During WWII, the segregated soldiers of the USAAF’s Chemical Warfare Service were responsible for handling incendiary bombs (which were used extensively) and toxic chemical bombs (which were ready but not used). Sometimes the work was very dangerous. These links focus on 2 chemical companies in India.
WWII Chemical Warfare Service Training Video
This 10-minute film was shown to soldiers entering the Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) during WW2. It highlights the vast extent of US chemical preparations, and provides an overview of what the soldiers can expect. The film promises, for example, that any private can rise to become a commissioned officer—regardless of race or color and whether or not he attended college. Reality was often different. Segregated units in which “colored” enlisted men served were generally commanded by white officers, just as they had been since the Civil War.
American Soldiers in 1943, preparing to tour a Jain Temple in Calcutta
769th Chemical Company, Organizational History
The 769th Chemical Company was composed of African American enlisted men with white officers. It was attached to the 468th Bombardment Group at Kharagpur Airfield, 140 km west of Calcutta, India. The 468th flew B-29s, the large, high-altitude, long-range bombers which later dropped conventional explosives, incendiary bombs and two atomic bombs on Japan from bases in the Mariana Islands.
Click here for information about the 468th Bombardment Group
USAAF Chemical Trunks and an Indian worker
771st Chemical Company, Organizational History for April 1945
Even away from direct enemy fire, military work can be dangerous. During this month, the white soldiers of the 771st Chemical Company in India had to deal with mustard agent leaking from defective bombs and with the need to wear protective gear in extreme heat. They received a Meritorious Service award. This report shows their success depended heavily on local “coolies” and especially on “colored” enlisted men from the 769th Chemical Company.
Why We Didn’t Use Poison Gas in World War II
This article by historian, Barton J. Bernstein, documents an active debate among US leaders about using chemical weapons in the war against Japan. “The costly struggle was eroding American repugnance to gas,” Bernstein writes, “and future battles in Japan, with thousands of GI deaths, might well have led American citizens to push their government to use gas warfare.”
Indian Refugees from Burma wait to cross the Irrawaddy (Source: Life Magazine June 1942,)
An Indian Perspective
The war between the American-British and Japanese forces was intense and racial disparities within the US Army were very serious, but these were not the only important conflicts. This article offers an Indian perspective on the time.
Firebombing of Tokyo
A 4-minute YouTube video from the Council on Foreign Relations, discussing the strategic bombing of Japan with incendiary bombs in the months before the dropping of two atomic bombs. Incendiary bombs were typically handled by CWS troops, although they are not always considered to be chemical weapons.