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The Riddle of the Rhine:

V >> Victor LeFebure >> The Riddle of the Rhine:



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THE RIDDLE
OF THE RHINE
CHEMICAL STRATEGY IN PEACE AND WAR

_An account of the critical struggle for power
and for the decisive war initiative. The campaign
fostered by the great Rhine factories, and
the pressing problems which they represent.
A matter of pre-eminent public interest
concerning the sincerity of disarmament, the
future of warfare, and the stability of peace_.

BY

VICTOR LEFEBURE
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Mil.)
Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, Officer of the Crown of Italy
Fellow of the Chemical Society, etc.


WITH A PREFACE BY
MARSHAL FOCH

AND AN INTRODUCTION BY
FIELD-MARSHAL SIR HENRY WILSON, BART.
Chief of the Imperial General Staff



THE CHEMICAL FOUNDATION, INC.
81 FULTON STREET
NEW YORK CITY



Published, 1923,
By THE CHEMICAL FOUNDATION, INC.
----
_All Rights Reserved_

_Printed in the United States of America_



PREFACE


My motives in writing this book are sufficiently explained in
the first chapter. The silence surrounding the true facts of the
chemical campaign, the tardy realisation of the real forces behind it
in Germany, and our failure to grasp the significance of the matter
in the Treaty, all pointed to the need for an early statement.
More recently, this need has been emphasised by inaccurate
public utterances on the matter, and by its vital importance
for the full and fair treatment of certain legislative measures
before Allied countries.

A unique experience of chemical warfare in all its aspects, first with a
combatant gas unit on the British front in France, then as Liaison Officer
with France and other Allies on all Chemical Warfare and allied questions,
has afforded me an exceptionally complete survey of the subject.
Later post-armistice experience in Paris, and the occupied territories,
assisting Lord Moulton on various chemical questions in connection
with the Treaty, and surveying the great chemical munition factories
of the Rhine, has provided a central view of the whole matter which can
have been the privilege and opportunity of very few.

Further, my association with the dye industry, since commencing this book,
leaves me with a deep conviction of the critical importance for disarmament,
of a world redistribution of organic chemical production. It is inevitable
that such a step should benefit the growing organic chemical industries
of countries other than Germany, but this issue need not be shirked.
The importance of the matter is so vital that it eclipses all reproach
that the disarmament argument for the maintenance of the dye industry
is used on selfish grounds. Such reproach cannot, in fairness,
be heard unless it destroys the case which we have established.
We are faced with the following alternatives. Safety demands strong
organic chemical industries or cumbersome and burdensome chemical
warfare establishments. The stability of future peace depends upon
the former, and the extent to which we must establish, or can abandon,
the latter depends entirely on the activity and success of those whose
special duty it is to organise against war.

A recent visit to America revealed the considerable publicity and public
interest surrounding chemical warfare, strengthening my conviction that
the facts, now noised abroad, should be presented in their proper setting.
They are supremely significant at the present time and for the future,
hence the chapters which follow.
V. LEFEBURE.
HAMPSTEAD, _October_ 12, 1920.



PREFACE BY FIELD MARSHAL FOCH


In 1918, chemical warfare had developed considerably in our army.
Before 1914 Germany possessed chemical factories which permitted
her to manufacture in great quantities chemicals used at the front,
and to develop on a large scale this new form of fighting.

The Allies, to retaliate, had to experiment and organise important
centres for production. Only in this way, though starting late,
were they able to put themselves in a position to supply the growing
necessities of their armies.

To-day, the ability for aviation to carry increasing weight furnishes a new
method for abundantly spreading poison gases with the aid of stronger and
stronger bombs, and to reach armies, the centres of population in the rear,
or to render regions uninhabitable.

Chemical warfare is therefore in a condition to produce more formidable
results over more extended areas.

It is incontestable on the other hand that this growth will find an easy
realisation in one country, Germany, addicted in times of peace,
to wholesale manufacture of chemical products, which a simple modification
in reactions can transform into war products.

This country, deprived, partially at least, of its former methods of fighting,
and its numerous forces of specially trained soldiers, regularly organised
and strongly armed, will be more drawn toward the new systems of attack--
that of chemical warfare.

Chemical warfare must therefore enter into our future provisions
and preparations, if we do not wish to experience some terrible surprises.

The work of Major Lefebure gives an exact idea of the possibilities he finds
to-day in Germany, and through them the dangers with which she threatens us.
In this form it constitutes a warning; and information of the highest order,
for the minds who remain anxious for the fate of their country confronted
by the inefficience of the old fighting methods which the progress of industry
out of date renders daily.

