Face-Off: All Quiet on the Western Front

11 July 2017 marked the sad 100th anniversary of the first use ever of chemical blister agents, more commonly known as mustard gas, in warfare. In a campaign called Operation Beachparty, the Germans fired heavy concentrations of the gas in Yellow Cross shells on selected Allied targets on the Western Front for control of the ridges south and east of the Belgian city of Ypres culminating in the Battle of Passchendaele. After this attack, mustard gas was used extensively by both German and Allied forces in later battles.

The devastating effects of poisonous gas in the trenches of WWI are well described in Erich Maria Remarque's world-famous novel All Quiet on the Western Front (1928).

His book was adapted in 1930 as an Academy-Award-winning film of the same name, directed by Lewis Milestone. It was adapted again in 1979 by Delbert Mann, this time starring Richard Thomas and Ernest Borgnine. Which version is your favorite?

Discuss the list here

The Battle of Passchendaele lasted from July to November 1917. An estimated 600,000 soldiers lost their lives. It was one of the bloodiest battles in history. Today mustard agents are regulated under the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.