36 president's address — section b. 



the process made such headway that by the following September 

 50 tens of this fearsome compound had been delivered to the shell- 

 filling factories. This amoiuit, however, was only a preliminary 

 sample of what the factory was planned to make, but before it 

 could get into its stride the war had ended.. 



It is of interest to note that the first consignment of shells 

 filled with British mustard gas was delivered to the Australian 

 Army Corps and used by it in the operation of finally piercing the 

 Hindenburg Line at Belliccurt. To quote General Monash, Avs- 

 t/d/ia/i Victories in France, page 255: — 



" The programme began on the night of September 26th. 

 The first phase of the bombardment was of a novel 

 character. For over two years the enemy had been using a 

 shell containing an irritant and poisonous ' gas ' known as 

 ' mustard gas.' . . . For a long time we had been pro- 

 mised that the British Artillery Service would shortly be sup- 

 plied with a gas shell of similar character. It was, moreover, 

 anticipated that the German gas mask would prove no ade- 

 quate protection against this kind of gas. 



" At last the new shell was forthcoming, and the first 

 shipment from England, amounting to' some 50,000 ro'Unds, 

 was placed at the disposal of the Australian Corps. My 

 artillery action, therefore, opened with a ccncentrated gas 

 bonibardment of twelve hours, attacking probable living 

 quarters, occupied defences, and all known or suspected ap- 

 proaches to- them." 



Later information from prisoners and other sources disclosed 

 that the effect of this bombardment on the (jermans had been 

 most demoralizing. For mouths previously the German troops 

 had been assured that mustard gas would wan the war for them, 

 that no troops could stand against it, and that the British could 

 not hope to make it. The subsequent disillusionment was, there- 

 fore, one more proof that the game was up. 



As the multifarious activities of the Explosives Department 

 and of the other Departments under the Ministry cf Munition 

 developed, the amount of research work which became necessary 

 was very great. The Explosives Department itself had a labora- 

 tory specially set apart for research, and researches were also 

 constantly in progress on the plant and m the labcratories in all 

 the factories controlled by it. These resources, however, even when 

 supplemented by those of the Research Department at Woolwich, 

 ])roved inadequate toi supply the mass of information which was 

 constantly required ; so a special Section of the Explosives De- 

 partment was formed and entrusted with the duty of arranging 

 for and cio-ordinating research work in the laboratories of the 

 universities and technical schools throughout the country. Al- 

 though greatly hampered by want of assistance, the teaching 



