WWI Wierdness
During WWI, smoke and gas masks were in short supply, and there weren't enough for everybody in the trenches.
Even those that were supplied were uncomfortable, obstructed visibility, or weren't effective enough to even warrant wearing.
So instead, shortly after the first gas attacks were deployed on Allied forces, officers recommended that soldiers use strips of cloth like socks, scarves, old uniforms and sandbags soaked in urine and wrung out. These strips of cloth were to be tied tightly over the nose and mouth to allow unobstructed breathing. The urea in urine counteracted the chlorine of early gas attacks, but this method proved to be ineffective against the more sophisticated mustard and phosgene gases.
Sauce
Even those that were supplied were uncomfortable, obstructed visibility, or weren't effective enough to even warrant wearing.
So instead, shortly after the first gas attacks were deployed on Allied forces, officers recommended that soldiers use strips of cloth like socks, scarves, old uniforms and sandbags soaked in urine and wrung out. These strips of cloth were to be tied tightly over the nose and mouth to allow unobstructed breathing. The urea in urine counteracted the chlorine of early gas attacks, but this method proved to be ineffective against the more sophisticated mustard and phosgene gases.
Sauce