British Mustard Gas victim Sergeant Sawyer Spence being tended to by a nurse, August 1918.

Today 105 years ago, on July 12, 1917, the Germans deployed Mustard Gas through shells on British forces at Ypres for the first time in the First World War.

Since the second half of 1916 and more or less all of 1917 for the German Army on the Western Front would be spent defensively against relentless Allied offensives, the Germans began the devoloment of a new gas designed as a defensive agent.

Dichlorodiethyl sulfide (C4H8Cl2S) was the result, best known as Mustard Gas for its pale brown-yellow colour and distinct sweet and mustard-like odor. Though the substance wasn't actually a gas in itself, but tiny condensed liquid droplets, which evaporated in sunlight.

Exposure to Mustard Gas caused blisters on skin, sore eyes which could lead to blindness, victims would vomit, suffer respiratory damage and suffer external and internal bleeding.

Dying from Mustard Gas was an extremely painful process which could take several weeks, and many survivors would suffer for the rest of their lives with side effects.

However, Mustard Gas was not very lethal, with severe exposure for prolonged periods required to be fatal. It was its effectiveness at disabling men and polluting the battlefield for long periods of time, which made it perfect as a defensive agent.

At 10:10 PM on July 12, 1917, the Germans fired some 50,000 shells containing 125 tonnes of Mustard Gas on the British 15th Division at Ypres. An hour or two later the British began reporting large casualties to this unknown gas, some 2,143 - 2,490 casualties, of whom 87 - 95 died.

The Germans would continue to deploy Mustard Gas at Ypres and elsewhere, causing 6,400 British casualties at Armentières on July 20-21 alone. During August and September 1917 the Germans caused 13,158 French Mustard Gas casualties, and 3,000 - 4,000 per week on the British in September and October 1917.

Mustard Gas would go down in history as a staple of the First World War's legacy, representing the brutality and horrors of it.

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