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The above A-26 was shot at Wheeler field, Oahu on
24th Oct 1946 with mustard spray attchments, can anyone supply additional data on this aircraft please.
Several types of fighters and
light bombers carried the M10 smoke tank. The Douglas A-20 and A-26 could carry up to four of these tanks to lay a smoke
screen or dispense chemicals such as tear gas. When filled to a maximum of 30 gallons, each tank weighed up to 588 pounds
and could lay a smoke screen about 2,000 feet long.
This type of American 'Smoke Curtain Installation'
device was used during the Second World War D-Day operations by RAF Boston aircraft to lay a smoke curtain which screened
assaulting craft from the shore batteries at Le Havre, and the East coast of the Cherbourg Peninsula. There is no doubt that
the efficacy of the smoke screen played an important part in the success of the Normandy landings. The aircrafts' approach
to the area was made at 300ft, the actual smoke laying being done at sea level. Each aircraft laid up to 5,000 yards of smoke
screen. Aerial created 'smoke curtains' were deployed by the USAAF and other services, and used extensively in the South Pacific
against the Japanese. Many types of aircraft used the equipment, but the Bostons were the most consistent users. (Information
derived from a letter from Air Historical Branch, RAF, dated 3 July 1958).
The M10 Model Airplane Smoke Tank weighed
68lb empty, had a capacity of 33 gallons, and it took 5 to 6 seconds to completely discharge
Chemical Warfare Service 10 M ......Airplane
Smoke s/n 3561 EMSCO LOT C-59-1 S.C.1
Chemicals used for smoke generation and other applications
Sulfur
Mustard ( Mustard gas )
Mustard
gas was first used effectively in World War I by the German army against British soldiers near Ypres, Belgium, in 1917 and
later also against the French Second Army. The name Yperite comes from its usage by the German army near the town of
Ypres. The Allies did not use mustard gas until November 1917 at Cambrai, France, after the armies had captured a stockpile
of German mustard-gas shells. It took the British more than a year to develop their own mustard gas weapon. (The only option
available to the British was the Despretz–Niemann–Guthrie process). This was used first in September 1918 during
the breaking of the Hindenburg Line.
Mustard
gas was dispersed as an aerosol in a mixture with other chemicals, giving it a yellow-brown color and a distinctive odor.
Mustard gas has also been dispersed in such munitions as aerial bombs, land mines, mortar rounds, artillery shells, and rockets.
Exposure to mustard gas was lethal in about one percent of cases. Its effectiveness was as an incapacitating agent.
The early countermeasures against mustard gas were relatively ineffective, since a soldier wearing a gas mask was not protected
against absorbing it through his skin and being blistered.
Mustard
gas is a persistent weapon that remains on the ground for days and weeks, and it continues to cause ill effects. If mustard
gas contaminates a soldier's clothing and equipment, then the other soldiers that he comes into contact with are also poisoned.
Towards the end of World War I, mustard gas was used in high concentrations as an area-denial weapon that forced troops to
abandon heavily-contaminated areas.
Since
World War I, mustard gas has been used in several wars or other conflicts, usually against people who cannot retaliate:
- United Kingdom
against the Red Army in 1919
- Spain and France
against Rif insurgents in Morocco during 1921 – 27
- Italy in Libya
during 1930
- The Soviet Union
in Xinjiang, Republic of China, during the Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang against the 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
in 1934, and also in the Xinjiang War (1937) during 1936 – 37
- Italy against
Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) from 1935 to 1940
- Nazi Germany
against Poland and the Soviet Union in a few incidents during World War II
- Poland against
Germany in 1939 during an isolated incident, using a British product
- The Japanese
Empire against China during 1937 – 45
- Egypt against
North Yemen during 1963 – 67
- Iraq against
Iran and the Kurds during 1983 – 88
- Possibly Sudan
against insurgents in the civil war, in 1995 and 1997
In
1943, during the Second World War, an American shipment of mustard gas exploded aboard a supply ship that
was bombed during an air raid in the harbor of Bari, Italy. Eighty-three of the 628 hospitalized victims who had been exposed
to the mustard gas died. The deaths and incident were partially classified for many years.
