The Malta Independent on Sunday
Anti-gas training during Second War Malta
Part 1 Anti-gas training during Second World War Malta (1940-43) was given great attention by the civil and military authorities due to gas attacks by the Italian invasion forces in Abyssinia during 1935. Added to this was the industrial potential and pre
This survey examines the history of gas warfare, pre-war industrial production, the employment of gas and anti-gas training, among other matters.
The information is mainly sourced from confidential circulars and notes of the Malta Command, Chemical Warfare School recently unearthed. They give a thorough insight into how the Malta Command trained and instructed their officers in anti-gas training.
Historical background
The book by the National Defense University of America, titled Bio-inspired innovation and
national security (2010) gives numerous examples of how poison had been used by rulers of nations from the earliest times. In a review to the book one reads as follows: “Despite various treaties and protocols, offensive biological weapons use has continued to this day, with the anthrax attacks of 2001 being the most recent incident. Such activity has led to a strong defensive programme, with medical science developing numerous countermeasures that have benefited both civilian and military populations.”
The poisoning of whole tribes and armies by various means was not an unusual method of gaining victory. One early example of the use of toxic material in battle is Carthage. History tells us of a war ruse applied by the Carthaginian General Maharbal about 200 BC. He had been sent against some African tribes who were fond of drink. After his first battle, he feigned retreat leaving a large amount of wine mixed with Mandragora in his camp. The Africans drank of this, fell in a narcotic sleep and were attacked and killed at night.
Until the start of the Second World War, all weapons were considered permissible; boiling lead was used frequently and the British used quicklime against the French fleet during the time of King John. Sulphur fumes were also used on Sevastopol during the Crimean War.
Attempts at outlawing chemical warfare by treaties
The first attempt to abolish chemical warfare was at the Hague Convention 1899 when its use was forbidden. Despite attempts to abolish gas, the first gas attack took place on 22 April 1915. This caught the Allies unprepared with a resulting 20,000 casualties (5,000 of which fatal). Subsequently the respirator was developed and in 1917 the Germans produced “mustard” gas to overcome it.
At this stage chemical warfare became an integral part of the First World War. Propaganda on the use of gas reached the US and the Americans invented Lewisite but it was too late for its use.
Subsequent treaties were the 1922 Washington Conference and in 1925 the Geneva Convention, which again outlawed Chemical Warfare; but Japan and the USA did not ratify while Britain reserved the right of retaliation. Moreover, the Italians broke the 1925 pledge with the use of gas against the Abyssinians in 1935.
Justification in the use of gas
The fear of Britain with regard to chemical warfare being used during the second world conflict was based on three points; the moral aspect, industrial potential and expediency. With regard to the moral aspect Germany had defaulted in 1915 and the fear that it would do so again was present. Japan was not in any way restrained and Russia was considered as a secretive, efficient and ruthless state in its chemical warfare training.
Industrial potential was another reason that might have led to the use of gas in that Germany, Japan, Russia the USA and Britain had enormous preparedness and potential to go for an all out gas and chemical warfare. Expediency, as the third reason, meant that both the Axis and the Allies gave consideration to the advantages gas warfare would produce in stopping the war more speedily by using gas as a “humane” weapon.
In the above context, the stage was set where all belligerents had no other option but to be
well-organised to start chemical warfare on a large scale and they all had facilities for carrying it out. Treaties were considered as useless and expediency for a quick victory was mainly viewed as the sole consideration.
All belligerents had to be prepared and hence sought the highest standard of anti-gas training especially with regard to intelligence and conservation of antigas equipment.
During the Second World War there were some cases of authenticated use of gas on occasions by Japan against China and a suspected “try out” of gas by Germans in Russia and another suspected use of prussic and acid grenades by the Japanese against
British Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) in Burma.
Where it came to enemy preparations for gas warfare and productive capacity, it was estimated in 1943 that Germany had 58 factories under her control engaged in the manufacture of war gases and 51 factories engaged in the production of chlorine.
The Chemical Warfare organisation in Germany was re-introduced into the re-armament programme after 1933. Germany had three million gallons of mustard at the outbreak of war plus the additional stores of occupied countries. Berlin was also well provided with gas proof shelters. With regard to Japan little information was available at the time but it was estimated that in 1933 phosgene production in Japan was at the rate of 70 tons per month and it was likely to have increased considerably over the duration of the war due to its highly organised chemical industry.
Passive air defence
Passive air defence consisted of two main branches; Air Defence against bombing and Defence against gas. During 1940-43, passive air defence in Malta was in general successful. This is borne out by the comparatively small number of casualties incurred, both civil as well as military, bearing in mind that gas warfare was never resorted to.
It is noted that shortage of water and transport would have made life very unpleasant if the Maltese Islands had been subjected to a gas attack during the summer of 1942.
Air defence against bombing in Malta was done through air-raid warnings, black-out measures and look-outs, protection of personnel, first-aid and evacuation of casualties and reporting of unexploded missiles. Also, during 1942, courses were organised by the Bomb Disposal Unit on elementary instructions on bomb disposal.
Part 2 will be published next week