Military Intelligence Service Studies Enemy Chemical Capabilities (15 JUL 1943)
The report identified Germany as the most advanced in both chemical warfare planning and capability. As “instigators of chemical warfare during World War I,” the German Army was expected to be thoroughly prepared for its resumption. The study noted that German “smoke units,” nominally established for tactical smoke production, were in fact chemical troops trained and equipped to employ toxic agents. These troops were organized into large regiments equipped with mortars and rockets capable of firing smoke or gas interchangeably “without adjustment being necessary.” One of their most formidable systems, the 15‑cm Nebelwerfer 41, enabled a regiment to deliver 324 rounds in just 90 seconds.
German training was described as rigorous and comprehensive. “Gas protective training is organized on a sound and efficient basis,” the report stated, incorporating extensive exercises on contaminated terrain. Each battalion included an anti‑gas officer supported by squads trained in offensive gas employment, passive defense, decontamination, and collective protection. Germany also maintained an extensive industrial base for chemical weapons, with at least “19 such establishments in Germany proper” producing war gases, excluding dozens more chlorine plants, which could be used for gas warfare.
German chemical agents retained World War I nomenclature: “Yellow Cross” for blister agents and “Green Cross” for choking agents. The report warned nitrogen mustard agents posed particular danger because their vapors were difficult to detect by smell, making them well suited for surprise attacks. German doctrine also favored mixing agents to produce “a vesicant toxic smoke.”
Although Italy was less capable than Germany, it had expanded its chemical warfare programs significantly after the shortcomings of World War I. Italy established a chemical service in 1923 and, by the late 1930s, had formed chemical regiments, flamethrower units, and specialized mortar groups. During the Abyssinian campaign, Italy employed both toxic smoke and mustard gas, including nearly 5,000 air‑burst aircraft bombs filled with mustard gas.
Having declined to sign the 1925 Geneva Protocol against gas warfare, Japan was “under no obligation to refrain from their use” and had already employed toxic gases “many times in China.” Japan created specialized chemical troops and schools and developed a substantial industrial base capable of producing phosgene, mustard gas, arsenic compounds, and toxic smokes. Its arsenal included 90‑mm mortars and a wide variety of chemical grenades.
In all three Axis powers, chemical defense systems mirrored their offensive programs. German forces carried gas masks, protective hoods, clothing, detection aids, and personal decontamination tablets. Italian and Japanese troops also received protective equipment and decontamination kits.
In sum, although chemical weapons were not used on the European battlefields of World War II, this study showed that the Axis powers had developed extensive capabilities, doctrine, and training for chemical warfare.
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Article by Michael E. Bigelow, INSCOM Command Historian. New issues of This Week in MI History are published each week. To report story errors, ask questions, request previous articles, or be added to our distribution list, please contact: TR-ICoE-Command-Historian@army.mil.
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