JF Ptak Science Books Post 2564
I posted this thinking that I had never heard the sound of a gas warning siren--or any other noise-making instrument--signifying the onset of a poison gas attack during WWI. So I went poking around the web, looking for an audio recording of one. I did find contemporary audio of an antique instrument--this was a dreadful sound, sounding somewhat like a high-pitched pulse-jet engine. It is an awful sound (linked below) though I am sure that it did its job very effectively.
I haven't yet found a contemporary recording, though I've got a notion that if no audio recording was made for training films and such that they may exist in movies.
Sirens of course was one method of alerting troops to a gas attack--there were also bells of all shapes and sizes, and kettles, wooden clappers, rattles, empty shell cases, and other such things.
Here's a compelling image of conflicting emotional input, this showing a kettle with a clanger attached by a wire:
[Source: http://worldwartwozone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/8851-cloud-of-terror-gas-warfare/]
And the youtube video with the audio of the U.S. Army gas alarm:
"Gas alarm whistle, 1918 (c); double reed horn with double barreled bells are made of brass and flare outwards from the mouthpiece; the barrels have incised lines where the bells insert into the socket; one is impressed, ‘D.R.G. M. / SIGNAL [with a lateral arrow through it]’; possibly made by J Hudson and Company. The introduction of gas warfare on the Western Front in 1915 meant that rattles, horns and whistles, such as this example made by J Hudson and Company, were soon adopted as means of warning troops. The devices gave soldiers time to put on protective equipment during gas attacks. Associated with World War One (1914-1918)."--From the youtube video description.
Here's another, a silent film showing U.S. troops reacting to a gas attack:
And another, this a silent film showing the American Expeditionary Force reacting to a gas attack:
Gas alarm:
[Source: http://www.army.mod.uk/firstworldwarresources/?attachment_id=1360]
Infantryman with very primitive gas protection on guard with a bell, ready to signal the rest of the troops in event of a gas attack:
Another version of the above, this more considerable, requisitioned from a Vaux church:
[Source: http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/rlm7.htm]
And this simple wooden apparatus:
[Source:http://worldwartwozone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/8851-cloud-of-terror-gas-warfare/] "Gas Rattle: In effect, an English football timber noise maker. By holding the handle and spinning the rattle a loud clacking noise was created. This one is marked, in ink, "2nd Batt Devonshire Regt Trench143 1916 Gas Only Rotate in 3 second Bursts"on the other side a soldier's inscription reads: "If you see's it rotate it, If you smells it you's too late mate"."
[Source:http://worldwartwozone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/8851-cloud-of-terror-gas-warfare/]
[Source: http://encheres.catawiki.eu/kavels/3194735-gas-alarm-klepper-loopgraven-somme-front-frankrijk-wo1]
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