Nerve Gas Part II

The Poor Man's H Bomb

Now to the interesting stuff.

Science Stuff

I'm sure my readers are clamouring to know how nerve agents work on organic tissue. I will keep this explanation brief.

Nerves transmit messages throughout the body. Between nerve endings is a gap, called the synapse. Signals can be passed from nerve to nerve by the use of neurotransmitter chemicals. There is a whole family of chemical transmitters involved in this process. One of these chemicals is acetylcholine. Acetylcholine mediates signals across nerves controlling muscle contraction. Usually, after the transmission of the signal, acetylcholine is broken down by an enzyme with the predictable name of acetylcholinesterase. This is essential to prevent overstimulation. Nerve agents act by blocking the enzyme's action, leading to an accumulation of acetylcholine and therefore continuous muscle stimulation. Muscles will then contract uncontrollably, causing paralysis and asphyxia, eventually resulting in death. That's enough science stuff, Flaxen.       

Why didn't the Germans use nerve gas during the Second World War? Of course, during the Wunder Years, when victories were swift and the Wehrmacht seemed invincible, there was no need to resort to such extreme measures. However, by 1943, it was becoming clear that the Germans were on the long road to defeat. By mid-1944, the Germans were becoming desperate, and Hitler was raving about his Wonder Weapons. The V1 was about to be unleashed, and the V2 would soon follow. So why not unleash nerve gas? It would have been very effective on the Eastern Front against Soviet massed infantry and tank formations.    

Several reasons have been put forth for the Germans' lack of enthusiasm for using a potentially war-winning weapon. Here goes.

The Hitler Hypothesis

It is said that Hitler had a fanatical aversion to the use of gas as a weapon. This is supposed to have occurred after Hitler was gassed on the Western Front by the British using mustard gas. After the attack, Hitler, who experienced temporary blindness, was still in the hospital when the armistice was announced. If that is the case, why did Hitler allow the buildup of large stocks of nerve gas during the war? Surely if Hitler hated the idea of gas warfare, he would have halted research and the manufacture of these chemicals. Regardless of what he thought about unleashing nerve gas, it is undoubtedly true that if the Germans had used nerve gas in the later stages of the war, the consequences for the Allies would have been grim. Would Hitler have eschewed the use of a weapon with the potential to end the war based on emotional dislike? It has been noted that Hitler had, on occasions, made military decisions counter to military logic and heavily influenced by his intuition and his natural tendency to make rash decisions. In fact, by luck or by crook, many of these early decisions paid off, making career officers look like bumbling fools. I can't say I'm convinced by the Hitler Hypothesis.

Fear of Retaliation

As mentioned, the Germans stumbled upon nerve gas during their research for effective organophosphate pesticides. They were aware that the Western Allies were also conducting similar research during the interwar years. It is reasonable to assume that the British and Americans had also stumbled on these extremely potent nerve agents during their research. Indeed, before the war, it was noted that British patents and research papers relating to organophosphates had disappeared from publication. To the Germans, this was a clear sign that corroborated their suspicions. Of course, the Allies had not yet developed nerve agents; however, the Germans did not know this.

As mentioned, during the early years of the war, the Germans were victorious through conventional warfare. Following the catastrophic defeat at Stalingrad, the Germans were increasingly placed on the defensive and began to be pushed back in Russia and in southern Europe. The time would have been ripe for releasing agents such as Tabun and Sarin. The decision not to use this weapon was undoubtedly based on the erroneous view that the Allies would retaliate in kind. This made perfect sense. By 1943, the British and Americans were bombing the Reich by day and night. Both the British and Americans had concentrated on building up a strategic bomber force. The intent: to bomb cities to kill civilians; to destroy German morale and to destroy factories. Dead men can't make munitions. By day, the Americans made precision bombing raids on essential munition factories. By night, the RAF concentrated its bombing missions on the civilian population. A single RAF Avro Lancaster bomber could carry a 22,000 lb bomb load; however, 14,000 lb loads were more typical. By 1944, raids consisting of 1,000 bombers were commonplace. In contrast, the Germans never really concentrated on building up a strategic air force, although at times their two-engined bombers were utilised in this way. The Luftwaffe was essentially a tactical force designed for battlefield support. Their bombers were unable to carry the vast tonnage of British and American four-engined bombers. The bottom line is that the Allies, if they had nerve gas in their arsenal, could have devastated German cities and military targets in retaliation. There would be little doubt that the Germans would have come out second best. Even if the Allies had relied on first-generation gases, such as mustard gas, to bomb German cities, the results would have been catastrophic. The Allies certainly had large stocks of this agent for ready use. A bombing raid by the Luftwaffe on Bari harbour, Italy, sank 28 Allied cargo ships and damaged many others. One of the ships that sank contained 2,000 70lb bombs containing mustard gas. Mustard gas was released, killing and injuring sailors and civilians in the city of Bari. At the time, the cause of the casualties was covered up in order not to tip off the Germans.   

Logistics Hypothesis

This hypothesis is a variation of the 'Fear of Retaliation' as discussed above. During Herman Goering's interrogation by the Allies in 1946, he mentioned that the Germans were greatly concerned about the impact of a chemical attack on their logistical chain. Unlike the Western Allies and the Russians, the Germans were still heavily reliant on horses to move munitions, food, and to transport artillery pieces. It is remembered that the Russians had received 376,000 trucks as a consequence of American largesse. Horses would have been exquisitely vulnerable to nerve agents. It was already known that horses were non-compliant when fitted with a gas mask. In addition, protection would need to be applied to the horse's exposed skin, such as a drape impregnated with protective chemicals. Not only would a cover provide inadequate protection against nerve agents, but the horses would also likely have reacted negatively to the restrictive attire. 

An attack on the logistic 'train' with nerve gas would have had the potential to completely collapse German logistics, especially on the Eastern Front. It does not matter how highly trained an army is, a lack of food, ammunition and other essential supplies would result in disaster. Napoleon rightly observed: 'A good general attends to tactics, a great general attends to logistics'.

In conclusion, the Germans incorrectly surmised that the Allies could retaliate in kind when it came to the deployment of nerve agents. If utilised, they also realised that they were likely to be the worst affected by the deployment of these agents. The great question: What if, in sheer desperation in the latter stages of the war, Hitler had decided to use nerve gas? Perhaps he reasoned that if Germany was to be destroyed, then the Allies should also be scorched by the 'Devil's Breath', in one great final Gotterdammerung!

The strains of Wagner waft within my very soul...

Note to self: I don't have a soul.