Zinc chloride
Zinc
chloride smoke is grey-white and consists of tiny particles of zinc chloride. The most common mixture for generating these
is the zinc chloride smoke mixture (HC), consisting of
hexachloroethane, grained aluminium and zinc oxide. The smoke consists of zinc chloride, zinc oxychlorides, and hydrochloric
acid, which absorb the moisture in the air. The smoke also contains traces of organic chlorinated compounds, phosgene, carbon
monoxide, and chlorine.
Its
toxicity is caused mainly by the content of strongly acidic hydrochloric acid, but also due to thermal effects of reaction
of zinc chloride with water. These effects cause lesions of the mucous membranes of the upper airways. Damage of the lower
airways can manifest itself later as well, due to fine particles of zinc chloride and traces of phosgene. In high concentrations
the smoke can be very dangerous when inhaled. Symptoms include dyspnea, retrosternal pain, hoarseness, stridor, lachrymation,
cough, expectoration, and in some cases haemoptysis. Delayed pulmonary edema, cyanosis or bronchopneumonia may develop. The
smoke and the spent canisters contain suspected carcinogens.
The prognosis for the casualties depends on the degree of
the pulmonary damage. All exposed individuals should be kept under observation for 8 hours. Most affected individuals recover
within several days, with some symptoms persisting for up to 1–2 weeks. Severe cases can suffer of reduced pulmonary
function for some months, the worst cases developing marked dyspnea and cyanosis leading to death.
Respirators are required for people coming into contact
with the zinc chloride smoke.
Chlorosulfuric
acid
Chlorosulfuric
acid (CSA) is a heavy, strongly acidic liquid. When dispensed in air, it readily absorbs moisture and forms dense white
fog of hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid. In moderate concentrations it is highly irritating to eyes, nose, and skin.
When
chlorosulfuric acid comes in contact with water, a strong exothermic reaction scatters the corrosive mixture in all directions.
CSA is highly corrosive, so careful handling is required.
Low
concentrations cause prickling sensations on the skin, but high concentrations or prolonged exposure to field concentrations
can cause severe irritation of the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract, and mild cough and moderate contact dermatitis can result.
Liquid CSA causes acid burns of skin and exposure of eyes can lead to severe eye damage.
Affected
body parts should be washed with water and then with sodium bicarbonate solution. The burns are then treated like thermal
burns. The skin burns heal readily, while cornea burns can result in residual scarring.
Respirators are required for any concentrations sufficient
to cause any coughing, irritation of the eyes or prickling of the skin.
Titanium
tetrachloride
Titanium
tetrachloride (FM) is a yellow, non-flammable, corrosive liquid. In contact with damp air it hydrolyzes readily, resulting
in a dense white smoke consisting of droplets of hydrochloric acid and particles of titanium oxychloride.
The titanium tetrachloride smoke is irritant and unpleasant
to breathe.
It is dispensed from aircraft to create vertical smoke curtains,
and during World War II it was a favorite smoke generation agent on warships.
Goggles or a respirator should be worn when in contact with
the smoke, full protective clothing should be worn when handling liquid FM. In direct contact with skin or eyes, liquid FM
causes acid burns.
Phosphorus
White phosphorus (weapon)
Red
phosphorus and white phosphorus (WP) are red or waxy yellow or white substances. White phosphorus is pyrophoric - can be handled safely when under water, but in contact with air it spontaneously ignites. It is used as an incendiary. Both types of phosphorus are used for smoke generation, mostly in artillery
shells, bombs, and grenades.
White phosphorus smoke is typically very hot and may cause
burns on contact. Red phosphorus is less reactive, does not ignite spontaneously, and its smoke does not cause thermal burns
- for this reason it is safer to handle, but cannot be used so easily as an incendiary.
Aerosol
of burning phosphorus particles is an effective obscurant against thermal imaging systems. However, this effect is short-lived.
After the phosphorus particles fully burn, the smoke reverts from emission to absorption. While very effective in the visible
spectrum, cool phosphorus smoke has only low absorption and scattering in infrared wavelengths. Additives in the smoke that
involve this part of the spectrum may be visible to thermal imagers or IR viewers.
Dyes
Colored smoke
Various
signalling purposes require the use of colored smoke. The smoke created is a fine mist of dye particles, generated by burning
a mixture of one or more dyes with a low-temperature pyrotechnic composition, usually based on potassium chlorate and lactose
(also known as milk sugar).
