30th July 1915

[Julian Dawson]

Remembering today the Germans' first use of liquid fire. Brought to life by Edmund Blunden:

Trench Raid near Hooge

Edmund Blunden

At an hour before the rosy-fingered
Morning should come
To wonder again what meant these sties,
These wailing shots, these glaring eyes,
These moping mum,
Through the black reached strange long rosy fingers
All at one aim
Protending, and bending: down they swept,
Successions of similars after leapt
And bore red flame
To one small ground of the eastern distance,
And thunderous touched.
East then and west false dawns fan-flashed
And shut, and gaped; false thunders clashed.
Who stood and watched
Caught piercing horror from the desperate pit
Which with ten men
Was centre of this. The blood burnt, feeling
The fierce truth there and the last appealing,
"Us? Us? Again?"
Nor rosy dawn at last appearing
Through the icy shade
Might mark without trembling the new deforming
Of earth that had seemed past further storming.
Her fingers played,
One thought, with something of human pity
On six or seven
Whose looks were hard to understand,
But that they ceased to care what hand
Lit earth and heaven.

[BatterySergeantMajor]

Surely not the first use. It was the first use against British troops, but it had been tried already at the end of February or beginning of March against French troops.

Erwin

[CROONAERT]

Surely not the first use. It was the first use against British troops, but it had been tried already at the end of February or beginning of March against French troops.

Erwin

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...and possibly even earlier (Dec. 1914) .

Dave.

[Julian Dawson]

...and possibly even earlier (Dec. 1914) .

Dave.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, I was using the Long, Long Trail as a source of reference...

http://www.1914-1918.net/bat12.htm

[CROONAERT]

Well, I was using the Long, Long Trail as a source of reference...

http://www.1914-1918.net/bat12.htm

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No single reference is infallable!

As mentioned earlier, it was the first use against British troops, but the French had been on the receiving end some months earlier (between Verdun and St.Mihiel, if I recall correctly).

Dave.

[Paul Reed]

I thought it was used in the German attack on Camp des Romains, near St Mihiel in 1914?

[CROONAERT]

I thought it was used in the German attack on Camp des Romains, near St Mihiel in 1914?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's the area I'm thinking of (it was September, not December 1914 - even earlier!). It was actually Troyon that I had in mind, but the Fort des Romains at St Mihiel was part of the trilogy of forts attacked that day (the other being Louville(?) or something like that?). Camp des Romains being the only one to fall into german hands that day (25th Sept?).

Cheers,

Dave.

[Julian Dawson]

So, clearly we need a referee here to adjudicate on the absolute first date. Do we have a flammenwerfer monitor in the house?

Apparently the flame thrower was never particularly effective in this conflict, and only came into its own in the Second World War when the introduction of a gelling agent made it more effective.