By sounding the alarm in both our countries, I find myself in company
with my faithful friend Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson. This is an
old habit, contracted by both of us, many years ago, which we still
maintain at the present time to insure for ourselves once again,
peace in the future.

Together, we say, read this work of Major Lefebure. F. FOCH.



CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I-EXPLANATORY The Riddle of the
Rhine-A Critical Point in Disarmament-Need for a Balanced View
of Chemical Warfare-Some Preliminary Explanation--"Poison Gas"
a Misleading Term-The French Physiological Classification-Asphyxiating
Substances-Toxic Substances-Lachrymators-Vesicant or
Blistering Compounds-Sneezing or Sternutatory Substances-The
Tactical Classification-Persistent Substances-Non-persistent
Substances-Penetrants-Special Gas Weapons and Appliances-Gas Shell.
17

CHAPTER II-THE GERMAN SURPRISE The First Cloud Gas Attack-The Element
of Surprise -Lord Kitchener's Protest-German Preparations--
Research-Production-Field Preparations-German Opinion of
Results-Germany Prompted by Production Monopoly-Standard Uses
for Gas-Gas Shell-Further German Cloud Attacks-Hill 60-Origin of
German Gas Shell-Early German Gas Shell-A Successful Experiment-Lachrymators
at Loos, 1915-The Flammenwerfer-German Phosgene Clouds-Gas and
the Eastern Theatre-Conclusion. 31

CHAPTER III-THE ALLIED REACTION The Need of Retaliation-First Signs-The
Loos Attack, September, 1915-The Somme Battle, 1916--Reasons for
British Cloud Gas Success-Our Casualties-Exhausting Preparations
for Cloud Attack-The Livens Projector-British Gas Shell-German Gas
Shell Development, 1916-Main Features of the Period. 48

CHAPTER IV-INTENSIVE CHEMICAL WARFARE The Mustard Gas Surprise-Blue
Cross-German Emphasis on Gas Shell-The German Projector-German Projector
Improvements-Dyes in Gas Shell--German Flame Projectors-Their Origin-Further
Flame Development-The 1918 Offensive-Ludendorff's Testimony-Preparations
for Assault-Gas Defensive Flank at Armentieres-Fixed Gas Barrage at
Kemmel-Percentage of Chemical Shell-Gas Re-Contents

PAGE treat Tactics-General Hartley's Analysis-Percentage of German Gas Shell
in Enemy Dumps-Forced Exhaustion of Stocks-Yperite, French Mustard Gas-Effect
on German Gas Discipline-Allied Gas Statistics-Critical Importance of
Rapid German Production. 66

CHAPTER V-CHEMICAL WARFARE ORGANISATIONS German
Research-Leverkusen-Hochst-Ludwigshaven-Early Formulation of Policy-Movements
of Personnel-German Simplicity of Organisation-German Organisation at the
Front-The Gas Regiment--Early German Gas School-New Gas Regiments-Gas Shell
Experts-Inspection of Protective Masks and Method-British Field Organisation--
"Breach" Organisations-Central Laboratory-New Type of Casualty~Directorate
of Gas Services-British Home Organisations-The Royal Society-Royal
Society Chemical Sub-Committee-The Trench Warfare Department-Scientific
Advisory Committee -Commercial Advisory Committee-Split Between Research
and Supply-Munitions Inventions Department-Imperial College of Science-The
Chemical Warfare Department-The Anti-Gas Department -Designs Committee
French Organisation-Italian Developments-Supply Organisations-British Supply
Organisation-Allied Handicaps-The German Solution--Departmental Difficulties--
Allied Success Against Odds-Allied Lack of Vision in Production-British Lag
in Organisation-French and American Characteristics-Inter-Allied
Chemical Warfare Liaison-Inter-Allied Supply-Nature of
Chemical Warfare Research-Discovery of New Substances-Technical Method of
Preparation-Filling Problem-Protection-Half Scale Investigation-Two Classes
of Research-Conclusion-The "Outer and Inner Lines." 85

CHAPTER VI-THE STRUGGLE FOR THE INITIATIVE Meaning of the
Chemical Initiative-Controlling Factors--Rapid Manufacture Rapid
Identification Essential-Propaganda and Morale-Peculiar Peace-time
Danger-War Fluctuations of Initiative-The Tense Protective
Struggle-The German Mask-Enforced German Modifications-Shortage
of Rubber-Gas Discipline-Summary-New German Attempts-Yellow and
Blue Cross-Yellow Cross-Blue Cross-"Particulate" Clouds-Potential Production
and Peace. lit