Colored smoke screen is also possible by adding a colored
dye into the fog oil mixture. Typical white smoke screen uses titanium dioxide (or other white pigment), but other colors
are possible by replacing titanium dioxide with another pigment. When the hot fog oil condenses on contact with air, the pigment
particles are suspended along with the oil vapor. Early smoke screen experiments attempted the use of colored pigment, but
found that titanium dioxide was the most light scattering particle known and therefore best for use in obscuring troops and
naval vessels. Colored smoke became primarily used for signaling rather than obscuring. In today's military, smoke grenades
are found to be non-cancer causing, unlike the 50's AN-M8 model.
Chemical Warfare Service in the Southwest Pacific During
World War II
by Dr. Burton Wright III
The goal of the Army's Chemical
Warfare Service (CWS) in the Pacific during World War II was to provide Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) forces, which were commanded
by General Douglas McArthur, with the capability to conduct chemical warfare if needed. The CWS had to meet substantial challenges
before it could accomplish that goal.
The CWS set up shop in Australia—the
SWPA logistics hub for most of the war—to supply chemical warfare needs. However, in mid-1942, the 3d Chemical Laboratory
Company, then the sole CWS unit in the Pacific theater, had almost no chemical equipment or chemicals. Thus, the CWS in Australia
lacked what it needed to support chemical operations.
Some relief, but not enough, occurred
when the Army established a general depot for materials left behind by Army divisions passing through Australia on their way
to the front. Although the stockpiles obtained from these units seemed more than adequate at first, planners in the United
States were developing a logistics strategy to ensure that adequate supplies would reach every corner of the far Pacific.
This high-level planning culminated in February 1942 with a document on an overall supply system for Australia. It called
for stockpiling 90 days' worth of supplies of all classes, to include ground ammunition.
The Adjutant General directed the Army's
technical services, which included the CWS, to complete a level-of-supply study and set up a system that provided for shipment
of materiel to Australia. In other words, they had to determine the number of soldiers the supply system would need and the
methods they would use to get supplies to the depot in Australia.
The Office of the Chief of the Chemical
Warfare Service used this study to determine the correct quantity of chemicals to send to Australia. Mustard was the only
chemical retaliatory agent available for shipment, and it had to be shipped in heavy bulk containers. Only 870 of the 1,000
tons of mustard agent requested were sent to Australia because shipping space was limited.
The SWPA CWS asked for supplies in excess
of allowances in order to overstock supplies and ensure that they would be available when needed. This was because troops
are far simpler to ship than bulk cargo; to adequately support large infusions of men, it was necessary to make sure that
bulk supplies were on hand before the troops arrived.
Once the mustard agent arrived, it had
to be processed and put into mines, spray tanks, and bombs. This procedure required a special facility. Colonel William Copthorne,
one of the senior CWS officers in Australia, wrote to the Department of the Army and requested that an entire plant be shipped
from the United States. The plant arrived dismantled and without any diagrams showing how to reassemble it. The Americans
had to use guesswork to assemble the plant, but they succeeded. The plant eventually filled 14,000 bomb casings that, though
intended for the Philippines, stayed in Australia after the Philippines fell to the Japanese.
Landmines were in short supply. The Army
had the landmines manufactured locally and shipped unfilled to the CWS. CWS then added the chemical agent so the mines could
be stored for later use.
Even though the M10 spray tanks used
with aircraft were shipped to Australia without accessories or filling instructions, the CWS plant managed to fill enough
spray tanks to supply a 63-plane raid.
Artillery shells took a bit longer to
produce. Although the mustard agent and the filler plant were available, shell casings were not. They had to be shipped in
scarce transport space. Luckily, the lack of artillery shells was not significant. Only one piece of equipment capable of
firing artillery shells had been shipped to the front since the nature of combat in the jungles at that time did not allow
for use of heavy artillery.
By March 1943, a gas warfare plan was
in place in case the Japanese used chemicals. This plan called for toxic agents to be dispersed in six different locations.
If the President authorized the use of chemicals, U.S. forces could respond immediately.
By late 1943, General MacArthur had the
capability to use chemical weapons offensively. It took time, but the CWS accomplished its goal even though the Pacific was
not the Army's highest priority during World War II. Ingenuity was the key. ALOG
Note: Until his death
earlier this year, Dr. Burton Wright III was the historian at the Army Chemical School at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He
was a frequent contributor to Army Logistician, and we regret his passing.
