Showing posts with label mustard gas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mustard gas. Show all posts
Thursday, December 27, 2018
Nut Shells and Pits Collected for Gas Masks in 1918
From the November 28, 2018, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois) "Looking Back."
1918, 100 Years Ago.
"Over 617 pounds of nut shells and pits were sent recently from DeKalb to the government for the making of gas masks.
"What disposition shall be made of them now, no one knows. Barrels are standing on the corners yet being filled."
The War Was Over By This Date. --Cooter
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Mustard Gas at Bari, Italy, World War II-- Part 1
Yesterday, I wrote about the mustard gas at Bari, Italy, in the Ten Things You Might Not Know About World War II. I must admit that I didn't know. Here is some more information from Wikipedia.
Bari, Italy has the unfortunate experience of being the only European city to be involved in chemical warfare during the war. And it wasn't the case of one side using it on the other.
Bari had become a major supply depot for Allied forces as they pushed their way up the Italian peninsula. The mustard gas was aboard the US Liberty Ship John Harvey and was in Italy in case Germany started using their chemical weapons. On December 2, 1943, German Junkers JU 88 bombers attacked the port.
The existence of the mustard gas was highly classified and the physicians treating the victims did not know what they were dealing with which led to higher casualties.
It is not known for sure how many deaths were attributed to the mustard gas or the attack itself. One reason is because the Allied leaders, FDR, Churchill, and Eisenhower ordered the records destroyed.
It is known that 69 deaths occurred, mostly merchant seamen (and they still are not recognized as veterans of the war!!). Others believe that as many as a thousand Americans died and an equal number of Italian civilians.
It has been called "Little Pearl Harbor." Two books have been written about it.
And I Never Heard of It. --Cooter
Bari, Italy has the unfortunate experience of being the only European city to be involved in chemical warfare during the war. And it wasn't the case of one side using it on the other.
Bari had become a major supply depot for Allied forces as they pushed their way up the Italian peninsula. The mustard gas was aboard the US Liberty Ship John Harvey and was in Italy in case Germany started using their chemical weapons. On December 2, 1943, German Junkers JU 88 bombers attacked the port.
The existence of the mustard gas was highly classified and the physicians treating the victims did not know what they were dealing with which led to higher casualties.
It is not known for sure how many deaths were attributed to the mustard gas or the attack itself. One reason is because the Allied leaders, FDR, Churchill, and Eisenhower ordered the records destroyed.
It is known that 69 deaths occurred, mostly merchant seamen (and they still are not recognized as veterans of the war!!). Others believe that as many as a thousand Americans died and an equal number of Italian civilians.
It has been called "Little Pearl Harbor." Two books have been written about it.
And I Never Heard of It. --Cooter
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