Talk:2nd Chemical Battalion (United States)

Comments
This article states incorrectly "A few companies from the 1st Gas Regiment participated in combat during the 1918 Battle of Saint-Mihiel, but even then only fired smoke. Thus, even at the outset of the late-1918 Meuse-Argonne Offensive, none of the army's chemical soldiers had actually fired chemical weapons in combat.[5]" This is incorrect in three respects 1) Prior to the time stated, the unit fired at least two major phosgene attacks as described on pages 49-50 and 79-80 of Addison, James Thayer. The Story of the First Gas Regiment, (Google Books), Houghton Mifflin Co., 1919. This source is listed as a reference by a previous contributor, but is not cited in the article. The two attacks occured on the nights of June 18-19 and July 8-9, 1918 2) In addition to smoke, the unit fired both high explosive and thermite on numerous occasions, as described (for example) on pages 120-122 of Addison, op. cit. 3) Rather than "a few companies" Addison makes clear that all six companies, A-F, were in combat during the St. Mihiel campaign. I suggest the paragraph referenced above be changed to read, "After intense training with British engineers, in June 1918 the unit began operating independently. The unit was increasingly called on as the war progressed, firing not onyy gas but also smoke screens, high explosive missions and thermite bombs which proved particularly effective against dug-in machine gun positions."

Walt539 (talk) 01:40, 13 March 2017 (UTC)