Several types of fighters and light
bombers carried the M10 smoke tank. The Douglas A-20 and A-26 could carry up to four of these tanks to lay a smoke screen
or dispense chemicals such as tear gas. When filled to a maximum of 30 gallons, each tank weighed up to 588 pounds and could
lay a smoke screen about 2,000 feet long.
This type of American 'Smoke Curtain Installation'
device was used during the Second World War D-Day operations by RAF Boston aircraft to lay a smoke curtain which screened
assaulting craft from the shore batteries at Le Havre, and the East coast of the Cherbourg Peninsula. There is no doubt that
the efficacy of the smoke screen played an important part in the success of the Normandy landings. The aircrafts' approach
to the area was made at 300ft, the actual smoke laying being done at sea level. Each aircraft laid up to 5,000 yards of smoke
screen. Aerial created 'smoke curtains' were deployed by the USAAF and other services, and used extensively in the South Pacific
against the Japanese. Many types of aircraft used the equipment, but the Bostons were the most consistent users. (Information
derived from a letter from Air Historical Branch, RAF, dated 3 July 1958).
The M10 Model Airplane Smoke Tank weighed
68lb empty, had a capacity of 33 gallons, and it took 5 to 6 seconds to completely discharge
Chemical Warfare Service 10 M ......Airplane
Smoke s/n 3561 EMSCO LOT C-59-1 S.C.1
Chemicals used for smoke generation and other applications
Sulfur
Mustard ( Mustard gas )
Mustard
gas was first used effectively in World War I by the German army against British soldiers near Ypres, Belgium, in 1917 and
later also against the French Second Army. The name Yperite comes from its usage by the German army near the town of
Ypres. The Allies did not use mustard gas until November 1917 at Cambrai, France, after the armies had captured a stockpile
of German mustard-gas shells. It took the British more than a year to develop their own mustard gas weapon. (The only option
available to the British was the Despretz–Niemann–Guthrie process). This was used first in September 1918 during
the breaking of the Hindenburg Line.
Mustard
gas was dispersed as an aerosol in a mixture with other chemicals, giving it a yellow-brown color and a distinctive odor.
Mustard gas has also been dispersed in such munitions as aerial bombs, land mines, mortar rounds, artillery shells, and rockets.
Exposure to mustard gas was lethal in about one percent of cases. Its effectiveness was as an incapacitating agent.
The early countermeasures against mustard gas were relatively ineffective, since a soldier wearing a gas mask was not protected
against absorbing it through his skin and being blistered.
Mustard
gas is a persistent weapon that remains on the ground for days and weeks, and it continues to cause ill effects. If mustard
gas contaminates a soldier's clothing and equipment, then the other soldiers that he comes into contact with are also poisoned.
Towards the end of World War I, mustard gas was used in high concentrations as an area-denial weapon that forced troops to
abandon heavily-contaminated areas.
Since World War I, mustard gas has been used in several wars or other conflicts, usually against people who
cannot retaliate:
- United Kingdom
against the Red Army in 1919
- Spain
and France against Rif insurgents in Morocco during 1921 – 27
- Italy
in Libya during 1930
- The Soviet Union
in Xinjiang, Republic of China, during the Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang against the 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
in 1934, and also in the Xinjiang War (1937) during 1936 – 37
- Italy against
Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) from 1935 to 1940
- Nazi Germany
against Poland and the Soviet Union in a few incidents during World War II
- Poland against
Germany in 1939 during an isolated incident, using a British product
- The Japanese
Empire against China during 1937 – 45
- Egypt against
North Yemen during 1963 – 67
- Iraq against
Iran and the Kurds during 1983 – 88
- Possibly Sudan
against insurgents in the civil war, in 1995 and 1997
In
1943, during the Second World War, an American shipment of mustard gas exploded aboard a supply ship that
was bombed during an air raid in the harbor of Bari, Italy. Eighty-three of the 628 hospitalized victims who had been exposed
to the mustard gas died. The deaths and incident were partially classified for many years.
Zinc chloride
Zinc
chloride smoke is grey-white and consists of tiny particles of zinc chloride. The most common mixture for generating these
is the zinc chloride smoke mixture (HC), consisting of
hexachloroethane, grained aluminium and zinc oxide. The smoke consists of zinc chloride, zinc oxychlorides, and hydrochloric
acid, which absorb the moisture in the air. The smoke also contains traces of organic chlorinated compounds, phosgene, carbon
monoxide, and chlorine.
