The German military developed the first weapons of mass destruction during World War I when they unleashed poison gas on the Allies, mostly chlorine and bromine, which are heavier than air and combine to form toxic acid. The Allies then developed their own chemical weapons and gas masks for defense. But the underfunded Russian army had no gas masks. In 1915, when the Germans attacked a Russian unit at Osowiec Fortress, which is in what is now Poland, the Russians had no defense. They did the best they could, soaking rags and bandages in their own urine and wrapping them around their faces. But the deadly gas caused them to cough up blood. What was amazing is that these men fought on. Thought to be already dead, they leapt from their bunkers wrapped up like mummies covered in blood. The Germans saw them as ghosts or zombies and fled in terror. That battle at Osowiec Fortress became known as the Attack of the Dead Men.
The story is often told as a horror tale by painting a picture of the dying Russians scaring the wits out of the German army, but the bigger horror story is the advent of chemical weapons. Read more about the use of poison gas during World War I at Creative History. -via Strange Company
(Image credit: Library of Congress)
