Gas!

For the first time in World War II--in spite of many earlier false reports--there was confirmation last week that one of the belligerents had used gas.* It came from pudgy-cheeked, moody Jack Belden of the International News Service, known as the ablest field correspondent assigned to the China war. Correspondent Belden likes to break away from his base and go off on long trips into the interior. He comes back with such stories as his classic accounts of the Chinese retreat in North China in 1937 and of the operational tactics of the New Fourth Army in 1939.

Correspondent Belden, fresh from the central front, last week, verified Chinese claims that the Japanese used gas in the battle of Ichang four weeks ago (TIME, Oct. 20). The Japanese had denied it. Jack Belden had seen soldiers suffering from gas blisters as large as tennis balls, whose skin was turning black and red.

In the hills outside Ichang the Japanese had built strong defenses; when the attacking Chinese finally broke through, the Japanese poured in gas shells from the flanks. One of the Chinese divisions participating in the attack reported gas casualties as high as one-third its total strength. Because the Japanese used gas, the Chinese evacuated the city quickly, leaving many victims behind.

Since they are a practical people, it will not be surprising if the Japanese, having found gas useful once, try it again the next time they tangle with the Chinese.

* Last confirmed use: by the Italians in Ethiopia in 1936.

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