Contents PAGE CHAPTER VII-REVIEW OF PRODUCTION Critical Importance
of Production-Significance of the German Dye Industry--The Interessen
Gemeinschaft-War Production by the I.G.-Allied Difficulties-Conclusion. 143

CHAPTER VIII-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENTS Special Attention justified-Special Value
of American Opinion-Early American Activities-Field Activities -Special
Difficulties-Edgewood Arsenal-Research--Production-Post-Armistice
Developments-Views of General Fries-The Gas Cloud Inescapable-Importance
of Smoke-Casualty Percent ages-Short Range Projectors-Vast Expansion
in Personnel. 173

CHAPTER IX-GERMAN CHEMICAL POLICY Origin of German Chemical Monopolies-German
Chemical Commercial Policy-Evidence of the U. S. A. Alien Property
Custodian-Pre-war American Situation--German Price Cutting--Salicylic Acid--
Full Line Forcing--Bribery and Corruption--German Patent Policy--Propaganda
and Information--Espionage-Activities of the Dye Agencies-Manoeuvring Raw
Materials-Chemical Exchange Association -Doctor Albert's Letter-Dye Agency
Information System-Dr. Albert on Chemical Warfare-The Moral Aspect-Report
of the New York World-German Policy Regarding Dye Supplies to the
U. S. A.--Professor Stieglitz's Evidence Ehrlich's Discovery--Drugs and
Medicinal Products-The German Monopoly-National Health Insurance
Commission-The Royal Society--Novocain--Beta-Eucaine--Photographic
Chemicals-War Activities of the I.G.-The Rhine Factories and
the Armistice-War Mentality of the I.G.-German Attitude towards
Inspection-The Rhine and Chaulny Contrast-German Revolution and
the Industrial Leaders-The German Peace Delegation -Recent Signs of
Government Interest-Nitrogen Fixation-The German Nitrogen Syndicate-Haber
Process Prominent-The New German Dye Combine -Aggressive Nationalist Policy.
186

CHAPTER X-LINES OF FUTURE DEVELOPMENT The Element of
Speculation-Chemical Tactics and Strategy-New War Chemicals--"Camouflage"
Chemicals-Functions Hitherto Immune-Chemical Constitution and
Physiological Action-Unsolved Prob-

Contents PAGE lems of Mustard Gas-A New Type of Obstacle--
The "Persistent Lethal" Substance-The Critical Range-The New
No-Man's-Land-The "Alert Gas Zone"--Gas and Aircraft-Protective
Development -Individual Protection-Collective Protection-Conclusion. 215

CHAPTER XI-HUMANE OR INHUMANE? Nature of Gas Casualties-Sargent's
Picture-Need for Safeguards. 238

CHAPTER XII-CHEMICAL WARFARE AND DISARMAMENT The Treaty of
Versailles-German Information-Limitation of Armament-Report of the Hartley
Mission -New Conceptions in Chemical Disarmament-Limitation Mechanical and
Chemical-Tank Disarmament -Chemical Limitation-Research-Production-Mechanical
and Chemical Preparations for War-Recent Disarmament Proposals-The Covenant
of the League Need for Guarantees-Viscount Grey, "Germany must disarm first'~--
Suggested Methods--"Vested Interests"--"Handing Over" Inventions-Neglect of
Chemical Disarmament in the Treaty. 242

CONCLUSION-THE TREATY OF THE FUTURE. 264



ILLUSTRATIONS

THE LIVENS PROJECTOR-I. _Frontispiece_

A completed battery of projectors in the foreground, with a battery
on the left rear, half dug in. Suitably camouflaged with brush,
the batteries are not observable by aircraft, and, being in
"No-Man's-Land," neither party can detect them by day.

FACING
PAGE
TYPICAL GAS SHELL BURSTING. 30

THE LIVENS PROJECTOR-II 61

A working party fitting electric leads and adjusting bombs prior
to discharge. This work occurs at night.

THE LIVENS PROJECTOR-III. 133 Explosion of Livens bombs on the objective.

SMOKE BARRAGE. 181

Note the sharp curtain which is formed, behind which the infantry advance.



INTRODUCTION


No one who has the welfare of the country at heart can fail to share
Major Lefebure's anxiety that a clear, accurate, and unbiased
account of chemical warfare should be presented to the public,
so that the many erroneous ideas now prevalent in regard to poison
gas and its uses may be dispelled.

