Smoke Screen

Historical Use of Smoke Screens

Smoke screens have been used as a military tactic since ancient times to confound an enemy by shielding from view an opposing force. In antiquity a simple campfire or smoldering torch could have been used to produce excess smoke. It has been speculated that the fleeing Hebrew people during the Exodus from Egypt were screened by smoke from Pharaoh's forces. There is evidence that military application of smoke by burning damp straw to smoke enemy positions dates back at least as far as 2000 b.c.e.

The U.S. Army experimented with smoke screens during World War I but used them more extensively during the World War II and subsequently. Accordingly, the Chemical Warfare Service was established as part of the American Expeditionary Force in 1918; it became the Chemical Corps in 1946 as a branch of the U.S. Army. Smoke screens were a significant part of the battle arsenal of the Chemical Corps.

During World War I, battleships would deploy smoke screens to conceal their location. One of the best-known instances of the use of this tactic was during the Battle of Jutland on May 31 and June 1, 1916. During World War II, the U.S. Army deployed HC M1 smoke pots in battle situations, such as during the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy, in which smoke had numerous uses, such as screening ammunition dumps, constructing bridges, in group operations, at river [Page 850]assault crossings, at supply routes, and in troop concentrations. The U.S. Air Force used smoke to control flights and to mask targets in midair.

Smoke screens have also been used defensively to conceal cities and towns during bombing raids. During World War II, for example, the United Kingdom routinely used smoke screens to protect cities, harbors, and factories from Luftwaffe bombers. The U.S. Navy used smoke screens as protection from air attacks and to otherwise conceal vessels at sea. For example, American naval personnel used M1 mechanical smoke generators to screen Allied ships of the invasion fleet and supply facilities in the port of Bizerte in North Africa on July 7, 1943, such that Nazi pilots could not locate their targets; therefore, the over 3000 bombs dropped all missed their targets and not a single ship was sunk.

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