JF Ptak Science Books    Post 2564

I posted this thinking that I had never heard the sound of a gas warning siren–or any other noise-making instrument–signifying the onset of a poison gas attack during WWI.  So I went poking around the web, looking for an audio recording of one.  I did find contemporary audio of an antique instrument–this was a dreadful sound, sounding somewhat like a high-pitched pulse-jet engine.  It is an awful sound (linked below) though I am sure that it did its job very effectively.  

I haven’t yet found a contemporary recording, though I’ve got a notion that if no audio recording was made for training films and such that they may exist in movies.  

Sirens of course was one method of alerting troops to a gas attack–there were also bells of all shapes and sizes, and kettles, wooden clappers, rattles, empty shell cases, and other such things. 

Here’s a compelling image of conflicting emotional input, this showing a kettle with a clanger attached by a wire:

 [Source: http://worldwartwozone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/8851-cloud-of-terror-gas-warfare/]