The whole subject of chemical warfare is at present _sub judice_,
and there is great danger that the future safety of this
country may be jeopardised by the almost universal ignorance
of the peculiarities and potentialities of this class of warfare.
Recent publications in the Press have shown a tendency to deal
with the subject on purely sentimental grounds, and attempts
have been made to declare this form of warfare illegitimate
without full and careful consideration of all the facts and their
significance for the future.

Major Lefebure has therefore attempted in his book to make it quite
clear that no convention, guarantee, or disarmament safeguard will
prevent an unscrupulous enemy from employing poison gas, especially if
that enemy has discovered some new powerful agent, or possesses,
as Germany does in her well-organised and strong chemical industry,
a ready means for producing such chemicals in bulk at practically
a moment's notice; further, that the safety of this country makes it
imperative that the study and investigation of the subject should be
continued and that our chemical and dye industry should be developed,
so that when an emergency arises we may have the necessary facilities
for supply ready to hand.

It is not for me to express any opinion here either as to the desirability
of using gas as a weapon or as to the possibility of preventing an enemy from
using it. But I am convinced that a decision come to without full knowledge
of the facts may involve grave danger and heavy preventable loss of life.
I am further convinced that Major Lefebure, by his special knowledge
and long experience as chemical liaison officer during the war, is well
qualified to speak, and that his opinion is entitled to full consideration.
For these reasons I think that his book will do a much needed public service.
I wish it every success, and the greatest possible number of readers.
HENRY WILSON, F.M.



CHAPTER 1

EXPLANATORY


The Riddle of the Rhine.--The Great War challenged our very existence.
But with the tension released, and the Allies victorious,
the check to the German menace appears crushing and complete.
Few realise that one formidable challenge has not been answered.
Silently menacing, the chemical threat remains unrecognised.
How, asks the reader, can this be? Are we not aware of the poison
gas campaign? Indeed, we have not yet grasped the simple technical
facts of the case, and these are merely the outward signs of a
deep-rooted menace whose nature, activities, and potentialities
are doubly important because so utterly unsuspected by those whom
they most threaten.

How many of us, for example, realise that the Germans relied
mainly on gas for success in the great March assault of 1918,
which threatened to influence the destinies of the world.
Yet Ludendorff goes out of his way to tell us how much he counted upon it.
How many understand that the 1918 hostilities were no longer a war
of explosives. German guns were firing more than fifty per cent.
of gas and war chemical. But a deep study of such war facts reveals
a much more significant matter.

All are aware of the enormous national enterprises built to fulfil our
explosives programme. With mushroom-like growth chemical establishments
of a magnitude hitherto unknown in England arose to meet our crying needs.
What was the German equivalent, and where were the huge reservoirs of gas
and war chemical which filled those countless shells? Krupp, of Essen,
loomed large in the mind of every Allied citizen and soldier.
There lay the sinews of war in the making. But the guns were useless
without their message. Who provided it? A satisfactory answer
to this question demands an examination of the great German I.G.,
the Interessen Gemeinschaft, the world power in organic chemical enterprise,
whose monopoly existence threatened to turn the tide of war against us.
This organisation emerges from the war with renewed and greater strength.
Our splendid but improvised factories drained the vital forces of
the nation, and now lie idle, while German war chemical production fed
new life blood and grafted new tissue to the great pre-war factories
of the I.G., which, if she will, she can use against us in the future.
I do not claim that this German combine has at present any direct economic
or military policy against world peace. In any case, the facts must
speak for themselves. But the following pages will prove that the mere
existence of the complete German monopoly, represented by the forces
of the I.G., however free from suspicion might be the mentality and morals
of those directing its activities, constitutes, in itself, a serious menace.
It is, if you will, a monster camouflaged floating mine in the troubled
sea of world peace, which the forces of reconstruction have left unswept.
The existence of this giant monopoly raises vital military and economic
questions, which are, indeed, "The Riddle of the Rhine."

Impersonal Examination of Fact.--In a sound examination
of the subject it becomes necessary to examine the activities
of our former enemies very closely. Even adopting a mild
view of the case, their reputation has not been unattacked,
and is not left untarnished. We, however, have no desire to renew
such attacks, but we wish our statement to be coldly reliable.
National and international issues are at stake which require
a background unprejudiced by war emotion.