Its
toxicity is caused mainly by the content of strongly acidic hydrochloric acid, but also due to thermal effects of reaction
of zinc chloride with water. These effects cause lesions of the mucous membranes of the upper airways. Damage of the lower
airways can manifest itself later as well, due to fine particles of zinc chloride and traces of phosgene. In high concentrations
the smoke can be very dangerous when inhaled. Symptoms include dyspnea, retrosternal pain, hoarseness, stridor, lachrymation,
cough, expectoration, and in some cases haemoptysis. Delayed pulmonary edema, cyanosis or bronchopneumonia may develop. The
smoke and the spent canisters contain suspected carcinogens.
The prognosis for the casualties depends on the degree of
the pulmonary damage. All exposed individuals should be kept under observation for 8 hours. Most affected individuals recover
within several days, with some symptoms persisting for up to 1–2 weeks. Severe cases can suffer of reduced pulmonary
function for some months, the worst cases developing marked dyspnea and cyanosis leading to death.
Respirators are required for people coming into contact
with the zinc chloride smoke.
Chlorosulfuric acid
Chlorosulfuric
acid (CSA) is a heavy, strongly acidic liquid. When dispensed in air, it readily absorbs moisture and forms dense white
fog of hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid. In moderate concentrations it is highly irritating to eyes, nose, and skin.
When
chlorosulfuric acid comes in contact with water, a strong exothermic reaction scatters the corrosive mixture in all directions.
CSA is highly corrosive, so careful handling is required.
Low
concentrations cause prickling sensations on the skin, but high concentrations or prolonged exposure to field concentrations
can cause severe irritation of the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract, and mild cough and moderate contact dermatitis can result.
Liquid CSA causes acid burns of skin and exposure of eyes can lead to severe eye damage.
Affected
body parts should be washed with water and then with sodium bicarbonate solution. The burns are then treated like thermal
burns. The skin burns heal readily, while cornea burns can result in residual scarring.
Respirators are required for any concentrations sufficient
to cause any coughing, irritation of the eyes or prickling of the skin.
Titanium tetrachloride
Titanium
tetrachloride (FM) is a yellow, non-flammable, corrosive liquid. In contact with damp air it hydrolyzes readily, resulting
in a dense white smoke consisting of droplets of hydrochloric acid and particles of titanium oxychloride.
The titanium tetrachloride smoke is irritant and unpleasant
to breathe.
It is dispensed from aircraft to create vertical smoke curtains,
and during World War II it was a favorite smoke generation agent on warships.
Goggles or a respirator should be worn when in contact with
the smoke, full protective clothing should be worn when handling liquid FM. In direct contact with skin or eyes, liquid FM
causes acid burns.
Phosphorus
White phosphorus (weapon)
Red
phosphorus and white phosphorus (WP) are red or waxy yellow or white substances. White phosphorus is pyrophoric - can be handled safely when under water, but in contact with air it spontaneously ignites. It is used as an incendiary.
Both types of phosphorus are used for smoke generation, mostly in artillery shells, bombs, and grenades.
White phosphorus smoke is typically very hot and may cause
burns on contact. Red phosphorus is less reactive, does not ignite spontaneously, and its smoke does not cause thermal burns
- for this reason it is safer to handle, but cannot be used so easily as an incendiary.
Aerosol
of burning phosphorus particles is an effective obscurant against thermal imaging systems. However, this effect is short-lived.
After the phosphorus particles fully burn, the smoke reverts from emission to absorption. While very effective in the visible
spectrum, cool phosphorus smoke has only low absorption and scattering in infrared wavelengths. Additives in the smoke that
involve this part of the spectrum may be visible to thermal imagers or IR viewers.
Dyes
Colored smoke
Various
signalling purposes require the use of colored smoke. The smoke created is a fine mist of dye particles, generated by burning
a mixture of one or more dyes with a low-temperature pyrotechnic composition, usually based on potassium chlorate and lactose
(also known as milk sugar).
