Hutted Histories: Gas! Protection against chemical weapons during the Great War

Historian Simon Jones joins us at Great War Huts to mark the 110th anniversary of the first use of poison gas on the Western Front.

From 1915 – 1918, scientists were engaged in a gripping arms race to protect their troops against constantly developing chemical agents. Focusing mostly on British protection, this talk will explain the main developments during the war and how thousands of lives were saved by the scientists who developed gas masks, in some cases at the cost of own lives.

Simon Jones has had a lifelong fascination with the First World War and is the author of books on gas warfare and underground warfare. He was formerly curator at the Royal Engineers and King’s Regiment Museums. He has lectured at Liverpool and Lancaster Universities and led battlefield tours to many destinations around the world. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and has a blog at SimonJonesHistorian.com