WW1 Talk Good evening. I must say I am quite anxious tonight. Dr. Kubricht is a famous historian and a tough act to follow. Despite my anxiety I am still thrilled to be included within this distinguished group including a historian, a literarian, and a theologian: Kubricht, Watson, and Luke Tallom. I am the least of these my brothers, as I am just a chemistian, who God has blessed. Though I am the least of these my brothers, I have the best topic. I get to talk, and likely learn from you, about the science and technology of WW1. We will talk tonight about the technical advances in the air, the land, under the sea, and then we will discuss the topic of chemical warfare. Yes, we will keep the best part, chemistry, until last. Because of the nature of this talk, I will be doing something I don’t normally do, that is, speak from prepared notes, which I will make available on my website and have some hardcopies available as well. Before we get started on science and technology, let me try to provide a brief overview of the WW1. Wars and rumors of war, this appears to be the inevitable end of humanity since we ate of the tree of knowledge. With respect to WW1, what specific events or circumstances led to the beginning and the end to this specific war? Can we learn anything from this war, or are we doomed to repeat our mistakes to the end of time? It is said that WW1 began in July 28 of 1914 and lasted until November 11 1918. It began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, and his wife, on June 28, 1914, by a Serb named Gavrilo Princip and accomplices. Apparently there were some territorial disputes between Austria and Serbia. Within a month, the world took sides: the UK, France, and the Russians made up the ‘triple Entente and opposed the “central powers” of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The US, Japan, and Italy would join the triple Entente, aka the allies, while the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria would join the central powers. The war drew to an end on the eastern front with the collapse of the Russian government in 1917, (with calls for Peace, Land, and Bread) which eventually led to some agreement between the Russians and the Central Powers and the birth of the Soviet Union. On the western front, after years of trench warfare, in 1918, there was a large German offensive, which resulted in the allies pushing the Germans back leading to the end of the war with an armistice on November 11, 1918. In 1919 we have the Treaty of Versailles, signed in Paris, which officially

1

marks the end of WW1. Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations was developed after WW1 to prevent future wars. WW1 changed the map of Europe. The Ottoman empire, the German Empire, the Russian Empire, were now gone. New nations, new nationalisms, arose. It is likely that more than 9 million combatants and 7 million civilians died in WW1. Compared to earlier wars this was a dramatic increase. Why was WW1 and WW2 after it, so much more deadly? Let us begin by looking at aircraft of WW1. Observation balloons were used in WW1 for reconnaissance and sometimes to release chemicals, which we will talk about later. Balloons were also used in the French Revolutionary War way back at the turn of 1800. So, this was the old air technology of WW1. But there were new aircraft technologies in WW1. Recall that the Wright brother first flew their Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903. This flight lasted just over a minutes and was headlined “A Day that Shook the World.” Aircraft advanced quickly over the next decade. (video) Bomber at 6:17. Many of these planes had synchronized machine guns. The synchronization allowed for the machine gun to shoot between the propeller blades without shooting the propeller. There were dozens of aircraft used in WW1. In WW1 we have images of the German Red Baron, aka Manfred von Richthofen and his famous Fokker triplane. The Red Baron officially shot down 80 other aircraft between 1916 and 1918, being shot down and killed on April 21, 1918. The Allies planes included the Sopwith Camel and Sopwith Snipe. On the land beneath the aircraft and balloons things were not so fluid. The war quickly bogged down into trench warfare due to the development of some powerful defensive weapons. The infantry had advanced the hand grenade. These grenades were packed with both explosives and gases. We will talk more about gases later. Big Bertha, Dicke Berta, a German 42 inch Howitzer designed as a result of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904, rained down shell upon shell on the soldiers taking refuge in the trenches providing the origin of the term ‘shell shock’.

