Bombs - Poison Gas

I am sure the "forumites" would know this, so I thought I would ask. Any recorded bombing missions (Allied or Central Power) that the aircraft dropped poision gas bombs in 1917 or 1918? Any recorded damage or after action reports from the bombed side?
I am thinking of writting a scenerio for Dawn Patrol board game based on poision gas bomb attack and am looking for some historical basis.
In the book "Higher Form of Killing" (great book about chemical/biological weapons) a stat is mentioned that 25% of all shells at the end of the war were chemical.

arggh! I know I found a book earlier this year that dealt with that but I can't remember the title! aircraft deliver was considered, but I don't believe it worked out very well. the accuracy of getting the targets was a problem. furthermore, artillery was simply the fastest, safest way of delivering the goodies. I can't imagine aircraft being able to carry enough payload to make any significant gas attack. maybe a flight of Gothas or the Handley Page - but generally speaking the only way to lay down enough gas to get the desired results was artillery, and LOTS of it. it's also easier to aim at night and in bad weather... here's some samples from the book I wish I could mention by name. I love that quote from the Hague Convention "unecessary suffering!?" those of you who've been around awhile know that I've already popped this one up... but it's just so absurd, I couldn't pass it by.
***
although the German general staff had not apparently evaluated the importance of using
chemical weapons as a deliberate and wanton violation of convential law regarding land
warfare, the British realized the importance of this aspect immediately. Artical 23 of the
Hague convention of 1899 bound the signatories ‘to abstain from the use of projectiles
the sole object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or deletorious gases.’ The same
artical forbade the use of weapons causing ‘unnecessary suffering.’
the chlorine gas employed at ypres was a product of a civilian laboratory...developed by Fritz Haber, a leading German chemist--assembled through a complex industrial process and empoyed on the field by specialists under the direction of
a civilian chemist. . . it was a weapon promoted by civilians and reservists to rescue the German millitary professionals, who were handicapped by a shortage of conventional artillery units and resources and by an inability to devise any more satisfactory means of overcoming the protracted position warfare that Germany had to avoid....
the military regarded gas with suspicion..
hope that helps.
Jarrod

[Darryl]

Hi Barton,

The simple answer is ...no. The first time poison gas was dropped in bombs on active service was by the Italians in 1920 something in what is now Ethiopia.Haven't got the exact date to hand, I can dig it up this week if you are interested.

regards

darryl

Thanks to you all for answering my question. It seems the Italians get the "honor" (if you call it an honor, I would call it the horror) of using gas after WW1.

Ethiopia, 1935

[Darryl]

Thanks Hugh,

And of course Ethiopia was, at that time, still Abyssinia.

regards

Darryl

A U.S. Naval flyer attached to the RAF, (I recall it was Kenneth McLeish) was was found unmarked but in dead repose alongside his undamaged Camel. The assumption was that he had made a forced landing in an area that had been subject to a British gassing and had become a victim of the fumes. For Ira: Both Cobb and "Matty" were in U.S. "gas" units I think. Didn't "Matty" get a lingering chest condition as a result of gas exposure? That was an odd couple: maybe the best and the worst temperaments of that era of the "Grand Old Game"? Regards. LEB

[Ira_Silverman]

All:

I have always been more than a little puzzled by the use of poison gas by the Central Powers during WW1. It would seem to me given that the prevailing winds were from the west, the gas clouds would be blown directly back at the Germans. There's only so many gas masks to go around, the masks at the time probably weren't very efficient, etc...

Seems to me that gas warfare was a "terror weapon" of limited actual practicality. Any comment?

Lee:

Don't know about Cobb, but Matty was indeed in a gas unit during the Great War, and being gassed led to his developing tuberculosis and dying prematurely in 1925, aged 45 years.

Matty and Cobb were diametrical opposites on and off the field, Matty being college educated, and one of the true gentlemen of the sport. Indeed, with Mathewson representing Bucknell, and Hobey Baker representing Princeton, there's probably more than a little truth behind the legend of Frank Merriwell.

Sadly, I'd wager that less than 10% of the students at Princeton today could even guess who Baker Rink is named for.

VBR,

Ira

Gas is a terrible weapon. Gas kills all sides. It also blows around and is unpredictable. The use of gas has a habit of the other side using it also, cancelling out your advantage.

I don't think there's a soldier in the world who would say they like chemical and biological weapons. I think it's significant that these were originally developed by a civilian... and now it's the civilians who act as though the military came up with it! And the guy who invented one of the earliest chemical weapons naturally saw himself as doing Germany a great big favor. It's a nasty, indiscriminate weapon that no self-respecting soldier would ever have created, or want his name attached to... at least no soldiers that I know of.