Placed in a similar predicament, in reporting to his Government
of the methods of German economic aggression in the United States
of America, Mr. Mitchell Palmer, the Alien Property Custodian,
expressed himself as follows:

"I do not advocate any trade boycott out of spirit of revenge
or in retaliation for injuries done to the United States. I do
not want to continue the war after the war. I am for peace.
I believe that the great overshadowing result which has come from this
war is the assurance of peace almost everlasting amongst the peoples
of the earth. I would help to make that an absolute certainty
by refusing to permit Germany to prosecute a war after the war.
The military arm of her war machine has been palsied by the tremendous
hammering of the allied powers. But her territory was not invaded,
and if she can get out of the war with her home territory intact,
rebuild a stable government, and still have her foreign markets
subject to her exploitation, by means no less foul and unfair
than those which she has employed on the field of battle,
we shall not be safe from future onslaughts different in methods,
but with the same purpose that moved her on that fateful day in July
when she set out to conquer the world."

Ours is a fair standpoint. Let us know the facts of the chemical
war into which Germany impelled us. Let us examine its mainsprings,
in conception and action, see how far they can be explained
in terms of pre-war Germany, and how far they remain ready
to function in the much desired peace which they threaten.
If the result be unpleasant, let us not hide our heads in the sand,
but exercise a wise vigilance, choose what precautions are available
and consistent with our plans for world peace.

A Critical Point in Disarmament.--Probably never before in the history
of man has Disarmament figured as such a vitally urgent national
and international measure. Discussions and official utterances reveal
a very disquieting tendency.

When compared with the methods, armament and materials of
the war in 1914, those of 1918 reveal basic changes which a
hundred years of former peace could not have brought about.
These developments are not merely of fact, but they represent
the opening of new fields, visions of possibilities previously
undreamed of by the practical soldier. By the concentrated
application of electricity, chemistry, and other sciences to war
two dominating factors have emerged, whose importance to war,
and danger for world peace, can only gain momentum with time.
The scientific or technical initiative, the invention of a deadly
new chemical, wireless-directed aeroplane, or other war appliance
and their incidence on war through large scale production in
the convertible industries of peace constitute a challenge which,
if unanswered by practical schemes for world disarmament,
will render the latter worse than useless, by aggravating the danger
of sudden decisive attack in an otherwise disarmed world.

There is a tendency to ignore this aspect of disarmament. We appear
to be thinking in terms of a world still organised for war on 1914 lines.
The disbanding of the German army and semi-military organisations,
and the reduction of her artillery and small arms seem to occupy
all our attention. Such, it might be urged, is the immediate need;
we can leave the future to find answers to the other problems.
This answer is dangerous, for it ignores the disarmament aspect
of what is perhaps the most important development in the modern
offensive campaign. We refer to poison gas or chemical warfare.
This, the crux of all disarmament, is dealt with at some length
in the chapters which follow.

A curiously illogical attitude of mind has arisen in certain quarters.
There is a tendency among strong adherents to the ideal
of world peace to regard themselves as its sole possessors.
Every thinking civilian and soldier must adhere to such an ideal;
the only point at issue is the method of approaching it.
The mere fact that a League of Nations is called into being
to attain world peace implies recognition of the fact
that a definite mechanism and definite measures are required
for the purpose; this is self-evident. There are those who,
having established their League of Nations, feel that they
can attain chemical peace by merely prohibiting chemical war,
in other words, they expect their mechanism to achieve its object
without functioning, to attain peace by its mere existence.
Just as special measures are required to control disarmament
in the older branches of warfare, in the same way special measures,
but not the same measures, are required to control the chemical peace.
Chemical peace guaranteed by a mere signature is no peace at all.

In a recent Press utterance we find an appeal to prohibit chemical
warfare and to "trust the general sentiment of the civilised
world to say that the lesson has been learnt in that sense."
"There is the League of Nations to furnish that sentiment
with a mouthpiece and a sanction." We agree, but to stop there
is dangerous, the most important thing which it must furnish
is a mechanism of control, a check, or guarantee. This question
is one of the most important which confronts us for world peace.
It merits the most careful consideration.

Even responsible and relevant officials who admit that their League must
do more than issue edicts, that their mechanism must function, are ignoring
the specific technical aspect of the war methods whose use we wish to limit.
This matter will receive later attention.

The following pages, therefore, are an attempt to represent the salient points
in the development of chemical warfare, its causes, results, and future.
Such an attempt cannot limit itself to merely British developments, and this
is not a final detailed memoir of British chemical warfare. Further, in
considering the future, we examine another aspect of chemical warfare.
Facts lead us to believe that it was purely the most open and obvious
activity in a whole campaign of chemical aggression which had effective
unity of conception and direction long before the war started.

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