This is a photo I took this morning of the Dawn Service at Elephant Rock (Currumbin Beach, Queensland, Australia). Although I hate war, I still go to the dawn services because of my great-grandfather, Moreton Howe. He fought at the Battle of the Somme in WWI, and while he did survive, he was sent home after suffering from mustard gas poisoning. Mustard gas is a cytotoxic alkylating agent, which can cause either cell death or an increased risk of cancer or other mutations later one due to its DNA damaging properties. In the book Before My Helpless Sight, a nurse responsible for treating soldiers with mustard gas burns in WWI comments that they were some of the hardest to treat, unable to be touched, most likely to be screaming in pain (this quote is on Wikipedia). I can see where the title comes from.
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