2

Flame throwers, first used by the Germans, then also by the French and British, struck terror in the hearts of soldiers huddled in the trenches. We’ve already mentioned machine guns when we spoke of aircraft. The infantry had machine guns as well. Prior to WW1, during the US civil war, there was the Gatling gun, but soon after that the Maxim machine gun was invented in 1904. The European machine guns of WW1 were based on the Maxim design with later versions being called the Vickers. These early machines were notorious for overheating and came with both water and air cooling. Nonetheless, they were ubiquitous in the trench warfare and came to be called the Queen of the Battle. These Maxim based machine gun designs were heavy, over one hundred pounds. They required soldiers for transport, soldiers to feed the ammo, and a soldier to operate the gun. The US made the Browning M1917 fired 450 rounds/min, with a maximum range of 5000 yds., about 3 miles. It was based on a 1910 patented design of Jim Moses Browning. It was much lighter than its European counterpart, but it was still heavy at about 50 lbs. Though 50 lbs. is a still heavy, it isn’t near as heavy as the next weapon to roll out in WW1. Tanks. Tanks were an answer to trench warfare. In 1915 the British developed the “little Willie” based on the design of an agricultural tractor. The Mark 1, produced in 1916, was 26 feet long and was initially called a “land ship” but later became known as a tank because the workers thought it resembled a steel water tank, and, for secrecy reasons, the workers were told to tell people they were working on mobile water tanks, not a military weapon. The Mark 1 traveled at about 4 mph and took several people to control. It was not very reliable and could travel only a few miles at a time before it would overheat. Yet, it broke through the lines at the battle of Flers to advance two miles across enemy lines and took the battle out of the trenches. Mark 2,3,4, and 5 would soon follow. (video) The French also developed a tank by 1917, the Renault FT-17. It was much smaller than the British model and was called the “mosquito.” (video) The British and French manufactured thousands of tanks during WW1 while the Germans were able to produce only 20. But where the German’s lacked in tanks on land, they made up for under the sea. The German unterseeboot, or u-boats, was a major investment in the German strategy to defeat the allies. These were battery powered submarines. Diesel generators were used to charge the batteries when the u-boat was not submerged. (video) 0-1:30, 3:00-3:50, 6:00-8:00. -

3

Early in WW1 there was no defense against this shark of the sea. Later, counter submarine warfare techniques, such as depth charges were developed. But not soon enough for the Lusitania. The RMS Lusitania, with many American passengers, despite published warnings by the Germans, was sunk by two torpedoes from a German submarine on May 7, 1915. Though the Germans would apologize to the US for the loss of American life, the sinking of the Lusitania and other ships would eventually be one of the rallying cries for a US declaration of war in April 2 of 1917 under President Woodrow Wilson. Over There the Yanks were met not with submarines, but with chemical warfare. Chemical Weapons Tear Gas was used early in the WW1. Gas is a bit of a misnomer as most of these agents are liquids at room temperature, though it is the gas vapors of the liquid that are effective. In August of 1914, one month into the war, it is reported that French used ethyl bromoacetate against the Germans. Many vehicles can be used to deliver these chemicals, the French used grenades. It was not very successful. Later these and other chemicals were delivered by artillery shells. The Germans used tons of xylyl bromide against the Russians at the Battle of Bolimow in January 1915. Fortunately, for the Russians, the weather was cold and so this greatly diminished the amount of xylyl bromide vapors that were produced. These same agents are used today by police and riot control. So take a lesson. If you are planning a spontaneous riot, schedule it for a cold day so the tear gas will be less effective. Why do these chemicals cause you to tear up, cough, and otherwise get sick? You will notice that both of these substances contain a bromine atom. Almost all lachrymators that I know of are what we call alkyl halides. They have a hydrocarbon group attached to at least one of the halogens, bromine and chlorine most often. It is the properties of the alkyl halide that is responsible for the chemistry that initiates the tear response. What is this chemistry? Well the chemistry is not obvious, but it likely involves the electron poor carbon of the alkyl halide reacting with a protein site containing electron rich nitrogen atoms which are present in your eyes and the linings in your throat and nose. Why these chemicals? These chemicals had already been produced in the chemical industry for the production of other chemicals. They were known chemicals not specifically developed as warfare agents. Though tear gas exposure can lead to pneumonia, in general it is not deadly. However, the next contestant on CW tonight can be deadly. 4

