175.2 Records of the Office of the Chief Army Chemical Officer
1918-60

History: Research investigations by the United States into use of toxic gas as an instrument of war began with the establishment of a research unit, War Gas Investigations (WGI), in the Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior, March 1917, and by the appointment of a subcommittee on noxious gases by the Military Committee of the National Research Committee, April 3, 1917. Responsibility for procurement of gas masks and training of personnel in their use was transferred from WGI to the Gas Defense Division, Surgeon General's Office, August 31, 1917. Responsibility for manufacturing and filling gas shells was assigned, 1917, to the Gas Offense Production Division, Ordnance Department, at Edgewood Arsenal, MD. By memorandum from the Chief of Staff to the Adjutant General, October 16, 1917, Chemical Service Section, National Army, was established to provide the American Expeditionary Forces with overseas research and investigation capability, and a coordinating Office of Gas Service was established in the War Department. WGI transferred to War Department by EO 2984, June 25, 1918. Functions consolidated in Chemical Warfare Service, 1918. See 175.1.