Poison Gas
Mr. Churchill has the fullest backing of the nation when he warns Germany that if she uses poison gas against Russia we shall retaliate just as if she had used it against us. That warn- ing was necessary, for there is evidence from Russia of the accumulation of gas-bombs behind the front. It is well that the Germans should know that though we shall never resort to this kind of war unless they start it we are prepared for the worst and have the means for carrying gas warfare against military objectives in Germany. If Hitler does indeed resort to this sort of attack it will be a sign of extreme desperation. He cannot hope by the use of gas to achieve surprise as the Germans did in 1915. It is a weapon the use of which on a fighting front would indicate a defensive and not an offensive campaign, since an advancing army would not wish to march into gas-drenched country. In the front areas in a static campaign, too, the balance of advantage would be against him, since in central Russia in the summer the wind is more often from the east than the west, whereas in France, Flanders and Norway it is more often from the west. But if Hitler contemplates the use of gas for bombing far behind the lines, then it is we, with our increasing superiority in the air, who could do far more damage in the industrial towns of Germany than he could do here. Re- taliation would be a more complex question if, as there seems to be some ground for believing, the Germans have a gas which temporarily paralyses without permanently disabling.
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