Colored smoke screen is also possible by adding a colored
dye into the fog oil mixture. Typical white smoke screen uses titanium dioxide (or other white pigment), but other colors
are possible by replacing titanium dioxide with another pigment. When the hot fog oil condenses on contact with air, the pigment
particles are suspended along with the oil vapor. Early smoke screen experiments attempted the use of colored pigment, but
found that titanium dioxide was the most light scattering particle known and therefore best for use in obscuring troops and
naval vessels. Colored smoke became primarily used for signaling rather than obscuring. In today's military, smoke grenades
are found to be non-cancer causing, unlike the 50's AN-M8 model.
Chemical Warfare Service in the Southwest Pacific During
World War II
by Dr. Burton Wright III
The goal of the Army's Chemical
Warfare Service (CWS) in the Pacific during World War II was to provide Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) forces, which were commanded
by General Douglas McArthur, with the capability to conduct chemical warfare if needed. The CWS had to meet substantial challenges
before it could accomplish that goal.
The CWS set up shop in Australia—the
SWPA logistics hub for most of the war—to supply chemical warfare needs. However, in mid-1942, the 3d Chemical Laboratory
Company, then the sole CWS unit in the Pacific theater, had almost no chemical equipment or chemicals. Thus, the CWS in Australia
lacked what it needed to support chemical operations.
Some relief, but not enough, occurred
when the Army established a general depot for materials left behind by Army divisions passing through Australia on their way
to the front. Although the stockpiles obtained from these units seemed more than adequate at first, planners in the United
States were developing a logistics strategy to ensure that adequate supplies would reach every corner of the far Pacific.
This high-level planning culminated in February 1942 with a document on an overall supply system for Australia. It called
for stockpiling 90 days' worth of supplies of all classes, to include ground ammunition.
The Adjutant General directed the Army's
technical services, which included the CWS, to complete a level-of-supply study and set up a system that provided for shipment
of materiel to Australia. In other words, they had to determine the number of soldiers the supply system would need and the
methods they would use to get supplies to the depot in Australia.
The Office of the Chief of the Chemical
Warfare Service used this study to determine the correct quantity of chemicals to send to Australia. Mustard was the only
chemical retaliatory agent available for shipment, and it had to be shipped in heavy bulk containers. Only 870 of the 1,000
tons of mustard agent requested were sent to Australia because shipping space was limited.
The SWPA CWS asked for supplies in excess
of allowances in order to overstock supplies and ensure that they would be available when needed. This was because troops
are far simpler to ship than bulk cargo; to adequately support large infusions of men, it was necessary to make sure that
bulk supplies were on hand before the troops arrived.
Once the mustard agent arrived, it had
to be processed and put into mines, spray tanks, and bombs. This procedure required a special facility. Colonel William Copthorne,
one of the senior CWS officers in Australia, wrote to the Department of the Army and requested that an entire plant be shipped
from the United States. The plant arrived dismantled and without any diagrams showing how to reassemble it. The Americans
had to use guesswork to assemble the plant, but they succeeded. The plant eventually filled 14,000 bomb casings that, though
intended for the Philippines, stayed in Australia after the Philippines fell to the Japanese.
Landmines were in short supply. The Army
had the landmines manufactured locally and shipped unfilled to the CWS. CWS then added the chemical agent so the mines could
be stored for later use.
Even though the M10 spray tanks used
with aircraft were shipped to Australia without accessories or filling instructions, the CWS plant managed to fill enough
spray tanks to supply a 63-plane raid.
Artillery shells took a bit longer to
produce. Although the mustard agent and the filler plant were available, shell casings were not. They had to be shipped in
scarce transport space. Luckily, the lack of artillery shells was not significant. Only one piece of equipment capable of
firing artillery shells had been shipped to the front since the nature of combat in the jungles at that time did not allow
for use of heavy artillery.
By March 1943, a gas warfare plan was
in place in case the Japanese used chemicals. This plan called for toxic agents to be dispersed in six different locations.
If the President authorized the use of chemicals, U.S. forces could respond immediately.
By late 1943, General MacArthur had the
capability to use chemical weapons offensively. It took time, but the CWS accomplished its goal even though the Pacific was
not the Army's highest priority during World War II. Ingenuity was the key. ALOG
Note: Until his death
earlier this year, Dr. Burton Wright III was the historian at the Army Chemical School at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He
was a frequent contributor to Army Logistician, and we regret his passing.
|
