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effects of Mustard Gas

D

dewisfamily

Guest
if a solider was gassed in ww1 what would happen to him?
 
Quite often they died. many suffered respiratory problems and were hospitalised and invalided out, suffering for the rest of their life.

My father had Mustard gas burns on his arms and wrists from WW2 - There were stockpiles of Mustard Gas shells under the control of REME units, just in case the germans used gas , so that we would be able to reply in kind. the burns went right down to the bones and the scars remained for his whole life, another 60 years.
 
My Wifes grandad, L/Cpl Hones, Royal Fusiliers, was gassed in 1917, he was 19 yrs old lived untill 1982, with one lung and cycled miles every day practicaly till he died and smoked a pipe, nanna always said he did so well cause of the amount of rum he drank.
 
".....
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
..."
DULCE ET DECORUM EST - 8 October 1917 - March, 1918 - Wilfred Owen
 
My g/father William C.Coates RWR,was gassed in WW1..he came home but suffered for the rest of his life,l guess his lungs were in such bad shape he had a heart attack at a young age and was'nt able to work and he died in 1946 of stomach cancer, which l'm sure was contributed to the mustard gas.My grandad never talked about the war,and my mother said he was a changed man when he came home along with a lot of other soldiers l'm sure which is not surprising as they must have seen some terrible sights in France, whoever would have thought that there would be a WW11....Brenda
 
Paul, after reading about the effects of mustard gas on the body, i'm sure the coaltion of mustard gas and stomach cancer can'nt be denighed, my g/f was in ill health for many many years so even after he fought for his country he was fighting for the rest of his life just to live as l know many more soldiers were doing the same ,god bless'em.....Brenda
 
my relation was gassed will there be a record of it ?if so where can i look for it?
 
The only mention of it that you are likely to find (other than any letters etc that your family might have) is
> in his army service record (where it would be given as a wound (gas), and if you are lucky with a date), plus
> a very slim possibility of being mentioned in his unit's war diary, plus
> local press.

I think it's really all covered above, but just to be clear mustard is a gas that blisters and burns the skin. It would soak into the ground and a man could get burned if some soaked into his uniform, for example. Chlorine, Phosgene and the other gasses used were lung irritants that if taken in certain quantities were deadly.
 
My father suffered from mustard gas poisoning, he was captured at that time and remained a pow until the end of the war, although he worked after the war, he could only do light jobs as his health was never good. unfortunately he caught TB and died in 1940 at the age of 44, i was a year old so i don't remember him. Williams
 
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