines. From these extended a system of pipes with
vents pointed toward the British and Canadian lines. Waiting until air
currents were moving steadily westward, the Germans opened the
stop-cocks shortly after midnight and the poisonous fumes swept slowly,
relentlessly forward in a greenish cloud that moved close to the earth.
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