THE GAS WAR - 1914-1918 - Pharmacists in Action

A previously unpublished work on the role of pharmacists in the gas war during the First World War. This original study retraces the horror of these battles and the protective measures available to the belligerents.

« France has no chemists — only pharmacists! ». Such is the famous, cutting remark attributed to the German chemist Haber, the instigator of German chemical warfare. Even if this phrase was never actually spoken, it rests on certain truths: the small number of chemists in France and the modesty of its chemical industry. These two factors are said to have influenced the German decision-makers. France was not supposed to be able to respond effectively to a chemical attack!

Much later, pinning the ribbon of the Légion d'honneur on an illustrious member of the pharmaceutical teaching faculty, the Grand Chancellor of the Order expressed himself in these terms: « It may be said without exaggeration that you have powerfully contributed to the victory of 1918: you effectively saved our army from a terrible danger, and you provided it with the means of a resounding riposte ». What had happened?

The outbreak of chemical warfare gave a new impetus to the activities of army pharmacists. It was to them that we owe the first identifications of the toxic agent used on 22 April 1915, and the first protective measures taken against it. They were closely involved in the work of divisional toxicology laboratories, medico-legal centres, and in that of the central research bodies developing new means of protection as well as of aggression: the French chemical services.