New-York tribune., 1919-02-03
Major CarIock, Just Back,
Doubts if Germany Could
Have Stood Fire Longer
Destroyed Foes Morale
Methods of Americans, Kept
Secret TO Insure Success,
Are Told for First Time

The first real story of the powerful
gas attacks made by Americans against
the Germans was told yesterday by
Msior John B. Carlock, of San Fran
cisco, who arrived on the White Star
liner Celtic. He fought with the First
Gas Regiment of the American Expe-
ditionary Force over the entire west
ern front wherever American troops
defended the line.
War regulations, he said, guarded
the activities of this regiment with
unusual secrecy but, since the enemy
was made powerless by the conditions
Of the armistice, he said he saw no
harm in telling of the effectiveness of
the work done by the gas regiment.
"In the Revolutionary War" he said,
"the farmers gave the British ball for
ball, but in this great struggle in
France the Americans gave the Ger
mans five pounds of liquid gas for
every pounds they sent westward over
the American lines"
This regiment went to France in Jan
uary, 1918, and, brigaded with the Brit
ish, served with them until April
They entered the first American sector
and fought on every sector from Bel
GUM to the Vosges
THE people of America" said Major
Carlook, learned little of our opera
tions because it was imperative that
nothing should be known. Nothing
concerning US leaked cut. The xer5
nature Of our work made this secrecy
necessary. 1t is perhaps safe now TO
tell little Of our operations; what
we were up against and how we met
the attacks of the enemy
Hurled Gas Three Ways
Our gas was hurled into the heatr
OF the enemy lines in three ways; by
me cylinder, the protector and the
lour-inch mortor. The cylinders
usually weighed about 1870 pounds and
heid from sixty to seventy pounds OF
Hquld gas We would put into action
from 500 TO 5000 of these deadly
charges on one front and hurl them
simultaneously into the enemy lines.
warfare. @''N''
We used the projectors in attacks
upon the concentration of enemy troops
along stabilized fronts or in mobile
~ariare. These were sixty-pound
oemDs, each containing thirty pounds
oI gas They were installed in bat
leries OF from 20 to 5000, ano were
discharged electrically.
lney were used chiefly against ma
chine-gun nests, and wer etimed with
exceptional accuracy. Our men did
-plehoin work IN putting over smoke
screens, and IN practically every in
'antry attack We went ahead and laid
aown screen that the infantryrnen
might advance under cover We also
nsed the smoke 10 draw artillery fire.
ine success of the marines on the
seSie on November 10 was, in a meas
ure, due to our smoke screens. The
gas regiments lead most Of the often
sveS, and were subject to greater dan
ger than any others in the conflict and
ms IS borne out by the fact that our
fegimentai casualties were about 50
per cent.
"77th Tenacious Fighters
Our regiment was in a position to
Observe the work Of the infantry. and
right here let me pay tribute to the
lighting nth Of New York, whose work
vas wonderful and whose teuacity was
Of the highest order"
naJor Garlock said that his regiment
aad general idea Of the effectiveness
q their gas attacks but learned from
u had been much more effective than
WAS generally believed.
These prisoners told us that our gas
fad not alone caused great mortality
70 their ranks, but had utterly de-
stroyed their morale
Had the war continued the ga
regiments would have played mosi
important part in silencing the Bochc
win the high pitch Of perfection We
nao attained al he cessation Of hos
Utilities, | doubt if the Germans coulc
nave withstood our attacks any longer
One Of the hardest things we hac
70 contend with was the direction O
our attack against villages where w
Knew there we're French non-com
tosafants. We always avoided gassin.
french villages where we knew ther,
vas a civilian population We're i
,Det Tor thia we could have wiped GU
FVsfything In our path, for our gai
cylinders could travel fourteen miles
'aHiettng death along the entire way