Chemical weapons in World War I in Palestine during the Second Battle of Gaza. Russia began manufacturing chlorine gas in 1916, with phosgene being produced later in the year. Most of the manufactured gas was never used. The British Army first used mustard gas in November 1917 at Cambrai, after their armies had captured a stockpile of German mustard gas shells. It took the British more than a year to develop their own mustard gas weapon, with production of the chemicals centred on Avonmouth Docks. (The only option available to the British was the Despretz–Niemann–Guthrie process). This was used first in September 1918 during the breaking
Mines in the Battle of Messines (1917) Mines in the Battle of Messines (1917) The mines in the Battle of Messines comprised a series of underground explosive charges, secretly planted by British tunnelling units beneath the German 4th Army lines near the village of Mesen ("Messines" in French, historically used in English) in Belgian West Flanders during the First World War. The mines were detonated at the start of the Battle of Messines , creating craters. The joint explosion of the mines at Messines ranks among the largest non-nuclear explosions of all time. The evening before the attack, General Sir Charles Harington, Chief of Staff of the