Blue Cross (chemical warfare)

Blue Cross is a German <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a> <a href="/facts/Chemical_warfare/zT4t2DGk">chemical warfare</a> agent consisting of <a href="/facts/Diphenylchloroarsine/A0GbJ6Kx">diphenylchloroarsine</a> (DA, Clark I), <a href="/facts/Diphenylcyanoarsine/5EKKr8DI">diphenylcyanoarsine</a> (CDA, Clark II), <a href="/facts/Ethyldichloroarsine/H8ok2lB3">ethyldichloroarsine</a> (Dick), and/or <a href="/facts/Methyldichloroarsine/Jwb8Xycw">methyldichloroarsine</a> (Methyldick). Clark I and Clark II were the main agents used.
Clark I was initially used with <a href="/facts/Green_Cross_(chemical_warfare)/uJe9b1eM">Green Cross</a> munitions; however for the first time it was used as a standalone agent in the night from July 10 to July 11, 1917, at <a href="/facts/Nieuwpoort%2c_Belgium/pYGIPB1L">Nieuwpoort, Belgium</a>, during <a href="/facts/Operation_Strandfest/VMhuSKqV">Operation Strandfest</a>. The artillery munition contained many glass spheres closed with a cork and sealed with the explosive <a href="/facts/Trinitrotoluene/sADUt6nC">trinitrotoluene</a> (TNT). N-ethylcarbazole was later added. Depending on the caliber, the munition contained 7–120 kg (15–265 lb) of the agent.
"Blue Cross" is also a generic World War I German marking for artillery shells with chemical payload affecting the upper respiratory tract.

Blue Cross (chemical warfare) open-in-new

Blue Cross (chemical warfare)