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Captain Hughes took this photo of C. W. (Chemical Warfare) Service in Flammable Oils. Congress had made the Chemical Warfare Service a permanent part of the Army in 1920, with duties to continue "the investigation, development, manufacture or procurement and supply of all smoke and incendiary materials, all toxic gases, and all gas defense appliances." It can be assumed that this is one of the demonstrations that were being observed by a crowd in the grandstand probably at Camp Holabird or perhaps since Hughes didn't identify the location it was at the first temporary Chemical Warfare School building at Edgewood Arsenal, Md. Another assumption that can be made is that the materials in the Flammable Oils were inert and not of the same type that would have been used in actual Chemical Warfare. The date of this demonstration is not mentioned however, Captain Hughes was stationed at Camp Holabird, Maryland only until February 14,1920. James C. Hughes, as part of the 35th Division, left Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and traveled to Hoboken, New Jersey, where he boarded the troop ship "Ceramic" on May 18, 1918. Hughes arrived in Liverpool, England, on June 1, 1918 and then landed at Le Havre, France, on June 9, 1918. Hughes fought in the battles of St. Michael and the Meuse-Argonne. He was at Verdun on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. He took no photos of the actual fighting. He did take many photographs after the war as part of the Army of Occupation until he left France on July 18, 1919. A full biography of James Clark Hughes is available on Kansapedia.
Creator: Hughes, James Clark, 1888-1964
Date: Undated
Item Number: 314978
Call Number: James C. Hughes Collection, negative 375A
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 314978
Collections - Photograph - Hughes, James C.
Military - Facilities - Camps - Camp Holabird, Maryland
Military - Service - Army
Military - Service - Army - Artillery - 13th Field Artillery
Military - Service - Army - Motor Transport School
Military - Weapons - Chemical Warfare - Flammable oils
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Photograph - Negatives - Nitrate
Thematic Time Period - World War I, 1914 - 1919
Type of Material - Photographs - Format - Negatives, Film - Nitrate
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/314978