American Military History, Volume 2 by Richard W. Stewart

By late 1917, as the AEF methodically pursued its training pro- gram, the Allied situation on the Western Front had reached low ebb. The French armies were still recovering from the disastrous Nivelle Of- fensive of April 1917 and subsequent mutinies in which the French soldiers told their officers that they would defend France but would no longer attack. The British armies, under Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, suffered shocking losses in the Passchendaele campaign. As a con- sequence of this offensive, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George withheld replacements to assure that Haig would have to remain on the defensive. The Allies appeared to have no alternative for 1918 but to grimly hold on until enough American troops arrived to assure the numerical superiority essential to victory.

Gas Masks for Man and Horse ca. 1917–1918