1915: The First British Gas Masks

How the deadly effects of chlorine and phosgene gas were defeated by British scientists.  Researched using records in the UK National Archives and illustrated with exhibits from the Royal Engineers Museum, this two-part article ‘The First BEF Gas Respirators, 1915’ appeared in Military Illustrated, January & February 1991.

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See below for part two of the ‘First Gas Respirators, 1915.’


Join me on a battlefield tour with The Cultural Experience:

Tunnellers 12th – 15th June 2020

Walking the Somme 29th May – 1st June 2020

Medics & Padres 30th July – 2nd August 2020

Walking Ypres Autumn 2021


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Join me on a battlefield tour with The Cultural Experience:

Simon Jones Battlefield Tour Somme Poets 2019

The War Poets: Words, Music and Landscapes, 10th-13th July 2023

First & Last Shots 1914 & 1918

Medics & Padres in the Great War

Walking Ypres 1914-1918

Walking the Somme, Summer 2023

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Understanding Chemical Warfare in the First World War


Edward Harrison

Edward Harrison, who gave his life to protect against poison gas


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Yellow Cross: Measures to protect against Mustard Gas


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The First Gas Attacks, A Century On

British gas casualties Bailleul May 1915

How a confused British response to the first German chlorine gas attacks led to the disaster of the British attack at Loos in September 1915.

Originally published in The Great War, Vol. 1, No. 4 and Vol. 2, No. 1 (1989). Click images to enlarge.

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Join me on a battlefield tour with The Cultural Experience:

Simon Jones Battlefield Tour Somme Poets 2019

Tunnellers 4th – 7th June 2021

The War Poets: Words, Music and Landscapes Summer 2021

First & Last Shots Summer 2021

Medics & Padres 29th July – 1st August 2021

The Ypres Salient War Poets 30th September – 3rd October 2021

Walking Ypres Autumn 2021

Walking the Somme Spring 2022

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Yellow Cross: the Advent of Mustard Gas in 1917