A Canadian soldier with mustard gas burns, ca. 1917-1918.
By 5/22/15 the Germans knew they were in trouble.
Britain's South African gold gave it access to
an unlimited supply of U.S. artillery shells.
The British naval blockade was starving Germany to death.
Something decisive was needed.
Near the city of Ypres, the Germans opened cylinders of poison gas.
They were trying to try to break through the
defensive strength of the allies on the other side.
French and Canadian troops were the main victims of the green gas.
The gas burned their lungs as they died an awful death.
Europe's standard rules of war were gone w/ the winds the gas flew on.
Soldiers have no enemy to shoot at.
They could not surrender.
The war had turned into simple extermination.
The allies were soon to follow w/ their own chemical weapons.
Both sides eventually settled on the use of
artillery shells as the best distributer of the gases.
By 1918, 1/4th of all artillery shells fired on the Western Front used gas.
America tested it's artillery shells near Wash. D.C.
Some are still occasionally found buried in the earth to this day.
Washington D.C. Is Still Contaminated
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