Dave from Ewillys.com posted these photos that he saw on the Salt Lake Tribune website. The Dugway Proving Ground, which is about 85 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, was built in 1942. It has been in constant use throughout the years as not only a test facility for chemical warfare, but as training grounds for soldiers. The photos below have lots of haze and it appears that the chemicals are falling on the soldiers. So much for safety gear!
Those are not chemicals the soldiers are testing, it’s a smoke generator. Even in the 1940s, the soldiers would have been wearing protective clothing and gas masks if it had been chemical weapons.
Dugway Proving Ground still tests smoke generators. Smoke is used to hide troop movement and assets from enemy view.
Great info Harold. I was going from the information from Ewillys. The smoke generator makes more sense, although I have not heard of that. Thank you for the info!
[...] Chemical Smoke Testing At Dugway in Utah Features, Old Images | Add comments| Map Print // UPDATE: A reader at Wes’ offroadaction site noted that these are likely pictures of smoke testing rather than chemical testing as claimed by the Tribune. You can view Harold’s response here. [...]