Chlorine, Cl2, unlike the liquid tear gas agents, is, with a boiling point of -34 oC, a gas at room temperature. Chlorine, unlike tear gas, is deadly. However, to be deadly, the exposure needs be high, which in the outdoor war theatre can be a difficult situation to achieve. Low concentrations of chlorine can cause blindness and respiration damage. The famous painting, Gassed, by John Singer, shows a group of soldiers, blinded by a chlorine attack, being led to safety. What is the chemistry involved in chlorine attacks? This chemistry is a bit more clear. It is well known that chlorine gas dissolves in water to produce HCl(aq) and oxygen gas. We also know that both chlorine and hydrochloric acid can add across the carbon carbon double bond found in various tissues to destroy those tissues and create akyl halides (tear gas). Chlorine can also dissociate to form radicals, which can go around catalyzing all sorts of destructive chemistry. Chlorine gas attacks were first used by the Germans against the French in the second battle of Ypres in April 1915. It is reported that the French thought the yellow-green cloud of gas was a smoke screen to hide the movement of the Germans, so they rushed straight into the cloud only to be panicked and disbursed. Until then, gas attacks had been non-lethal. With chlorine, there was no holding back; this was a fight to the death. Both the British and the Germans were to use Chlorine again. The trouble is that the gas goes where the wind blows. It is toxic to both your enemy and yourself. To get it to the enemy gas artillery shells were developed. If you do get it to the enemy, it may kill slowly, and painfully. Death by chlorine gas is very different than death by machine gun. With the use of chlorine, deadly gasses are now on the table. What else can we use? How about phosgene and mustard gas? Phosgene, dichloromethanal, COCl2, is easily produced from carbon monoxide and chlorine gas. It is more deadly than is chlorine gas, but it is slower in doing the killing, which is an inconvenience in war because you will still need to fight the enemy for another 24 hours before they die. So, phosgene was often combined with chlorine gas, for faster action and best overall kill rate. The phosgene/chlorine mixture was called the “white star.” 88 tons were first used by the Germans against the British in December 19 of 1915. Only 69 deaths and 1000 some casualties are reported. Phosgene and chlorine gas were the most manufactured warfare gasses of WW1, 90,000 tons of chlorine, 37,000 tons of phosgene, and a total of 190,000 tons for all chemical warfare agents. 5

Why is phosgene deadly? The molecule is small and the carbon is very electron poor due to the greedy oxygen and chlorine atoms attached to it. The result is a molecule that can enter far into the lung tissue where it is very reactive with electron rich nitrogen atoms in human proteins at the respiratory interface. By the way, in Greek ‘phos’ is light, and ‘gene’ is birth, phosgene is the birth of light. Mustard gas. Bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide What is mustard gas? It is a cytotoxin and a vesicant, which means it is toxic to cells and it is a blistering agent. The Germans coded their mustard gas shells as yellow and the phosgene/chlorine shells as green. Mustard gas came to be called the “Yellow Cross.” It was first reported used by the Germans in the third battle of Ypres, on July 1917. It is a liquid at room temperature like tear gas. Like tear gas it also has the same alkyl halide functionality. Unlike tear gas it can also react with itself in aqueous solutions to form sulfonium ions, positively charged polyatomic cations that attack the electron rich nitrogen atoms of proteins and enzymes as we have seen before. We have discussed science and technology in the air, on the land, under the sea, and chemical warfare agents. Here is a quick review. (video) We have discussed what might be considered brute force chemical warfare agents. These agents were off the shelf chemicals at the time. Since then other CW and biochemical warfare agents have been specifically developed, Sarin nerve gas, for example. Yet, despite new arrivals, the old CW agents of WW1 are still used today, but not by everyone. In 1992 and 1993 a CW weapons agreement was developed and was signed by most of the world’s major powers including the United States. The convention went into full effect in 1997. Since the signing, the US has destroyed all of its CW agents. Most of this destruction took place on a tiny atoll, now decommissioned, out in the middle of the Pacific ocean, Johnston atoll. Some twenty years ago, before it was used to incinerate CW agents, I was on Johnston atoll. I was in transit travelling through the Pacific and the plane stopped at Johnston. Military personnel came on the plane to escort some people off and others on and we were instructed to have our shades drawn at all times. An interesting place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. WW1 is also an interesting time to study, but I feel fortunate that I did not have to live through it.

6

My grandfather, William DeBoer, my father’s father, was not so fortunate. He was drafted into WW1 in May of 1918. However, fortunately, or not, for him there was a flu epidemic in 1918. It was called the Spanish Flu because it was reported to have been worse in Spain, though this may be due to Spain being neutral in WW1 and the war infected countries not wanting to report accurately. The Spanish flu of 1918 was the first of the H1N1 virus and it is thought to have killed 50-100 million people. Perhaps that puts WW1 into a different perspective? Speaking of perspective, the WW1 soldiers were issued a small book, a common book of prayers, Episcopalian I believe, and in it was the prayer of the soldier. We ask solders to do their duty, but I think we also, as the people who do the asking, have a duty. I think Proverbs issues some good advice for all of us. Perhaps Watson and Tallom will also give us advice in the weeks to come. With that I am open to questions and comments.

7